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Yes. Approximately $30 per month plus the annual fee for rights to the domain name.
By the site developer and administrator, Alan Steele, plus about a dozen supportive classmates.
This Web site represents the realization of a vision I had of what a class Web site could be. I never envisioned the site as an uninteresting 1-page Yahoo type of effort. I am blessed to have a number of fellow classmates who share that vision and who help cover the cost of the site. We could always use more people who are willing to help support the site financially. If you are willing to chip in $15 per year to help fund the site please shoot me an email at asteele6@verizon.net.
- What method is employed for selecting Reunion Committee members?
Deception, bait and switch tactics and unabashed exploitation of individual naiveté.
- Why are the class reunions always held in Arlington?
We want the reunions to be as accessible as possible to as many classmates as possible and we think a location in the Washington, DC area accomplishes that. A location in Crystal City in Arlington has always been selected because of the hotels, restaurants, access to transportation and nostalgia.
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Why are the reunions always held in a hotel?
Hotels offer the best combination of accessibility, safety and economy. We particularly want to limit the number of people drinking and driving. We also want females without male escorts to feel safe.
Ticket prices average around $100 per person. Approximately $40 of each ticket price goes to pay for the services of a professional reunion company to handle the details of the event. The rest goes to facility rental, staffing and food.
- Why aren't the reunions classier affairs?
In addition to the services of a reunion company, $100/person buys you a meeting room in a decent hotel, a DJ, a bartender for a cash bar and an average buffet. To elevate the affair above that level requires a corresponding elevation in ticket prices. We think ticket prices are too high as it is. We don't want the affairs to be more exclusive than they already are.
There are some issues that have surfaced relative to the multi-event, weekend-long reunion format. The biggest issue is that the Friday night event, usually a mixer of some sort, tends to serve as a substitute for some people who feel that they will be able to see everyone without having to cough up $100 for a ticket. We did a Friday-Sunday deal for the 20th and we definitely had individuals who came to the Friday and Sunday events but didn't come to the main event on Saturday night. This had a negative impact on ticket sales. Reunion companies oppose these events for this reason. I agree with them. We do like the idea of having a Friday night mixer that can serve as an ice breaker. We addressed the aforementioned ticket sale conflict problem for the 35th by limiting notification of the Friday night event to individuals who had already purchased tickets. On Sunday, people naturally gather together for brunch, so we don't see the need to plan a separate Sunday event. Plus, we planned a Sunday picnic for the 20th which was poorly attended - everyone went to brunch instead - and the weather was Africa-hot!
Organizing and planning a reunion for a class our size (approximately 865 people) is a lot of work. Simply locating that many people is a daunting task. Even after you build a contact database you still have to contact them by snail mail multiple times. That's a lot of stuffing, licking and stamping. Then there is the financial liability. If you hired a search company to locate everybody you'd have to pay them well in advance of the event. Most hotels require a hefty deposit and have a minimum guaranteed facility rental charge that can run $10,000 or more. The reunion company assumes that risk. They lost money on our 35th reunion. Our attendance levels are generally too low to meet the minimum charge. Finally, the Reunion Committee wants to enjoy the event. Working ourselves to death and incurring a financial loss is contrary to that objective.
Harvey Wynn. I believe there is a clause in his will to that effect. | 
