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Below is a letter sent by a committee who chose to plan their reunion on their own. This is just one committee's account, but we felt it helps to illustrate the frustrations a committee may face when trying to "work without a net." We have removed the names to protect their privacy. The reunion took place in 2003. This letter was mailed in December 2004, along with a check for $5.

Dear Alameda Sr. High School Alumni, Class of 1983:

     "What is this $5 for?" you are asking. Here's the deal: The memory book that you all ordered is not done and the several people who made up the reunion committee has come to accept that it will never be done. The member of the reunion committee who committed to do this has failed to finish the task, and failed to ask for help despite MANY offers to him. He has failed several attempts to contact him by several people. This is frustrating, but this account needs to be closed and the remaining funds need to be "spent" somehow. [Committee Member] and I have been maintaining the funds in the account which were made up of people who ordered tickets for the reunion and people who ordered memory books only. There was $475.23 in the account when I closed it out recently and would have been a very good estimate to finish the memory books for everyone.

     I am the first to recognize that no matter how I disburse this money it will not be fair. I am the first to recognize there are 100 ways, plus 15 more ways, to come up with different solutions. No one way is wrong or right, and some probably have the opinion that there is a "more right" way to disburse. After consulting with the several members of the reunion committee by email who did not disagree, this is the way I have decided upon and I recognize that accomplishes nothing more than showing all of you accountability for the $475.23.

     So, whether you are a person who paid for a memory book only, or a person who paid for a sinle of couples ticket to come to the Saturday night event, or a person who paid for such a tickets and then was not able to make it, everyone who paid us money for the event or for just a book will get $5 back. As it is, I'm going into the red (slightly, don't worry about it) to get this to eveyone plus the postage. It is the smallest divisible denomination other than sending a few $1 bills in the mail (which sending cash through the mail is already not the brightest idea).

     I am still so grateful to everyone at the Saturday night event who kicked in extra money to keep me from seriously going into debt. It was difficult when we started the reunion project in April 2002 to know just how many people we would have and we did the best estimate we knew to do. Thank you again to all of you.