The MCHS 60s Reunion organizing committee met on Oct. 29, 2014 in Kitchener. Registration for the 2015 event is now underway.

Left to right: David Dodds, Peter Mearns, Scott Munro. Oct. 29, 2014 at Boston Pizza in Kitchener. Jaan Pill photo

The MCHS 60s Reunion & Celebration of the 60s organizing committee met on Oct. 29, 2014 at the Boston Pizza at 190 Gateway Park Drive in Kitchener.

Our next meeting is on Nov. 26, 2014 at 11:30 am at the same location.

If you’re eligible to attend the reunion – that is, if you attended MCHS at any point in the 1960s as a student or a teacher – you are most welcome to join us at the organizing meetings. We welcome your participation, and your input. If you want to join us through Skype or similar means, let us know.

Please register today by mailing a cheque – payable to MCHS 2015 – to Diana Redden in Langley, B.C.

A key outcome of the Oct. 29 meeting is that we now have a registration procedure in place for the Oct. 17, 2015 reunion at Old Mill Toronto.

Diana Redden of Langley, B.C. and Howard Hight, who lives near Boston, have created a reunion database. The database will serve as the registration form. If you wish to add your name to the database, and have not yet done so, please contact Howard Hight at hahight@gmail.com

The registration fee is $150 for single tickets and $250 per couple. That is, in the latter case, $150 applies to an MCHS 60s graduate or staff, with $100 applying to their spouse.

Please make all payments in Canadian currency.

Please make cheques payable to MCHS 2015.

Please send your registration fee (with a cheque made out to MCHS 2015) to:

Diana Redden
4487 – 222A Street
Langley, B.C.
V2Z 1B2

Any person who attended or worked at MCHS in the 1960s is eligible to attend the reunion

All students, teachers, and staff who were at MCHS in the 1960s are eligible to attend the MCHS 60s Reunion & Celebration of the 60s.

If you attended the school at any time in the 1960s, you are eligible to attend the reunion. If you started attending in the 1960s and didn’t graduate until the 1970s, you are eligible.

David Dodds is our accountant

David Dodds of Hamilton, who has worked as an accountant for Peter Mearns for many years, has taken on the accounting duties for the reunion. We are delighted to have David helping us with this vital aspect of our work. Peter attests to David’s competence, honesty, and integrity.

On Oct. 31, 2014, Peter Mearns and Jaan Pill set up a bank account for the reunion, at a TD Canada Trust branch in Bolton, Ontario. Jaan Pill photo

As well, we have set up a bank account at the TD Canada Trust branch in Bolton, on the Humber River north of Toronto. Peter Mearns, who has lived in Bolton since 1985, has been a customer at the bank for many years.

We have chosen to go with Canada Post and cheques as this is less expensive than setting up online registration. The cheques will be sent to Diana Redden in Langley, B.C.

Diana will in turn deposit the cheques at a TD Canada Trust branch in Langley. David, our accountant, will work closely with Diana, whose own background is in banking.

Jaan Pill and Peter Mearns will serve as co-signers of cheques written on behalf of the reunion. They’ve been chosen as signing officers because they are the two reunion organizers who live closest to each other in the Greater Toronto Area. All members of the organizing committee will receive monthly bank statements.

Whatever money is left over after expenses are covered will be distributed – possibly through raffles or prizes – at the reunion. We will share details at the event itself. The precise details of what we have in mind will serve as a surprise that we trust will be enjoyable for all attendees.

Please register as soon as you can

We request that people who wish to attend the reunion would register as soon as possible. Knowing how many people we can except will enable us to determine how many meeting rooms we require. The registrations will also enable us to pay a deposit for the meeting rooms.

Sometimes people wait until the last minute before they register for events of this nature. In order to ensure that we get an early indication of how many meeting rooms we will need, we urge you to register as early as you can.

Block rates for guest rooms

We will share details about block rates for guest rooms at Old Mill Toronto, and at other hotels in the Greater Toronto Area, in subsequent blog posts.

Other topics

At our Oct. 29, 2014 meeting we also discussed other topics, including photography and audio-visual requirements for the event, as well as details related to entertainment, with a focus on 50s and 60s music, and dancing. We are refining the details as we proceed.

Among the things we’re thinking about is some role plays or mini-dramas related to the 1960s at MCHS. A brief debate or even a brief lecture by a former teacher or teachers is also among the ideas we are starting to explore. Another idea is a brief Q & A involving a former teacher and former students.

The reunion starts at 6:00 pm and ends at 1:00 am. The basic setup is a buffet where people have the opportunity to informally mix and mingle. An overriding theme is that we will keep things simple.

In subsequent posts we’ll discuss the details, which are taking shape through ongoing discussions – and, as always, we welcome your input and ideas. We seek to stage a reunion that is friendly, relaxed, and inclusive, where each person feels at home.

If you have any questions about the registration process, please let us know.