First of all, if you are attention-limited, here’s what you need to know:
WHAT: MHS Class of 1976 35th Reunion Planning Committee Meeting
WHERE: Zippy’s Internet Cafe, 1804 Hewitt Ave, Everett, WA
WHEN: 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., Friday December 14, 2007
WHY: If you have to ask, then keep reading….
For those of you who are foolhearty enough to brave an e-mail I’ve written in one of my manic spells, read on.
I don’t know where this will take us either, so it’s as much a surprise to me as to you. And adventure, if you will.
Anyway…..
As one who has been transplanted to the dry, dusty side of the Cascades for most of the past 24 years, I don’t find myself in Everett very often, especially in the winter. Blame it on a self-preservation instinct that makes me dislike slipping across I-90 in a car that barely reaches the top of the wheels of most semi-trucks.
I wrote about that instinct in a different context, here: http://webpages.charter.net/lstephens6592/scientific_method.htm
But a series of personal errands and fatherly responsibilities (to wit: picking up my son from the UW for Christmas break)
has me coming to the wet side on Friday, December 14.
So, faced with the need to drive up to Everett to deal with some family business, I thought I would take the opportunity to hold what I hope will become a periodic occurrence for the next couple of years: a “planning committee” meeting for anyone interested in helping with the 35th reunion of the Mariner High School class of 1976, tentatively planned for summer 2011.
“Now wait jest a gal-darned minute!,” you might be saying to yourself. “2011 is still 4 years away! What’s this crazy-assed feller think he’s doing?”
Or at least you might say that, if you talked like a miner in an old black and white western.
We’re old enough now, that might be a distinct possibility.
But here’s my rationale (sans miner dialect):
- by all accounts, the 30th reunion was a great success. A smashing succes, even. For those who attended.
- unfortunately, due to my less-than-wonderful planning skills and marginal social networking skills, “those who attended” represented a measly 16% of the 320 or so folks who graduated with us.
- my current mailing list – which you are apparently a member of, since you’re reading this e-mail — comprises some 100 people; this is better than we had in 2006 but still a mere 1/3 of our class.
- while we need spend little time worrying about the logistics of an event that won’t take place for another 3 1/2 years (after all, by then we may all be sending our robotic avatars in our steads, necessitating a meeting facility with ample battery recharging stations in lieu of a wet bar) it doesn’t hurt to begin working on the mailing list.
- besides, it’s an easy excuse to have an informal gathering for those interested.
Now, I am not very familiar with places to meet/things to do in the greater (can I use that term in describing Everett?) Everett/Mukilteo metroplex. But because my rare visits to the city have often brought me to one particular location, I’ll toss out the suggestion that we could meet at Zippy’s Internet Cafe, 1804 Hewitt Ave, Everett. This is immediately next door to my sister’s apartment, but since few of you know my sister, a more fitting landmark might be the Everett Events Center, which is 1 block east.
Zippys is a little gem, in my opinion, offering good coffee, better sandwiches, and a nice artsy-fartsy setting. Since I have recently re-engaged the artsy-fartsy side of my brain, that’s appealing. To me anyway.
However, I can be persuaded otherwise — I suspect that given the season and the fact that at least a third of the people on this list live even further from Everett than I do (241 miles, for those numerically fixated among us), just a handful will show up. So if anyone who plans to show up has a better idea, please let me know.
Now, because Zippy’s is not a large place, it would be appreciated if any of you who think you MIGHT attend, would drop me a note. That way, if we appear to be exceeding a head count that would fit in Zippy’s comfy but cozy setting, we can find an alternate venue.
If you do elect to come by, please come prepared to help add some names, phone #’s, e-mails, or other contact info to our master list of Class of 1976 alumni. I’ll be bringing the list to the meeting.
Whether you attend or not, I hope all of you have a __________________ (insert seasonal greeting of choice here). And a happy 2008.
I’ll try not to bug you again for another 6 months or so.
BTW, it’s Christmas letter time again for a lot of us. If you have a desire (compulsion?) to share snapshots of your kids, grandkids, latest toys, adventures, or that ugly cyst that the doctors removed last month, drop me a line and I’ll put them on the MHS Class of 1976 Blog site, which, believe it or not, still exists and still gets hits from week to week.
That site, you may recall, is http://mhs1976.scottbutner.com/. I’ll try to post something new on it in the next few weeks.
I’ll also post pictures of the committee meeting on the 14th, assuming anyone other than I shows up.
Scott Butner (scott_butner@charter.net)
Self-annointed Chief Instigator, Mariner High School Class of 1976
1319 Stevens Drive
Richland, WA 99354
(509)-943-6592
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rs_butner/
