NHS 72 – News #14

News - NHS 72

Springfield North High Class of 72
July 2022

50th Reunion Planning Meeting

The NHS Class of 1972 50th Reunion committee had two Zoom meetings in July.  These are the members of the reunion committee.  In no particular order:

  • Larry Ricketts
  • Christy Yaw-Hart
  • Charlene Stooksberry-Boccardi
  • Deb Miller-Baldwin
  • Gayla Hypes
  • Joan Schneider
  • Joyce Ware-Brannick
  • Paul Numbers
  • Sherry Brumage-Payne
  • Gene Barnett
  • Darrel Baker

Are you Registered for the Reunion?

The time is fast approaching.  The reunion will be here before you know it.  We are just under 30 days from the 50th Class Reunion.  Please make sure you have your registration in.  We need to make sure we have the correct number of meals.  Don’t get left out!  If you are on Facebook and a memeber of the NHS Group Page here is a link to pictures from the 40th Reunion. 

CLICK HERE

Please check the Registered for the Reunion page and make sure we received your registration form.

Here is a link to who is registered.

If you do not see your name and you sent in your registration form and payment, please contact me.   

The form is in PDF format if you have any trouble, please contact me.  I will mail you a form through the US Mail.
The button below will allow you to download and print the registration form.

 

Would you like to see who is Registered?

Menu of Items

The Venue and RoomsNew Information
The ScheduleNew Information
Pricing and Budget – 
The Memorial TreeNew Information
Digital Bio Book – 
Photo Booth – 
Find our ClassmatesNew Information
Extra Things to doNew Information

The Venue and Rooms

Mark Your Calendar! The date for the reunion is August 20, 2022. The Venue is The Courtyard by Marriott. It is one of the nicest in Springfield! It is downtown and in walking distance to Mother Stewarts Brewery and the Springfield CoHatch. There are also a multitude of restaurants all within walking distance. So far, we have 129 people that are registered to attend. 

We have a block of rooms that are ready to reserve. We have a special rate for the following days:

  • August 19, 2022
  • August 20, 2022
  • August 21, 2022
  • Make sure you select the dates before you check availability.
  • If you would like to add days, we can possibly make that happen, I will need to call our event coordinator. Just let me know.

There are a couple of events scheduled for the same weekend as our reunion. There is a Jazz Festival (see the link to the schedule in the “Extra Things to do” section). There is also a the huge Clark County Food Truck Rally. These events have been confirmed for the same weekend we are having our reunion. This could cause a shortage of rooms.  They are expecting about 10,000 people to come to Springfield for these events.  If you are needing a room, you should book now…

I also spoke to Erika about the parking with all the events that will be going on. There should be ample parking even with all the events going on downtown.

The Courtyard by Marriott hotel parking
Heritage Center parking lot
Hollenbeck Center parking lot
There is also the new parking garage about 2 blocks away if needed.

Click the Button

The Schedule so far…

Friday Night – Larry Ricketts was able to book the Marriott for Friday night.  We will have a meet and greet from 6PM to 9PM.  This will be great as we will be having Friday night in the same place as the Saturday night Main Event.

Larry and your reunion team have big plans for Friday.  What do we all look for when we come back to Springfield?  I know some the things I looked for when I came back to visit included:

  • Pizzas from Cassano’s and Hickory Inn
  • Mike-Sells Potato Chips
  • Something sweet from Schuler’s Bakery
  • Soft drinks, iced tea and good ol’ Springfield water.

This is going to be a great night.  We need an accurate head count for the evening to make sure we have enough snacks and treats.  We need help from you. We know people may have varying arrival times and plans.  Please let Larry know if you are going to be attending Friday night. Please eMail Larry.  His email address is

Larry.Ricketts@yahoo.com 

Saturday Night – Reunion at the Marriott. This is the main event. The Marriott will be providing the venue, they will also be providing dinner and a bartender in the ballroom.

The music will be provided by DJ Mike Stooksberry. He will provide musical entertainment for our August 20th main event.  The DJ will be playing songs from our era including those that have been requested by our alumni.

He is a ’77 North High School graduate. Mike has provided musical entertainment in the Springfield area for over 20 years. He has played music for events ranging from weddings to car cruise ins, using many genres of music designed to suit the mood and various activities during the event. The music will begin with the first “hellos” until…

Each “Alumni” will also receive a commemorative Glass.  Here is a picture of it. It is an 11oz tumbler and I was assured that it is only orange juice in the glass. LOL.

The date for the reunion is August 20, 2022. The Venue is The Courtyard by Marriott. It is one of the nicest in Springfield! It is downtown and in walking distance to Mother Stewarts Brewery and the Springfield CoHatch. There are also a multitude of restaurants all within walking distance.

We have a block of rooms that are ready to reserve. We have a special rate for the following days:

  • August 19, 2022
  • August 20, 2022
  • August 21, 2022
  • Make sure you select the dates before you check availability.
  • If you would like to add days, we can possibly make that happen, but I will need to call our event coordinator. Just let me know.

