Christina Rowland

Here is the long awaited 2018 reunion information. We will continue to work so that the oldest members of the family can have rooms in the Spitz Center if they want them.

Other things to note:

• On the reservation page, we’re once again asking for information from people who are coming to the reunion, but not staying at Heit’s Point, so that we can get a more accurate head count for meals. You can make reservations starting now.
• The meal page has been expanded with additional information. The biggest changes this year center around meals. We will have all of our meals in the Spitz Center cafeteria and we will not have a group lunch on Saturday (instead breakfast will be later and supper earlier).
• The old general information page and the frequently asked questions page have been combined into a new and improved General Information page.
• You can read about the times for other activities on the Schedule page. Note the meal time changes.
• You can get to the Family Reunion Information from the Reunion 2018! menu on the right or from the “Get Togethers” menu above.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can use the comment area at the bottom of any of these pages to make your feelings known.

If any of the links don’t work, I apologize.  Lloyd normally does that part, and I am not an IT person.

 

Below is general information for the 2018 Sommerer Family Reunion.  If you are looking for the rest of the information on the reunion, You can click here. If you have questions after reading these posts, please feel free to call Christina at 636.485.1369, email her at cmrowland22772@yahoo.com or post your question below.

When is the 2018 Sommerer Family Reunion?

We hope that you will be able to join us for all or part of the weekend: Friday, June 29 through Sunday, July 1 at Heit’s Point on the beautiful Lake of the Ozark’s. Note some rooms are available on Thursday, June 28th in the afternoon.

Where is the rest of the information about the reunion?

Below are the general frequently asked questions (and a few answers) about the 2018 Sommerer Family Reunion.  If you are looking for the rest of the information on the reunion, You can click here.

Will the Pavilion be rebuilt?

Yes, rebuilt better than it was before. It should be a real treat.

What’s new this year?

We are eating breakfast and supper in the Spitz Center cafeteria. The cooks said that it is much easier to do that. We will use the Pavilion for all of our general merriment and we don’t plan on using the gym at all.

We are not having a group lunch on Saturday. Breakfast will be later and supper will be earlier.  You are, of course, welcome to make your own plans for lunch.

Will I get a letter about this in the mail?

No! Now that Uncle Lloyd is retired from the Postal Service, we no longer feel like we have send letters to everyone.  If you have someone in your family group who needs this information and does not have access to email or the Sommerer Family website, please contact them and assist them with reservations, questions and so forth. Feel free to just print these pages out and send them to them if you want.

Do I need to make a reservation if I don’t plan on staying at Heit’s Point?

Yes. This worked out much better than how we’ve done it in the past. In the past it has been hard to get an accurate count of how many people would be present for meals because we were using the list of people who were staying at Heit’s Point. We are now asking for “reservations” from everyone whether or not you will be staying the night at Heit’s Point.

How do I make reservations for the reunion?

All reservations should be made through Christina unless you want to stay in a camp facility that is not part of our reserved Sommerer lodging (one that is not listed on the reservations post). On the Lodging Information post is a registration form to assist you in this process.  You will need to have: arrival date, desired lodging location, number of nights staying, number of people staying, and number of people to include for group meals. You can make your reservation in the comments on that page or by contacting Christina.

When can I make reservations?

Reservations will begin May 10th.

Please make sure your reservation is as complete as possible before you submit it (i.e. check with your kids to see if they are dating someone who they might bring with them). All reservations should be made as early as possible and no later than May 27th.  If you need to add additional people to the meals after May 27th but before June 18th, please e-mail or text Christina.  If you are adding additional people for meals after June 18th, please contact Jim Sommerer, Courtney Knipp, Shawn Baker and Whitni Upton as they will all be purchasing food for this event. (that means contact each of them, not just one of them)

What’s this crazy business with older family members and the Spitz Center?

We want the Aunts and Uncles to be able to enjoy a room in the Spitz Center if that is their desire. We will reserve the same room for the same nights as they had last year for each of the aunts and uncles.  If you would like different accommodations, please let me know right away.

Can I get the same lodging that I had last year?

Yes, if you are quick enough. We are reverting back to the original game plan for reservations for anyone other than the aunts and uncles.  FIRST COME FIRST SERVED.

Did you get my reservation information?

Check the reservations page first.  Your name should be after the room you want if it was reserved for you.  If you do not see your name on a room within 24 hours, I probably did not get it and you should contact me again at either 636.485.1369 or cmrowland22772@yahoo.com or leave a comment on the lodging page.

Can I check in on Thursday?

Maybe. Heit’s Point is hosting camps and other reunions during the week for June 28 (before our reunion), some rooms will be able to check in after 3:00 pm on Thursday if that is your desire.

What time can I check in on Friday?

Rooms should be available for check-in  around 3:00 pm. 

What time do I need to check out on Sunday?

Check out on Sunday is at 10:45 am.  Church starts at 11:00. Be sure to get your bill from Christina on Saturday. There is no camp scheduled Monday or Tuesday, so you could potentially stay longer if desired. However,  we will need everyone’s help to make sure the pavilion is clean and ready before we all take off (see schedule).   Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.

Who/How do I pay for my reservation?

Payment is not necessary until the reunion weekend, at which time you will receive a “bill” from Christina.  Please wait until you have received this “bill” before paying Heit’s Point.  They will not have the necessary information to take your payment without this “bill”. “Bills” will be handed out after dinner on Saturday. If you need to leave earlier, please see Christina. You can pay your bill at the Spitz Center. Checkout time is 10:45 Sunday.

Note:  Per Mark, Heit’s Point is waiving the 6% “replacement fee” added to the cost of each reservation.

How do we pay for everything else? 

