Pics from Ramsi's camera

Pics from Nicole's Camera

Pictures from the Reunion

A big thank you to all who participated and helped with the reunion! We had about 65 come to the Sports Mall family activity, and over 100 for the MHS reception.

A few big thank yous:
Karen Cheshire Chatelain - organizing catering, money and RSVPs
Robin Lewis - updating the alumni database, renting the school, posters, and reunion game
Aaron McDonough - donating funds for the snow cone machine and moral support
Pete Goodro - sponsoring funds to cover reunion costs
Shane Cox - creating the fabulous photo slideshow
Spencer Sutherland - creating the music soundtrack for the reception
Carrie Cook Pace - organizing details for the Sports Mall event and lots of pictures
All who forwarded emails, blog addresses, and spread the word for the reunion

Below are some pictures from Carrie Pace. If you have more pictures you'd like posted on the blog, email them to murray98reunion@gmail.com and I will add them.

Answers to a few questions...

Q: What is the dress code for the reunion?
A: Casual to both events

Q: What does the entrance fee at the Sports Mall cover? What do I need to bring?
A: Carrie Cook Pace has negotiated a discounted rate into this members-only club. We will have a snowcone machine, and each entrant will get one free snow cone. Additional snow cones will be available to purchase for $1 each. Please bring a picnic lunch, camping chairs and blankets. The weather is forecasted to be sunny and 95 degrees, so hats and sunblock are encouraged. Check in at the reception desk, where your money will be taken. (This money goes directly to the Sports Mall, not the reunion committee) We will be outside in a grassy area with access to the pool and sand volleyball courts. You will have access to the locker rooms if necessary. Please be mindful to watch your children to not disturb the members at the club.

Q: Why does the reception cost so much if we're only having hors d'oeurves and desserts?
A: Karen Cheshire Chatelain did a lot of research on caterers in the area. She presented some menus to the reunion committee and we decided on the caterer, based on the best value for the price. The caterer charges a per-person fee, plus a $200 delivery/set up fee. We had to rent MHS, and the cost came out to be about $2 per person for the rental. Unfortunately, with other costs associated, we will be lucky to break even on the cost of the reunion. If you are feeling generous, we would be happy to accept donations and sponsorship so the reunion committee doesn't have to pay the cost out of their own pockets.

Q: Why didn't I get an email invitation to the reunion?
A: Unfortunately, we had many incorrect email addresses. There were also several people who probably didn't get the invite because of Spam blockers. Please don't feel offended if you didn't hear about the reunion on the first try. We tried really hard to get together lists of contact information, but unfortunately the process is very time consuming. Thank you to those who forwarded the info out to other alumni. Hopefully we'll be more organized for the next reunion.

Please RSVP ASAP!

Thank you to all those who have RSVP'd and paid for tickets to the reunion. We put in our guest number to the caterer today, which was our deadline. We budgeted for a few extra, but if there's a chance you may be able to come, please email murray98reunion@gmail.com to make other arrangements.

Remember, payment for the afternoon picnic will be paid at the Sports Mall.

Thanks to our first sponsor!

A big thanks to Pete Goodro, who has generously sponsored the MHS '98 Reunion. Please check out his website and pass on his info to those in the market for a realtor.

Paypal Account Set Up!

Thank you to all those who have RSVP'd so far! You may now make your payments via Paypal for the reunion. The email account set up for the reunion is the same as you will RSVP....

murray98reunion@gmail.com

We have a catering bill of over $3000 to pay for the reception, so please do not delay in sending your RSVP and payment. We must have our final count and payment for catering by Monday morning!

Just click on the link on the left side of the screen....

The Reunion -- Spread the Word

MHS Class of 1998 10 Year Reunion

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Family Picnic:
The Sports Mall - 5445 S. 900 E., Murray, UT 84117
12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Bring your own picnic lunch
$5 per person / $18 per family - Payment will be made at the Sports Mall
Snowcones, Volleyball, Swimming, and Socializing~ Here's the chance to bring along the whole family for an afternoon of Murray High Nostalgia.

Alumni Reception:
Murray High School - Commons Area, 5440 S. State Street, Murray, UT 84107
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Hors D'ouerves and Desserts
$20 per person
Alumni may bring an adult guest

My apologies to everyone for the delay in invitations...planning this reunion has been more difficult and time-consuming than I imagined. Please spread the word...emails will be sent out this week to everyone that has responded to the reunion email address. Times are still subject to change, so please check back occasionally.

We are still working out the details for payment for the reception. We will have a Paypal account set up soon, as we must have adequate funds in advance to cover the school rental, decorations, catering, and other miscellaneous expenses. It may not be the fanciest party possible -We have made a special effort to keep costs low so attendance will be high.

If you haven't sent in your pictures for the slide show, there is still time. Please have them emailed no later than July 25. Feel free to send pictures of yourself or alumni from sophomore year to the present. We may limit non-HS pictures depending on how many people respond with recent pics to represent a good balance of now-and-then.

