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Class of 1957, Paseo High School
reunion committee meeting
February 11, 2006

Members present: Phyllis Aaron Stevens, Dave Bland, Roy Busdiecker, Lew Hinshaw, John Reece, Judy Royse McMahan, Ferne Russler Collins McGaw

Members absent: Sharon Black Churchill, Stan Churchill, Art Davis, Linda Davis Whitaker, Bob Dennis, Marianne Williams Davis

The meeting began at 1:30 p.m. at the home of Judy McMahan.

1. Responsibilities: At the previous meeting on August 27, Art Davis expressed a wish to continue on the committee but no longer wanted the role of overall coordinator. Several participants in that meeting suggested that Roy Busdiecker take on that task, but no commitment was made at the time. At this meeting, Roy addressed a number of jobs for which responsibility would have to be assumed by various members of the committee, and said that as long as those duties were taken on by members of the committee that he would accept responsibility for overall coordination. A copy of the agenda, attached, identifies some of those responsibilities. Phyllis suggested adding a task for an individual or committee to support communication with classmates about the reunion, and said that she would accept responsibility for that area. Roy pointed out that our early start to reunion planning should result in less stress for everyone as long as we make use of the time to complete as much as possible ahead of time.

2. Venue: It was noted that three of the previous four reunions were held downtown, while the most recent was at the Crown Center Westin near Union Station and the Crossroads district. Roy provided a summary of results to date from his canvas of potential sites for the reunion. A copy of that summary was provided to each member in attendance and is attached to these minutes. By show of hands of those present, the Westin Crown Center was the clear favorite, with the Plaza Marriott and Overland Park Marriott tied for second place among the ten hotels that had been evaluated. Information is pending from the newly refurbished President hotel at 14th & Baltimore, and Ferne agreed to contact the Ameristar Casino as a possible site for the reunion. Results of the last two assessments will be distributed and discussed via email, and several members of the committee will visit the top contenders to make an on-site evaluation of the facilities.

3. Date: It was noted that three of the previous reunions were held in July, while the first was in August. At the previous meeting the committee had agreed that an early to mid October date should provide more temperate weather and would eliminate contention with summer activities and travel. Subsequently it was learned that the NASCAR race at the Kansas Speedway has been held on either the first or second weekend in October, but the 2007 dates have not yet been decided. Phyllis and Ferne both said that they had contacts who might be able to provide early notice of that decision when it is made. Not noted at the meeting, but a consideration for some classmates, is that the first weekend of October will also be the second week of the Jewish holiday of Sukot. If the Westin Crown Center is selected as venue for the reunion, it would have to be on the second weekend of October since the first weekend is already committed.

4. Classmate Search: At present there are 79 classmates for whom contact information has not been verified or for whom we have no valid current information. Lists of those classmates were distributed to the group. A data sheet on each individual listed was made available during the meeting and participants were invited to select one or more that they would be willing to try to locate. There is a good supply of data sheets on lost classmates for anyone who wants to try tracking them down. The good news is that there are 161 classmates whose information has been verified, including some who have never been to a reunion.

5. Website: The class website has been averaging around 400 hits per month, a decent level of activity considering that we have a current maximum of 240 living classmates. Recent additions to the website are a password-protected contact list and a page for classmates to view or edit their individual records. Several committee members reported a problem in getting to later pages of the contact list or to update their individual records. Instructions for working around that problem were added to the website after the meeting, while pursuit of a better fix continues.  (NOTE:  The problem was fixed the day after the meeting.)

6. Reunion Booklet: A copy of the booklet created by Baylor Edwards for the class of 1955 was made available for review at the meeting. Phyllis reported that the class of 1956 is also working on an elaborate booklet. The committee discussed the amount of effort that made sense for our class, with the consensus that we probably do not need as elaborate a product. Judy and Phyllis will get together to explore alternatives before the next meting.

7. Resources: None of the meeting participants was aware of any current need for reimbursement or near-term commitments for money. When we are ready to commit to a specific venue and date there will probably be a requirement for a deposit. We can address that need when the time arrives. It was also noted that there are other classmates who have offered assistance when extra hands are needed.

8. Schedule: Phyllis suggested that we should have some sort of calendar to keep track of timing for planning tasks to be accomplished. Committee members should review the “PERT chart” diagram that was distributed at the August 2005 meeting and send suggestions for changes to Roy so we can have an updated diagram at the next meeting.

9. Ideas and Discussion: This agenda item was deferred to the next meeting due to time requirements. Items on that list (photography, reunion schedule, music, and so on) can be accomplished in a timely fashion later in the planning process.

10. Next Meeting: We will aim at having another meeting in late June or early July.

The meeting adjourned around 3:45.