January 23, 2012

Working on The Annual Newton Family Reunion

Of all of the projects that I work on, the Newton Family Reunion is one of the largest undertakings.
Every year, we have a family reunion at Letchworth State Park in upstate New York.
Over the past 10 years, I have been the President of the family reunion.
My primary responsibility is to secure a pavilion or some type of suitable location for the annual gathering.
Our family likes the last week in July and the Middle Falls Pavilion; many other people also like the last week in July and the same location so, there is a drawing when more than one request form is submitted for the pavilion. So far, we have had a good run of application approvals, the second choice is the Eddy's Pavilion.
This year on the 2nd of January, I printed and filled out and mailed the Shelter Reservation form with payment and a self address stamped envelope; I also check the bank account to see if the check cleared.
I am very pleased that the date of The Newton Family Reunion is July 28th, 2012 at the Middle Falls Pavilion at Letchworth State Park, Portage, New York.

'Would You Mind' recorded by Hank Snow in 1955


The other undertakings include notifying the entire family of the reunion date and location.
I have street address and e-mail contacts that must be notified of the reunion dates.
E-mail and facebook work best for quick effective announcements.
At this time, the balance of about 80 addresses is in favor of  electronic communication.
Eventually, I want to stop sending the printed announcements but, I don't want to do anything until everyone in the family is online; it may take another 10 years or so.






I enjoying trying to find nice stationary to print the announcements and envelopes on.
The dollar store is often a good location to find high quality paper and envelopes; anytime I see granite paper or anything sharp looking, I usually get a few boxes of envelopes (50ct) and a few packs of paper (100ct)
I enjoying selecting the postage stamps (APS #190271).




Portage Bridge:
This bridge has been cited for destruction, the rail road attempted to present it to New York state as a observation platform but, the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation refused it sating that it would represent a unacceptable cost to the state.
Considering that this structure has been in use since 1875, it may be wise to move forward with long term plans to use this bridge as a observation platform.