Organizers say planning a reunion much like a wedding

By Aldrich M. Tan • of The Northwestern

June 8, 2008

High school has always been very special for both Tammy Peppler Wright and Ruth (Rumlow) Olejnik.

Wright, 37, of Winneconne, graduated from Oshkosh West High School Class of 1988. She remembers meeting her husband Spencer, rolling up the bottoms of her pants, dancing to 80s music, and cheering at the basketball games.

On the other hand, Olejnik, 58, of Oshkosh, is from the Oshkosh High School Class of 1968. She remembers hanging out with her friends "in the old room" and going to park dances with live music and a swinging band for only 50 cents.

The women came from two different decades. Yet both are planning reunions for their classes this year. The Aug. 8 and 9 event will be Olejnik's eighth reunion, since her class' reunions occur every five years, and the Aug. 23 event will be Wright's second, since hers occurs every 10 years.

Both Olejnik and Wright agree that organizing these reunions can be stressful, but they can also be rewarding.

"The best part about organizing a reunion for me is the feeling of keeping our class together," Wright said. "Even if they don't come, we still know where they are and we can still help them."

Olejnik said she has definitely had to adjust her reunion activities to cater to the changing needs of her classmates.

She has seen many of her classmates change from raising families to thinking retirement.

"In the earlier years, it was like what we were doing with our lives," she said. "Now, it is more about what our children are doing about their lives."

At previous reunions, Olejnik said she has to also consider people's personal schedules, such as when their children would be out of school or certain vacation times. She advises planning very, very early so that people can schedule their vacation time.

Now that her class has much more time on their hands, Olejnik and her committee is planning out a traditional park dance. Those dances were a big deal when Olejnik was younger.

At her last reunion, Wright said she had a great time catching up with her friends at a local bar. This year, the local bar might not be the ideal place for a reunion.

"I think there is probably going to be less of the bar scene and more quieter times to catch up with people," Wright said.

Instead, Wright said her high school reunion would feature a video disc jockey who plays videos from '80s. There also might be a golf outing the next day.

When it comes to the guests of honor, Wright compares organizing a reunion to planning a wedding.

"You have no idea how many people are coming and you need a good estimate ahead of time," she said.

Both Olejnik and Wright have learned that many of their classmates have not moved much from their alma mater.

Wright said one of her farthest classmates lived in Europe and did come to the 10-year reunion.

However, there are still alumni missing from the lists.

Wright said there at least 70 people who she has not been able to get in contact with. Olejnik said she is still missing contact with 160 of her 672 classmates.

Wright said her committee is turning to the World Wide Web for help. With the skills of fellow classmate Paula (Pesch) Damp, OWHS Class of 1988 has a Web site with a list of all the missing graduates.

"I get so excited when I get to cross names off of the missing classmates list," Wright said.

Even after so many years, finding her classmates is still not easy, Olejnik said. But she has learned a few tricks over the years. One is to keep in contact with her classmates' family members who still live in Oshkosh.

"We would call family members and they would lead to where a family member was," she said. "And to be honest with you, that still seems to be working the best with us."

Reunion 2.0

Technology has helped make reunion planning a little bit easier, Wright said. Having a reunion site ( www.owhs1988.com) is a big deal.

On the Web site, classmates can enter their information, check on missing classmates and find information about the events themselves, Wright said.

Wright adds that she has used many other Web sites, such as People Search and Google to help find her lost alumni. She said her biggest challenge is figuring out her classmates' new last names since they could now be married.

Some Web sites list more than one address for a person. Other times, there is more than one person with the same name. Wright said one of her tricks is to look at the birth year since most of her classmates should also be her age.

The technology also makes it easier for Wright because she can work on reunion stuff at 3 a.m. in her pajamas, eating cookies and drinking bottled water.

Olejnik's high school reunion also has a Web site (www.oshkosh1968.com). However, she said it still goes back to knowing the families who still live in the area.

The committees

One of the most important things that Olejnik has learned throughout her years of reunion organizing is not to have "too many cooks in the kitchen."

"I think the biggest thing that I have learned is that you don't want to get the committee too large because there is so many opinions," she said.

She advises anyone planning a reunion to not make their committee too large that there are so many different opinions.

Right now, Olejnik said her reunion committee averages between 12-16 people, depending on their schedules.

Wright said she is grateful for her committee, which comprises of fellow alumni from Oshkosh, Winneconne, Plymouth, and even Bellingham, Wash. She corresponds with many of them through e-mail.

Both Olejnik and Wright cannot wait for their reunions, as the days draw closer to August. They both agree that these reunions are worth it because, as Wright says, it "keeps the class together."

For information about the Oshkosh West Class of 1988 reunion, e-mail owhs88@yahoo.com. For more on the Oshkosh High School class of 1968 reunion, call (920) 233-6465.

—Aldrich M. Tan: (920) 426-6663 or atan@thenorthwestern.com.