There will be a free-will offering to cover the costs of group breakfasts on Saturday & Sunday; the meat on Saturday evening, the Pavilion & Spitz Center use fees of $455.

How much should you give?

Enough that you feel a little bit smug about how much you gave is probably about right. We have $5.00, $10.00, $20.00 and $100.00 bills in the donation bucket. But we have people donating for one person and people donating for a dozen. We have poor college students in our family and people who are reasonably well off in our family. If you’re in a position to pay more, you should do so. If you can’t afford to pay anything at all, that’s okay too; just take something out of Aunt Jane’s purse and give that.

What is happening with Breakfast?

It was decided at the meeting after church last year that we would be having breakfast at the Spitz Center on Saturday & Sunday morning.  The Next Generation Cousins will be organizing breakfast on Saturday & Sunday, but they will need some help preparing it, so everyone is encouraged to be at the Spitz Center at 7:00am on Saturday &  6:30am on Sunday morning to have fun cooking together! For more information, see the meal information post.

How much food should I bring to the reunion?

Basically, for every potluck meal you should bring enough to feed your family. It’s okay to just bring your world famous pasta salad, but you should bring enough so that everyone in your family would be full if that’s all they eat. You can, of course, bring more than one thing. In that case you would not have to bring as much of each. For more information, see the meal information post.

Will there be lines on both sides of the tables for meals?

Yes! That is such a good idea. If you see someone setting food tables up against a wall, explain to them that we’re not doing that anymore. There’s no reason it should take 30 minutes to go through a line.

What should I wear for the family picture?

We will be using the same colored shirts again this year, so dust off your shirts! You can change your family’s color if you want, but make sure it’s not too close to another color. However, we will not be standing in family groups… Our photographer likes it better if we mix it up, so be prepared to move if there are too many people of the same color around you.

• Aunt Elizabeth’s Family – Tie Dye
  
• Aunt Lillian (Sis)’s Family – Green (but they always wear red, white and blue)
• Uncle Bud’s Family – White
• Uncle Felix’s Family – Black
• Aunt Margie’s Family – Orange
• Uncle Vernon’s Family – Pink
• Aunt Beatrice’s Family – Lavender
• Uncle Mahlon’s Family – Teal
• Aunt Cleo’s Family – Periwinkle Blue
• Aunt Theresa (Lolly)’s Family – Yellow
• Aunt Naomi’s Family – Medium Dark Grey 
• Uncle Lloyd’s Family – Red Hawaiian Shirts

What should I do with all the pictures I took at the family reunion?

Upload your pictures to www.flickr.com and “tag” them with “sommererfamilywebsite” to have them pull into the family website home page. Or you can email them to my brother and he may post them on the family website : Lloyd@LloydAndLauren.com or you can e-mail them to me and I may include them in my 2017 scrap book: cmrowland22772@yahoo.com

Are we going to sing, play softball, play cards, play volleyball, swim, eat, drink, be merry?

Yes.

When is the Softball Game? Talent Show? Sunday Service? and so forth…

We have a schedule page this year that has that information. If we’re really on the ball, we’ll also have the schedule up at the reunion.

Will the Schedule be accurate? 

No. Sommerers are really not much for schedules. Lets just say that it will be as accurate as possible.

Will there be a signup sheet for the talent show?

Will there be a talent show? If there is, the signup sheet will be at the pavilion. It might be there now.  We really left this up in the air.

Whats next?

Feel free to post any question or comments below. The rest of the reunion information is available here (or from the Get Togethers menu at the top or the  Reunion 2018! menu on the right)

Below is the information about meals for the 2018 Sommerer Family Reunion.  If you are looking for the rest of the information on the reunion, You can click here.

General Meal Note:

Remember that for the potlucks you should bring enough food for everyone who comes to the reunion with you. We ran out of meat four years ago because we had many people show up to the Saturday night meal who did not tell anyone they would be there. To keep that from happening again, we are asking for the number of people coming with you when you give Christina your reservation information. If you’re not staying the night, remember that we still need to know how many people are coming for meals.  This should include any friends you or your children wish to bring.  If you need to add to this number at a later date, be sure you let Christina know before June 18th so the wonderful people who actually purchase the food are able to get enough for everyone. If you need to make changes after June 18th, you will need to contact each of these people: Jim or Sheri Sommerer, Shawn Baker, Courtney Knipp and Whitni Upton.

Breakfast (at the Spitz Center cafeteria)

• Friday, June 29: On your own
• Saturday, June 30 at 9:30: Eggs, Bacon, Sausage & Hash browns – breakfast prep will begin at 7:30 am.
• Sunday, July 1 at 8:00: We don’t know – breakfast prep will begin at 6:30 am.

The cooking will begin at 7:00 on Saturday & 6:30 on Sunday, please come help!

Lunch  (on your own)

We decided after church last year to try something different. Instead of having lunch on Saturday, we would make breakfast later (we always ate later than we said we would anyway) and supper quite a bit earlier. This is an experiment. Maybe we will like it and maybe not. Of course, feel free to bring whatever you would like for your immediate family to eat for lunch on Saturday.

• Friday, June 29: On your own
• Saturday, June 30: On your own <–NEW
• Sunday, July 1: On your own

Dinner (at the Spitz Center)

Note the time change for supper on Saturday!

• Friday, June 29:  6:30 Potluck (bring main dish and sides)
• Saturday, June 30: 4:00 Potluck (meat provided, bring sides/desserts)
• Sunday, July 1: On your own

Feel free to post any question or comments below –or call Christina at (636) 485-1369. The rest of the reunion information is available here (or from the Get Togethers menu at the top or the  Reunion 2018! menu on the right)