I don’t like the rigidity of a schedule either, and that’s something I definitely want to avoid. But… what I would like is a list that shows what people are planning to do and when they are planning to do it so that people know what’s going on and if they already have something in mind, can find out when other people are doing it, or put it on the list themselves. The Pigeon Forge area has a ton of stuff to do but we have a really hard time getting people organized to take advantage of it even though they want to.

To get the best of both worlds, we need two lists. 1) The schedule (devotions, lunch, etc) and 2) the plans (frisbee, mafia, golfing, shopping). We already have the schedule all worked out. It’s the plans that we have problems with. It could just be a giant dry-erase board at the reunion where a group scrawls on it that they are planning on, for example, playing mafia at 7:30pm. I don’t want to “schedule” or “set aside time for” mafia because not everyone wants to play (though, I can’t figure out why).

A giant dry-erase board is better than nothing, but has it’s drawbacks because things can overlap (which is fine), but we don’t want two things to overlap if there are a lot of people that want to do both.

It’s possible to 1) compile a list of all the things people want to do. Then, 2) publish the list so that individuals can choose the things they are most interested in. Then 3) try to organize things in a way that maximizes participation and minimizes conflict (and writing the results on a giant dry-erase board ;).

Steve can even propose his 4-day poker game.

Quick facts about next years reunion:
We have cabins 2 and 3 reserved at MVC in Pigeon Forge.

The days are THURSDAY-MONDAY.

We are moving off the 4th of July weekend and the dates will be July 12,13,14,15, and 16.

Some things I heard that deserve consideration:
1. A day at Dollywood as a group.
2. A return to a picnic/ field game night.
3. Time set aside for games such as mafia.
4. Streamlining devotions/ five minutes/ lunch so that they don’t run into each other and out to 1:00 -1:30 in the afternoon.
5. Babysitting/ entertainment time for the great-grandkids.( A couple years back we tried having a babysitter and this service was not utilized)

Location of Reunion:

There is some desire to change locations and I think if somebody has an interest in this it would be great to have them search for a location that could meet our needs and present it by March, 2007. We may want to consider a one year trip to the Outer Banks, Hilton Head, etc and then look for a semi-permanant facility.( Grandpa said he would be okay with one longer trip as long as it was not a yearly occurance)

Anybody interested in searching for a new faciltiy here are some of the criteria that would be important:
1. Located with 1-4 hours of Knoxville, TN (Travelling long distances is difficult for Grandpa)
2. A facility with a pool within walking distance to the lodging area.
3. A lodging facility that allows us to stay together/ close together as a group but seperate from other guests due to how noisy we are. (A hotel would not be a great location for this reason)
4. A staff that is accomadating and has a can do attitude.
5. A facility that has a large common living area for fellowship/ games/ devotions.
6. A facility that is safe and accomadating for younger children.
7. A facility with open fields, basketball, tennis, volleyball, horseshoes, etc.
8. A facility with competitive pricing on lodging.
9. Facilities such as the Conference center at MVC where we could have a band/party.
10. Large kitchen/ dining area available for our use.
11. A location we could return to yearly on a semi-permanant basis. (Planning and organizing the reunion is a major endeavor, having relationships with caterers, bands, knowing where grocery stores are, etc makes this process much simpler)
12. 20-25 individual bed rooms.

I think allowing cousins discretion and a budget to plan and organize an event is an excellant way to promote ownership and pride in the reunion. I know that one of Grandpa’s hopes is that the grandchildren enjoy the reunion and have fun and that the reunion continue not because of obligation but because of a desire to fellowship as a family. I think it would be cool to see Jesse, Evan, and Charles be given a budget and have them put together a fireworks night around the fire up on the hill. I think a night of mafia organized with babysitters and snacks would be great. There are many areas that could be handled by cousins. What is needed are individuals who are willing to step up and take on a specific task. You will not be alone if you want to take one of these tasks on, Aunts, Uncles, Grandpa, Kathy M, and Melissa and I can all be used as resources from logistics, to food, to finances.

Lastly, I would caution that we must be very careful to prevent becoming slaves to a schedule.

It would also be nice to publish the list of possible events before the reunion and then have people choose which ones they would be interested in (Because there is going to be more to do than there is time). Then we can try to schedule them so that as much as is possible, they don’t conflict. So, for instance, if those interested in hiking are not interested in shopping, then it wouldn’t hurt much to schedule them at the same time.

YOu all can tell me when to schedule Mafia and I will put it in.

David