Classmate Bio: Debbie (Ashton) Jorgensen

Highlights from the last ten years. . .
After MHS I left for BYU-Hawaii which were some of the most fabulous years of my life! ALOHA! I decided to major in Nursing so transfered to BYU in 2000. Go Cougars! While there, I went on a study abroad program to Vienna, Austria for four months and traveled all over Europe! I finished at BYU in 2003 and worked as an EFY counselor for the summer before beginning at Primary Children's Medical Center as an RN. I met my sweetie, Chris Jorgensen, at a friends house in Bountiful while making cookies. He had just finished at the U of U and I had just finished at BYU. It was definitely love at first sight! :>) We were married in the Bountiful Temple in May of 2004. Chris works in the engineering, land & environmental group at Kern River Gas Transmission and is working towards a Masters in sustainable natural resources management.

We live in Woods Cross and have two of the most adorable little monkeys. . .Tyler Dane and Annalee Jane. Tyler is 19 months and Annie is 2 months. These days, I play "mom" and chase after my little monkeys. Life is good! :>)

Debbie (Ashton) Jorgensen

dieblume2002@hotmail.com

Classmate Bio: Janelle (Griggs) McMurray

Hello everyone! The past 10 years have gone by quickly and I am excited to see everyone again at the reunion. After graduation I moved to Provo and attended UVSC and got my associates degree in generals in 2000 with an emphasis on Education. Then I transferred to BYU and got my bachelor’s degree in Marriage, Family and Human Development in 2001. I moved back to SLC and got a job as an administrative assistant for Management Recruiters of SLC.
I met my husband Justin McMurray through Debbie Ashton Jorgensen’s older sister and we were friends for a few years before dating. We started dating in the fall of 2002 and were married June 7, 2003. In October 2004, Justin got into a systems engineering program with his work (Northrop Grumman) and we traveled the country for 2 years. We first moved to Orlando and lived there for 6 months and I worked as a temp and went to Disneyworld 13 times! I absolutely loved living there. Then we were transferred to New Orleans and lived there until Hurricane Katrina came through and we evacuated to Austin, TX to stay with Justin’s sister. When we realized we couldn’t go back for a while, we flew home to Utah for 5 weeks and I never ended up going back. Justin went back to New Orleans for a day to get our stuff (our apt ended up being fine) and then we moved to Fairfax, VA near Washington D.C. We enjoyed touring D.C. nearly every weekend and had our first baby boy Tim in April 2006. We moved back to Utah in September 2006 and bought a house in Syracuse, UT where we currently live.
Justin still works for Northrop Grumman in Clearfield and is planning to attend BYU’s executive MBA program this fall held in SLC. I also went to school online while traveling and having kids and got my MBA in Human Resource Management from Walden University finishing up in November 2007. We welcomed our second child, Allison in February 2008 and we are enjoying living back in Utah with family nearby. We have a family blog at http://www.mcmurrayfamilyfun.blogspot.com/. See you all soon!

Janelle Griggs McMurray

Update on Reunion plans and pictures

Plans have been coming together behind the scenes, but there's not a lot of news to report at the moment. Those on the reunion committee continue to put together email address and contact information. We will post a list of people that we do not have contact information for later this month. Invitations will be forthcoming, but save the date for August 2nd.

For those who would like to have pictures included in the slide show, they can now be emailed to murray98reunionpics@gmail.com. Shane Cox will be putting together the slide show. If you have pictures that need to be scanned, you can snail mail them to Shane, and he will scan and return pictures at the reunion. There are no specific resolution requirements, but the higher res, the better.

Alumni Updates

If you have news about your life (babies, weddings, graduations, etc...) that you'd like to share with fellow Spartans, email your info to murray98reunion@gmail.com. We're also interested in family pictures and general family updates. Layton High's reunion blog has so many interesting updates, and I think it would be fun to do something similar.

Speaking of, would any of you bloggers be willing to volunteer to help with updates to this blog?

We also need help with:
Finding caterers
Helping find lost alumni
Creating Invitations
Recruiting Sponsors
Organizing money and deposits

Congratulations!

Congrats to Malinda Mackey Edging! She gave birth to Gage on May 10th!

August 2nd it is! Volunteers???

It's been officially decided. We'll be holding the reunion August 2nd. We will have an afternoon activity at the Sports Mall for families, and a more formal evening reception at the new MHS. We are trying to get plans rolling so we can send out an invitation with the details by June 1st.

Right now we are trying to get together details for food, slideshow, deposits, RSVPs, invitations, etc... I'm having a hard time keeping up. If you have some extra time you'd like to volunteer, please let me know.

This week we are deciding the food arrangements at the Sports Mall. Would you like to do it potluck style? Would you like to rent big grills and have a BBQ (and pay per item)? Do you have connections for restaurants and catering? Karen Cheshire Chatelain will be coordinating the food preparation, so let her or myself know if you have any ideas.

Shane Cox will be getting together the slideshow, but nobody's emailed any pictures yet. I know you have pictures laying around. If you need them to be scanned, you can mail them to me, and I'll return them at the reunion.