*** SPECIAL UPDATE ***

Erika (our event coordinator) informed us that we only had 3 rooms left in our block at the special price of $129.  Because of the availability of rooms and the competing events we can not add rooms to our block.  So if you will be needing a room at the Marriott, you should book now…

There are a couple of events scheduled for the same weekend as our reunion. There is a Jazz Festival (see the link to the schedule in the “Extra Things to do” section).  These events have been confirmed for the same weekend we are having our reunion. This could cause a shortage of rooms.  They are expecting about 10,000 people to come to Springfield for these events.  If you are needing a room, you should book now…

I also spoke to Erika about the parking with all the events that will be going on. There should be ample parking even with all the events going on downtown.

The Courtyard by Marriott hotel parking
Heritage Center parking lot
Hollenbeck Center parking lot
There is also the new parking garage about 2 blocks away if needed.

Pricing and Budget

The price will be $60 per ticket.  We have a Registration Form!!!  You can download and print it.  You can then fill it in with your preferences and Mail the form to Larry Ricketts.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FORM

This form is in PDF format.  If you have any issues, please contact me.

Paul Numbers is working on a spreadsheet for the expenses, this includes all the things that we are planning:

  • Conference room at the Marriott for the reunion.
  • Dinner at the Marriott the night of the reunion.
  • Friday – Meet and greet at the Mariott
  • DJ Music for the evening of the reunion
  • Memorial Tree and Plaque
  • Digital Bio Book
  • Photo Booth

Thank You Classmates!

We would like to thank those of you who have donated and/or purchased your tickets.  It helps us plan for food and activities.  It also helps cover expenses that we have incurred planning the reunion.

Please take time to  fill out the registration form and mail it to Larry Ricketts.  You can make the checks Payable to either Larry Ricketts or Class of 72 Reunion.

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The Memorial Tree

Gayla pointing at the location for the tree in front of the school.
Plaque for the Memorial Tree

The tree is Planted!

Gayla has finished this project.  The tree has been planted and is being cared for by the city.  The plaque has been installed and it looks great!

As you can see, the tree is on the lawn in front of Springfield High School.  I believe it is about where the old North High School building used to stand.

It will grow into a large oak tree.  It will stand as a living memorial to all the class of 1972

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Digital Bio Book

Christy Yaw-Hart is coordinating this. I think this will be a great idea. Even if you are not going to attend the reunion, we would love to have your bio for the book. It would be great to be able to read something about all our classmates. We will be discussing the latest draft at our next meeting.  We should have it ready shortly!   Keep an eye on this section so we can get your input.

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Photo Booth

Joan Schneider found a photo booth vendor. The vendor is Fun Event Selfies: They will be available for 3 hours, they provide staff, camera, open-air backdrop, will incorporate our logo, 4″x6″ framed photo with 1-3 people in the photo. Timri will provide an online gallery and a flash drive of all the photos. She has 6 custom backgrounds to pick from. Includes props and will add more depending on the pandemic. We can text, tweet, or email our photos that are uploaded from the flash drive.

I think this will be a big part of making this a “Fun Event” (pun was intended)…

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Finding Our Missing Classmates

We are desperately trying to reach all our classmates. This is our 50th reunion and is an important milestone! Please reach out to your contact list. Feel free share my contact information with them. They can also reach me through this site. We can make this the largest reunion yet. We are doing internet searches looking for information and we are finding some new information.

This site DOES NOT contain or store any of your personal information, well, other than your name.

Classmates we have found

  • 190 Total Classmates that have verified their information through eMail or were verified through Facebook
  • 5 of our classmates have requested a Do Not Contact Status
  • 68 of our classmates are Deceased.
  • 263 Classmates have been located. We have a long way to go!

We really need your help getting this done. If you have not already, go to the classmates list. Please make sure your name is spelled correctly and is in the correct color (we all know I don’t make mistakes LOL).

If you would, please contact all the Classmates in your address book and make sure we have their current information

If you have not done these things, please click the button. Please compare your contacts to our list, feel free to share my information with them.

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Extra Things to Do

These are things to check out in and around Springfield while you are home. Make sure you read Gene Barnett’s email at the end of this section.

Walking Tours – Email from Gene Barnett

Walking tours are set up every year by the Westcott House’s Executive Director Marta Wojcik and her husband historian Kevin Rose. The home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1906, built for $15,000.00 and finished in 1908.

Burton Westcott built custom touring cars in Springfield that sold from $2,000 to $3,000 each. There is a Westcott car in the Heritage Center downtown in the farmers market/city building built in 1890 for $258,000.

There will be a couple of downtown tours possibly three over the summer of 2022. The tours are very interesting and well worth your time.

The Westcott House in Springfield is Frank Lloyd Wright’s only Prairie home located in Ohio. There are still over 440 homes in the U.S that Wright designed.

The Westcott House is well worth touring and now that we are “Seniors” we save $3.00 on admission for the 1.5 hour tour. Only $15.00 per person.

Actually, I could conduct the tours because I have been a docent since the Westcott House opened in October 2005.
https://www.westcotthouse.org

Very Respectfully,
Gene Barnett
North High School Class of 1972.

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