• the deposit for securing the banquet rental
• the cost for the park rental
• the cost for catering food for both events
• the cost for alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks
• gratuity charge
• booking service charge
• sales tax for both events
• food delivery charges
• cost of a DJ
• bartender
• attendant (you know, the person who cuts the meat at the carving stations)
• decorations
• give-ways
• web site set-up

What does my $93 get me?
We did not want this to be the typical boring class reunion, like most of the class reunions around our area. And lets face it, most of you were not thrilled at the idea of going to Bush Gardens or Kings Dominion or the Spirit of Norfolk again. We also thought of having it at the school gym as an option, but having a reunion in the school gym sounds pretty lame! Plus no alcohol is permitted on school grounds. So instead we planned an entire Saturday with a “casual family event” and a “fun adult event”, the perfect combo for a great reunion! This way you have an entire day to catch up with your friends. Your $93 pays for all of the basic expenses listed above for the two main events: the Family Picnic and the Reunion Banquet. Check out all the details of these events in the Reunion Events section. Please note ALL money collected for the reunion will go strictly for paying reunion expenses.

Why don't we have any money?
Typically, each graduating class holds on to any remaining funds their class raised during the four years of high school. This money is held in a bank account and collects interest over time. The funds are then used to help pay for a 10 year class reunion. In our case, our elected student body donated our remaining class funds to the graduating class of '99 back in 1998.

Are you sure the class of '98 doesn't have any money?
Yup, we're sure *lol* One of our first tasks was to find out how much money our class had. We had zero start up funds for putting this together.

What are we gonna do about it?
We are going to fundraise and solicit sponsors for our class reunion. Fundraising for our class reunion should have begun a year in advance of the reunion and throughout the past 10 years but a reunion committee was not formed until recently. The current reunion committee spent the last two months in 2007 conducting research, scoping out locations, pricing and planning a reunion weekend that covers the basic expenses without sacrificing the quality of the planned events. With money raised from fundraising and sponsorships will be used to purchase extras. Extras include door prizes, T-shirts and other souvenirs, possibly a large grand prize give away or cover the cost of having an open bar at the banquet. At this point in time fundraising will not lower the cost per person it will only help purchase extras.

Why won't Fundraising lower the cost per person?
In order to lower the cost per person, we needed to have a reserve of money up front to cover the basic expenses. Had we had a reserve to cover the basics, the cost per person would have been significantly lower. For example had we had the money to cover the cost of the DJ, the park permit or the deposit for booking the banquet venue that would have been one less item(s) calculated in the ticket prices. Since we had no money to off set the costs, everyone who attends shares in the cost.

So what happens to the money raised with the Fundraising?
All money raised with the fundraising will benefit you, the attendees. Depending on how much money is raised, the funds can go towards purchasing goodie bags filled with souvenirs to hand out, reunion T-shirts, memory booklets, door prizes, an open bar etc. Normally ticket prices cover these things when you have "reserve" to start with.

We have a couple of great ideas for fundraising that will yield high profits, but it's going to require team of organized, savvy and most importantly committed members. So contact Shaina at akanaina@yahoo.com and help!

Why can't we just pay our own way at these places for what we want?
No matter where the reunion banquet is held, the location has to be reserved in advance. You can not show up with 100+ folks and expect to be served as a group or given a private area to gather at. For example, you just can't show up Apple Bee's or Red Lobster with 100+ folks and expected to be seated and have an organized event without proper planning and venue reservation. You can't even show up at Chuck E. Cheese and have a party without putting down money and planning it and Jillian's is no exception. The same holds true for the park as well. You can not show up a Virginia Beach park with a large crowd and expect to have a shelter. You have to pay for a permit and reserve your spot. Or else you risk not having a shelter, not having use of the grill, and not having an centralized area to gather and serve food for your event.

Last time I checked if our events are catered the food delivery charges and the attendant should be included. We shouldn't have to pay for the website either. We didn't ask for it. Also do you realize how difficult it will be on that saturday, spending all day at the park then haveing to change the evening event. why cant we scrape the picnic and use the money for Friday and have only a two event to night deal. That just easier. I was at the meetings and it was brought up then if we should have three day/event reunion. However, at that time we also agreed that it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to attend. Where was everyone when I said that we should meet every month so we can have our fundraisers. No one wanted to meet. so I think that this is way to outragous we are looking to spend about 150 a person for this reunion, bc WE have to pay for Guadalajaras