Please keep sending updates on your mailing address, email, and phone numbers. We have a spreadsheet from the 5 year reunion that we're trying to keep up, and I know a lot of you don't live with your parents in Murray anymore... email your stats to

murray98reunion@gmail.com

Time to Start Collecting Alumni Info

I'd like to start compiling a list of alumni that already know about the reunion, and a VERY tentative RSVP. I want to start a LOST and FOUND list. Please email me your name (including maiden name), email, mailing address and phone number to

murray98reunion@gmail.com

Even if you are CERTAIN you won't attend, we would still like to hear from you. We would hate to have someone miss out when others may know how to contact her/him. Even if you are a best friend of the reunion committee, we want to have your info to make up a better alumni roster in case somebody else is accessing the email. I have been looking that the blog for the class of 1997, and they had a great success last year. We'd like to see as many of you as possible, and that begins with knowing how to contact you.

Also, if you have any pictures that you'd like to include in the evening slideshow, you can email to this address too! Just pull out that ol' MHS box and scan away!

New Contact Email

You can now email pictures, stories, dedications, or contact Nicole for reunion questions and concerns at

murray98reunion@gmail.com

The Votes are In...

Looking at the polls, it appears that the first weekend of August is the winner for our reunion date. As for the location, we will probably have the picnic at the Sports Mall and evening reception at MHS.

Aaron and I have also been discussing ways to raise some money for the reunion. We are hoping to find some sponsors of local business. If you know of a business or individuals that may want to sponsor the reunion ($25 and up), please email me at murray98reunion@gmail.com . Sponsors will get an ad on the reunion blog and will have mention at the reunion festivities.

Orange Level ($25-49)
Black Level ($50-99)
Silver Level ($100-149)
Gold Level ($150-199)
Platinum Level ($200 +)

Reunion at the New MHS?

Robin Lewis got in touch MHS. They said we can have the reunion at the school on Friday August 1st. The alumni rental price was quoted as :

Auditorium - $125 an hour
Commons - $35 an hour
plus $25 an hour for a technition for the auditorium
plus $15 an hour for a supervisor

We'll have to get an idea of how many people will be attending and how much the cost of food will be, and then we'll have a better idea of how much it would cost per person. I've posted a poll to see which location (Sports Mall, Murray Park, MHS) would be your preference for the reunion. But feel free to comment!

Reunion Location Possibilities

This week while in SLC, I checked out a few parks and locales for the reunion. I looked at the Sports Mall, which has a great big grassy area with a sand volleyball court. Pool access may also be a possibility. We could bring in some big grills and do a barbecue. It would be nice and private. The gym at the Sports Mall could also be used for the evening dinner/reception. The daytime price would be $5 per person (including for children) and I haven't negotiated anything for the evening yet. The food cost whether we cater or go potluck style, will be in addition to the $5. My goal for the evening price will be somewhere in the $20-30 range.

I looked at some of the park pavilions within Murray Parks and Rec, and this looks like our best options:

Murray Park Pavilion #2
(Pavilion Capacity 250)
$50

Rules for Murray Parks:
*Rental available from 8am to park closing at 11pm
*No amplified sound or alcohol allowed
*Limited electrical--two 110 outlets
*Equipment bags available for rent with reserved pavilion
*Blowup structures are not allowed at Pavilions 1 & 3 in Murray Park; Hidden Village, Walden, Winchester, or Grant. Use of blowup structures require Park staff approval
*Must have own generator for blowups

So using Murray park would be inexpensive, but we couldn't amplify any music or do any P.A. announcements. We could rent some blow-ups, which I haven't priced out yet, but we'll have to also rent the generators. I also need to figure out if the pavilion rental price is hourly or by the day.

There's also a possibility for renting MHS...if I can get anyone to call me back...

A new blog feature...

In order to make the reunion site interesting between actual PLANNING details, I decided YOU should make it interesting. I thought it would be fun to do some Then and Now pictures, announcing special events in MHS alumni lives (weddings, babies, promotions, graduations, etc...) If you would like to have a post about you, email your pics and announcement to cuteculturechick@gmail.comNathan McEuen next to his flammable gas ball in Ojai, CA

Our first installment will be a plug for a gig for Nathan McEuen. For those of you who thought he dropped off the face of the planet post-'98, he's actually been living his dream as a full-time, world-traveling musician. He's done hundreds of gigs, both solo and as part of bands over the last 10 years. He's created and produced two excellent albums, Grand Design and Festival. He currently lives in Ventura, CA and I was admittedly one of his So-Cal groupies when I lived there. His website with music clips is here. He's doing a SLC show Friday night, which is one of the reasons I came to visit this week. If you're looking for some great rock/folk/bluegrass/pop music...it's definitely worth your while to stop in at his show! Heck, I flew out 1700 miles to see it...

Nathan McEuen Live

March, 28 2008, 8 PMat Eeeasy Street
450 W. 700 S., Salt Lake City, Utah 84123
Cost : $5