Well, the reunion was over. I think it was a success. I was too close to the situation to really get the feel of success or so-so success. There were a lot of compliments so I shall take that as a good sign.

This is how it played out. Friday Aug. 9th everyone gathered in San Diego they came by plane and by auto, the farthest from Boston (my daughter and her boyfriend). There were a few who lived in San Diego where the reunion was held. I have to commend the hotel, the Shelter Pointe Hotel on Shelter Island. Over all, they did a good job of keeping our family members happy. The only hitch was the late check-in that occurred on Friday. We all had to wait around for our rooms to be cleaned until about 4:30 p.m. It wasn't entirely their fault, evidently one of their cleaning ladies fell ill on the job and they had to take her away by ambulance and that threw everyone into a dither. When I complained they gave us coupons for free drinks at their bar. Initially, as I explained, in my last report, the hotel prices that we negotiated were not as low as the Orbitz prices on the Internet. Other than those two problems the hotel was superb.

Planning My First Family Reunion

I know first-hand what planning a family reunion is all about. There are many personal issues that come up that I didn't expect.  I would like to share some of my joys and frustrations so that others may benefit when planning their own family reunion.

By Holding It At A Unique Location!

Train stations, castles, music centers, theaters, churches, ballrooms, country clubs, parks all hold promise as unique venues for your reunion, be it class, family, or military. We will take you from time to time, in this column, city to city describing each metropolis's distinctive locations.

You will find all of these and more at The Los Angeles Conservancy website that are interesting, beautiful, historic, and functional sites.

As examples they list:

A Remembrance to Classmates
"Gone, But Not Forgotten"

It is always a challenge to determine how best to remember and memorialize our classmates who are no longer with us.

One compassionate way is to put a Memorial Poster on display at your reunion with names and yearbook pictures of those classmates who have died. This is a sample Memorial Poster for sale on our website which can be customized to your school's specifications.