Were down to our last two meetings before our big event.  We had our most recent meeting at Lina and Tibos house last Sunday, April 6, 2003.  Present at the meeting were:  Ferdie Agbayani, Janet De-Castro-Narag, Daisy Delgado-Vergara, Margie Molina-Tolentino, Jacqueline Palma-Soriano, Helen Panaligan-Crist, Marissa Pascual-Latuno, Lito Pangan, Lina Ora-Santos, Clem and Eden Tagle, and Reynald Ticsay.  Tibo graced us with his presence during our picture taking.  Other batch rep. also present was Marian Villanueva-Reyes (76).   

Thanks to Lina. Tibo and family for hosting us and letting us practice in their living room.  Lina had another nice spread of Pinoy food to feed us all.  Thank you Lina for the kare-kare.  And yes, my arms are still sore from making the ube dessert the night before.  Hats off to you Janet, for having such will power.  Dont worry a few more weeks we can enjoy those desserts again.  Fashion show ba tayo at our final meeting or dress rehearsals lang? 

We had some practice time while waiting for others who may have forgotten to change their clocks to DST.  According to our critics (Janet & Lina), we need more practice!  So, ladies down to 2 practices na lang tayo plus any dress rehearsal at the hotel.  Also, while others were chowing down, we worked on the inserts for one of the give-away items.  Make sure Marissa knows the technique for it, as Lina suggested.

We also had a great time during the photo op especially with our official class banner included in the picture.  More memories in the making and more at the event.

Heres a summary of our discussion:

ITEMS DISCUSSED:

A.         U.S. Reunion Updates

·         Margie reported that Monte Carlo is giving us the choice of the Main Ballroom or the Eastside Casino Ballroom.  However, set-up time for the Main Ballroom is only 1 hour before the event, while for the Eastside Casino is 3-4 hours before.

·         An additional charge of $200 per hour will be charged against us if our event goes past 12:00 midnight. 

·         Lito and Janet will keep track of our time so we wont go over our contracted time.

·         Monte Carlo will only provide 3% over the guaranteed headcount we provided. 

·         We will submit a preliminary headcount by this week and will have a chance for additional count up to 72 hours before the event.

·         Monte Carlo will provide 2 tables for registration with 4 chairs, 2 tables for the photo area, a table for the DJ and montage set-up and a podium.

·         Memorabilia items will also be sold at the event.

B.         Other Committee Reports/Updates:

·         Public Relations

o        Newspaper announcement Margie indicated that Tibo was working to have the newspaper ad free or complimentary.  We continue to get calls from people who saw our ad.

·         Website

o        We continue to post reunion-related information on our website, including pictures and announcements.

o        USTHS 78 permanent website (USTHS78USA.tripod.com) please continue to direct other alum to this website.

o        Group email address (USTHS78@hotmail.com) please send your questions, suggestions and any emails to this email addrs.

·         Budget/Finance

o        To date, we received payments for 116 attendees, all fully paid.  Thanks to all of you who have paid.  We expect to receive more in the next few days and hopefully see more faces at the event.

o        Two additional payments were turned in for 2 attendees from batch 66.

o        Five additional payments were also received for the souvenir program ads.

o        Janet submitted the receipt for the DJ deposit.  Margie also turned in receipts and bank transaction slips at the mtg.

o        If you have other receipts with you, please turn them in as soon as possible.

·         Montage Presentation

o        Some committee members were able to view the work-in-progress montage courtesy of Lito.

o        More pics are also expected in the next few days.

