Half of the Reunion Planning Committee was able to gather in late February for our second meeting. From left: Mike Bollow, Julie Capps Kearney, Joe Kagann, Christi Mundy Scroggins, John McIntosh, Patty Lyman Campagna, Dale Woltman, Kara Kennedy O'Connell, Jennifer Berger Tenorio, Amy Johnson Balicki

Hi all.  As you can see, we've selected Emmett's Ale House in downtown Downers Grove as the main reunion venue.  We are really excited about this venue and wanted to share the following information with you, if you are interested.

Top Reasons Why This Venue Rocks:

1.  The price is right!  We are working hard to keep costs reasonable, even though most of you indicated that cost would not a determining factor for your attendance.  We are able to get much more for our money at this venue than anywhere else we found.

2.  We are the first-ever Buy-Out!  No one has ever bought-out the entire venue at Emmett's before!  We feel priveledged to be the first to take over the whole place - just for us.  We'll have use of the bar, main restaurant space, private party room and outdoor patio.  Plus, the staff will walk people through the brewery area and teach you about the brewing process, if you are interested.  You'll be able to walk around and mingle through the various areas - much more interesting than a hotel ballroom or tent.

3.  You asked for something convenient and different.  Many of you took the time to take the online survey we created.  Most of you (37%) didn't really care where we hold the reunion, as long as you have the opportunity to connect with old friends.  The next majority (25%) wanted the location to be convenient to Downers Grove.  24% of you wanted the venue to be something cool and different from just a hotel ballroom, which only 7% wanted.  So - we've given you what you've asked for at the lowest possible price.  There are other fun venues out there which are much more expensive.  Let's get this reunion under our belt with as many attendees as possible, and then maybe we can get even more creative (and expensive) for the next reunion.

4.  Great Food and Beverage.  If you've been to Emmett's Ale House, you know that they brew their own beer and have an excellent menu.  We are able to offer you a premium-brand open bar for 5 hours with quality liquour brands, Emmett's beers and domestic beers as well.  We'll provide food stations that will fill you up with quality food - much better than rubber chicken found in most hotel ballrooms!

5.  We're celebrating Downers Grove.  We figured that for our 20th reunion, we should go back to where it all began.  Some of us haven't really been back in 20 years.  Having all of our events within a few blocks on Main Street Downers Grove around Homecoming weekend just seemed like a good thing to do.  


We researched more than 30 different venues in the area and have lots of ideas for the next few reunions, as there are many places we can go.  We want as many of our classmates to attend the 20th reunion as possible, so we did our best to keep costs reasonable - while still providing you with a quality event.  

After this reunion, we'll send another online survey to get your feedback on this and future reunions.  We've got plenty more left to plan!

We're working on finalizing as many details as possible right now and will open up registration on March 31.  In the meantime, please help us encourage other classmates to complete their profile so that we can get contact details into our database.

See you in September!