Happy New Year, RUers!

Ho ho ho: if you thought jolly chuckling was so last year, beware! We are launching RU Blog 2010 with an important event announcement; a verrry interesting new feature; and some discreet prods and reminders, of course.

Important Event Announcement:

Woo-hoo!! Teri and Al Chace are going to have a blessing-of-their-marriage ceremony at a local venue on Saturday morning of the RU! Watch this blog for further details.

Sample Picnic Invitation!
The Committee has created a sample invitation that you may use to send to relatives and friends you’d like to invite to attend the Saturday afternoon “Open House” picnic, which will also serve as a wedding reception (of sorts) for Teri and Al. If you didn't receive a copy with your last update email, please ask Fran for the file.

Any and all friends and friends-of-friends are welcome to come to this Saturday afternoon free-for-all “centerpiece” of the reunion. But you will want to notify them soon, we think, especially if they will need to plan to stay over Saturday night: accommodations are scarce up in that valley on summer weekends, as you know.

We emphasize that this Saturday afternoon event is the time to invite non-family friends/guests to join in our reunion; we hope to keep Thursday and Friday to the “core group” of 10 families who have been receiving this blog link in 2009 – plus the “adopted” family members who are being linked to this first 2010 blog connection: Niki and Lee, and the Foleys.

If any of you in-laws (SOB’s, SOS’s) who are now on this blog-link wish to invite your siblings, parents, friends, or other relatives of yours, don’t forget to include them when sending out your invitations.

Discreet prods/reminders:
(1) If you haven’t made your own reservations yet for July 29-31 in the Valley – or if you are planning either to come to CA early or to stay on somewhere after July 31 – we strongly urge that you secure accommodations ASAP. Using a credit card to hold them will not tie up any money, as long as you cancel (if –sniff – you must) in time for the deadline assigned.
(2) If money is an issue – and when is it not? – it would be wise to start saving now (see link to PayPal savings plan already set up, above right column).
(3) (Core families, please note): Plan how and when to send in your contribution of $100 to cover the picnic food and park reservation expenses. You can send a bit every month if you like, to the PayPal account. We’ll need it all in by July 15 latest.
(4) Scrutinize air fares often during the January/February “off season”; deals may be had.
(5) When you do have reservations/plans set, please email Momcat/Fran with details: there’s a list in the making! We’d like to know if you plan to come early/stay late, too …. And we assume each family will secure its own reservations, both in CV and elsewhere, as needed.
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Finally, just makin’ sure, here’s the tentative schedule outline we have in mind for the reunion weekend:
Thursday: arrival day in Carmel Valley.
Friday: open: (may plan some sort of event for the afternoon); Family Dinner in the evening at Baja Cantina, Mexican outdoor restaurant.
Saturday late morning: Teri and Al Chace’s Wedding Blessing Ceremony (invitations coming)
Saturday afternoon/evening: Big Picnic/Wedding Reception at C.V. Park.
Sunday: check-out; Lunch of Champions before departure, venue TBA.