·         Souvenir Program/Solicitation Letter/Ad Form

o        Ferdie brought the first draft of the souvenir program.  Thanks to Ferdie for his hard work on it.  Jubilee messages from Mrs. Roda, USTHS Principal and Fr. Funelas, USTHS Rector, Mayor Hahn and the Phil. Consul General are included.  Helen will forward pics of Mrs. Roda, Fr. Funelas and Consul General Paynor. 

o        Ferdie estimates the souvenir program to have at least 20 pages.

o        We have received 40 sponsorships, to date.  Thanks to all the hard work of our committee members for soliciting our sponsors.  Keep them coming.

o        More layout pages were also submitted to Ferdie at the meeting.

o        Final Deadline for layout is April 14, 2003.  He can still accept ads after April 14, 2003.  However, no guarantees that it will be included in the souvenir program as late ads will only be used as fillers to empty spots.  When submitting a late ad, please let him know first before sending it to guarantee a spot.

o        Please email any layout (preferably in Word format) directly to Ferdie at:  fagbayani@cox.net

·         Give- aways/Decorations

o        Margie requested an inventory of the give-away items distributed to all committee members. 

o        All committee members were requested to provide their cell phone nos. so everyone will be accessible by phone during our event weekend.

o        A matrix will be prepared with everyones items to transport for planning purposes.  The planning matrix will be emailed to all committee members.

o        Lina, Tibo and Marissa will be bringing items either to be added to the give-away bags or placed on the tables, since they will be arriving much later than everyone else.

o        Jackie volunteered to provide rolls of packing tissues and bubble-wraps, if needed. 

·         Registration  

o        Lina and Daisy will be assigned at the registration table. 

o        Lina has made changes to the preliminary table seat assignments.  Please send in your payments ASAP, if you havent paid yet.  Seats are assigned priority to those who are paid.

o        Clem and Eden will usher all incoming alumni to photographers for their picture taking.

o        We encourage all attendees to register between 6 and 7:30pm to give our photographers time to enjoy the event as well. 

o        Camera and table assignments for the official photographers will be determined later. 

o        Each photographer will take table pictures after dinner.  Table pictures will be added to the montage shown throughout the evening. 

o        Lina prepared a price list of additional picture copies, should attendees decide to purchase copies of their solo/couple and or table pictures.  Helen will prepare the order form to be made available at the photo/memorabilia table.

·         Raffle tickets

o        Marissa planned the distribution of the prizes for the raffle and the other contests based on the in-kind donations we have solicited. 

o        Jackie will be at the registration table to promote the raffle and sell raffle tickets to all incoming attendees.

o        Thanks to Clem & Eden for donating the raffle tickets we will use at our event.

o        If theres anyone else willing to donate prizes, please let us know.

·         Entertainment

o        More changes were discussed on the entertainment program prepared by Lito, to give enough time for the party animals to change their costumes (or put on their eyelashes, baka maiwan daw yung isang pilik-mata if theres not enough time). 

o        There is concern over not having enough time for all the planned parts of the program.

o        Marissa and Janet (our Vanna Whites/Asst. Directors) will track our time to keep us on schedule at the event.

o        We hope that everyone will be pleased with what weve planned and that everyone gets to have a great time in our celebration.

·         Roster/Directory

o        There are now 76 names on our list of 78 graduate (US and Canada only).  The rest of the 222 names found are either in the Phils. or in other countries.  Please visit our website for the full directory list.

o        Again, thanks to those who continue to assist in finding other fellow grads, both by phone calls and email. 

o        Please keep those names coming.  Everyone truly appreciates making the connection with long-lost HS friends, even from Educ HS.

D.                  Final meeting will be on April 19, Saturday, 2:00 pm at Jackies place.  Dance practice starts at 12:00 noon.  Directions will follow later

E.                  There will be dance practice for all the party animals next Sunday, April 13, 2003.   Directions to follow later, as well.

Our countdown continues, less than 3 weeks to go.  Many thanks to everyone who continue to share their time and talents in our event planning and to our ever-loyal partners/spouses who remain generous with their help and support. We hope to see more faces at our final meeting.

Addendum:

Theres been discussion on a cancellation policy which will be posted on the website as soon as we have consensus.

Helen Panaligan-Crist

USTHS Reunion Planning Committee, USA