Customarily, I write up my thoughts on this year’s reunion and possible changes for next year. You guys are all welcome to add your own thoughts and ideas in the comments below. It’s a lot more fun if you do.
2025 reunion dates: Friday, July 4th to Sunday, July 6th
We had a total of about 102 people at the reunion this year, including about 10 of the “Nebraska Sommerers” who I’ve been inviting down for years. If was nice that some of them could make it, and I was disappointed that I missed them by a few hours. They are about your third cousins (more or less, depending on who you are).
Including the money given during church, you guys raised a little over $13,000 for the outdoor kitchen during the reunion, which brings the total to over $18,000. So nice work everyone. You’ll also be happy to know that the “Jim’s Beer fund” is fully endowed thanks to a generous donation made in Greer Baker’s name. A more fitting tribute to Greer could not possibly have been found.
Also, Linda and Bill have donated the money for the bricks for our family members who have passed away recently. You guys are the best.
Several people told me, and I completely agree, that taking the family picture before supper was an excellent idea, and we should continue to do that in the future. We didn’t have people wandering off, and it gave us at least a half hour more daylight for the softball game.
I also thought that the fans for the potluck tables were a great addition as well. Let’s do that again as well.
Thanks to everyone who signed up on the job boards. If you felt like there were not enough people to do a job with you, say something in the comments, and we’ll add more people to that job. If there are additional jobs that need to be added, please mention that as well.
Sam and I talked about coming up with a better system for hanging things up. We’ll work on that for next year.
I thought the meals went pretty well this year. Some of you told me that for lunch we ended up with:
- Too many olives (one small black and one small green would be fine).
- Too much snack cheese. I don’t know if I agree with that, because I took the extra home (Thanks Andrew), and have been enjoying it very much.
- Not quite enough sandwich cheese (this was actually my fault, and didn’t have anything to do with the list).
- Exactly the right amount of lettuce. I mean, like, to the leaf.
It’s pretty hard to predict just what we will need for lunch, because we make the list before we know how many people are coming. Your best bet is to sign up for something that you wouldn’t mind having to take the extras home with you. But I do appreciate the feedback, and will adjust the items for next year accordingly. As always, add any additional changes needed in the comments below.
We were maybe a little heavy on the main dishes, and a little light on sides and salads the first night. I don’t know what everyone brings for that first night, so I’m not entirely sure what the fix is. It could be signing up for two of those three items, or maybe just a spot we can say what we’re bringing so that people can look at the list and decide what they want to bring. Or maybe it wasn’t a problem at all, and I should leave well enough alone.