1. Last time I checked if our events are catered the food delivery charges and the attendant should be included.
Please send us the the names of catering companies that deliver large quantities of food for FREE and also provide food attendants for free. Last time I checked, you can't even get a pizza from Papa John's or Chinese food delivered to your house without paying extra for delivery. The catering company we are dealing with for the picnic has a package specifically with picnic friendly food: Fresh Fried Chicken, Chopped Pork BBQ, All Beef Hot Dogs and Hamburgers, Buns and Rolls, Baked Beans, Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Potato Chips, Fresh Baked Cookies, Chewy Chocolate Brownies and they charge for delivery. Secondly, Jillan's requires an attendant for the carving stations, this is not negotiable. Plus we're having a hard enough time as is getting volunteers, I doubt we'll find someone who wants to volunteers to stand behind the meat and cut off slices the entire night of the banquet lol

2. We shouldn't have to pay for the website either. We didn't ask for it.
Come on, lets be adults here---this is the Information Age; web sites are the number one form of communication and it cost far less than using paper and snail mail (the post office) to communicate. Without a web site how are we going to communicate information to you in a efficient, timely fashion? The cost and man power to 1) purchase paper or pay for copies 2) the cost of envelopes 3) the time it takes to stuff and seal the envelopes and 4) the cost of stamps, cost WAY more than the cost of setting up a web site. Lets do the math, approximately 557 students graduated from the class of 98'. How do we know this? We have the Commencement booklet handed out and we counted every name listed. Lets multiply that number by the cost of a single stamp 42¢, that alone cost is $223.94 just to mail out a single mailing. That cost way more than the cost of setting up a web site! Secondly, everyone is not on My Space or Facebook. Some folks don't have internet access at home or the only time they have a chance to get online is at work. Websites like My Space and Facebook are usually blocked, so all reunion information should not be on these proprietary sites. Third, the school won't even release the names and the last known addresses of former students, so even if we did have the money to do paper mailing, who are we going to mail to without address? Regardless of your form of communication it's going to COST MONEY. Regardless if its a website or buying stamps, paper and envelopes to mail letters, it cost TIME and MONEY. And we have to pay for it. You can not do it all for FREE! Come on, lets use common sense here. A website is the cheapest form of communication and we think it's unanimous that a web site is the best form of mass communication.

3. Also do you realize how difficult it will be on that saturday, spending all day at the park then haveing to change the evening event. why cant we scrape the picnic and use the money for Friday and have only a two event to night deal. That just easier.
The picnic is from 11am - 3pm the Reunion Banquet does not start till 7pm. If you leave the picnic at 3pm, you have 4 full hours before the Reunion Banquet. We think that's a reasonable time frame. If you feel you may need additional time to get ready for the banquet you might want to leave the picnic a little bit early to give yourself more time.

4. I was at the meetings and it was brought up then if we should have three day/event reunion. However, at that time we also agreed that it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to attend.
The paid reunion events are on a single day, Saturday. The Friday and Sunday events are optional, thus we are not collecting any payments for these events. Folks are free to show up or not show up. Also, to put things in perspective ....we've been out of school for a total of 10 years. If you saved $10 a year for every year you've been out of shcool....the cost of the Reunion is still cheaper.

5. Where was everyone when I said that we should meet every month so we can have our fundraisers. No one wanted to meet so I think that this is way to outragous we are looking to spend about 150 a person for this reunion, bc WE have to pay for Guadalajaras.
How did you announce to the class of '98 that you wanted to fundraiser? What form of communication did you use to get the word out? When you say "no one" how many people did you ask? Who specifically did you ask? Did you reach out to Salem High and ask them to put an announcement on their web site to get the word out? Did you set up a monthly meetings and announce the location and time? Did you request that their be a posting on My Space soliciting volunteers? Sometimes you have proactive instead of reactive, especially when putting together a grassroots event. The current reunion committee feels that they took a proactive approach at planning the reunion and here's how: a posting was put on the My Space months in advance requesting Suggestions, Help and Contact information. Personal letters were sent to each and every alumni found on My Space requesting Suggestions and Help with reunion ideas and activities. We contacted the Virginia Beach Publich School System and requested that a posting be added to the High School Alumni and Reunion Information page and requested Suggestions and Volunteers for reunion ideas and activities. All of this was done BEFORE any events were planned. We did get a few responses and a second email was sent specifically to the few folks who told us they wanted to help. So far to date, only two folks have stepped up to help. But if you are still interested in helping with fundraising, we are putting together a Slient Auction to raise money and can use all the help we can get!

Now lets discuss Guadalajara. We spoke to the management at Guadalajara's and they would not allow us reserve an area for food and drinks for a large party on Friday evening, they suggested to us to show up with cash bar and grill, so that's why this event is described as informal and with a cash bar and grill. If you choose to spend over +$50 on food and drink at Guadalajara's for yourself that's is completely out the Reunion Committee's control. Again, nothing is for free. If you can find a place were we can show up and eat and drink and gather for FREE, lets us know. Any place worth its salt is going to cost more than than $2 or $3 bucks.

Got more questions?
Send us your questions by using the form on the Contact Us page or use the shout box. We will keep this as a running section and post answers to all relevant questions asked.