Fish or Cut Bait

Thanks to everyone who bought their tickets by last month's deadline, we've confirmed that there's enough interest to be able to officially say that YES, our 15th reunion is ON.

Officially.

So what's next?

If you've already paid for your ticket and you've received a confirmation e-mail from us, you're all set! Just show up at The Loft at 7PM on Saturday, June 27th.

If you have NOT paid for your ticket, YOU'RE IN LUCK! We're extending the ticket purchase deadline to Thursday, June 18th.

But here's the thing: We're not even kidding about that being the deadline. No ifs, ands or butts about it -- we HAVE TO give the restaurant our FINAL headcount on the 19th so the 18th is our official, no bones about it, speak now or forever hold your peace deadline for ticket purchases.

Okay, okay...June 18th...I get it. Where do I send my money?

You still have the two options:

1. Send $50 per person (checks can be made out to either Elizabeth Holt or Sarah Woodside) to:

LHS Reunion
1001 Villa Maria Court
San Jose, CA 95125

2. PayPal $52 per person (the extra $2 covers the fees) to lincolnlions1994@gmail.com

What does that $50 buy me?

The ticket price includes an appetizer buffet and one drink ticket. AND the pleasure of our company and all.

Sheesh...that's kinda spendy, isn't it?

We double dog dare you to find something better. And when you do, we're nominating you for the 20th reunion committee.

READY, SET, GO!!!!!!!

We're joining the 21st century: Pay us via PayPal!

Things we DON'T have to do:

• Find wheelbarrows to haul the FLOOD of checks that are arriving at Reunion Central.
  
• Get paper cuts from opening BAJILLIONS of envelopes.
  
• Get callouses on our fingers from pushing all those buttons on the ATM because we're making SO MANY deposits.

Seriously, you guys are freaking us out.

We have ONE MONTH before we have to cancel the whole darn thing and we're still um...one or two heads short.

We know that some of you have conflicting vacation plans and some of you have conflicting work plans and some of you would rather avoid the whole shindig (gasp!), but what about the rest of you?

WE KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!

So, in the interest of making it as EASY AS POSSIBLE for you to cough up your hard earned dough and because we know how H-A-R-D it is to find checks and envelopes and stamps (oh my!) we've decided to accept payments via PayPal.

BUT HERE'S THE THING:

If you want the convenience of paying with PayPal then you have to cough up a little extra to cover the fees. A big TWO DOLLARS extra.

New Instructions:

Option A: Send us a check for $50 per person. More info HERE.

Option B: Send us $52 per person via PayPal. We're all signed up under lincolnlions1994@gmail.com so if that's your method of choice, you probably already know what to do, so GO FOR IT!

The payment deadline still hasn't changed!

We still need your money in our hot little hands by Monday, April 20th. That's just about ONE MONTH from now.

GO GO GO!

Each payment we receive is one less tear we'll cry each night.

10%

Things that used to make us happy:

• cupcakes
• puppies
• rainbows
• getting e-mails from people sending us their contact information and/or their friends' contact information

Ahhh, the olden days.

Thank goodness for cupcakes, puppies and rainbows because we SURE AS HECK aren't getting very many e-mails anymore! We did start getting more and more blog hits though so that made up for the emptiness of our in-boxes (and our hearts...sniff...).

BUT YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT MAKES US HAPPY NOW??

Caps lock?

Yes. But guess what else!

GETTING CHECKS FROM YOU GUYS!

Forget about cupcakes and puppies and rainbows! We're getting cold, hard cash in the mail and it makes us HAPPY! (Except really, they're checks but "cold, hard checks" doesn't have the same ring to it.)

We still have a long way to go but we're tickled to report that we have reached the 10% mark...meaning, we've sold 10% of the tickets we need to sell in order for this reunion to become a reality. Sure, that 90% is kinda daunting but we're not going to let it get us down. We're glass-half-full people over here at Reunion Central.

You have 39 days to send your $50 per person to Sarah Woodside or Elizabeth Holt at this address:

LHS Reunion

1001 Villa Maria Court

San Jose, CA 95125

If you're late to the party, you can read ALL about the ticket process HERE. Ticket FAQs are HERE.

In summary:

• $50 in 39 days
• THANK YOU to everyone who already sent in their money! We're sending confirmation e-mails today so if you don't hear from us, tell us to shake the mailbox to see if any money comes out.
• We love CAPS.

FAQs - TICKET SPECIAL!

Questions about the ticket buying process? You're in the right place!

Let us know if your questions aren't answered! You're probably not the only one so we'd love to know what we're missing!

So, like, I have to buy a ticket?

Yes.

How much?

$50 per person.

What if I don't buy a ticket in advance? Can I just show up and pay at the door?

NO. We hate to be firm about it but we have to give a final headcount to the restaurant before the reunion and we can't afford to cover any unpaid no-shows.

But why is April 20th the deadline for buying my ticket? That's kinda early, isn't it?

Yes, it is, but we had to put down a deposit and if we don't cancel by a certain date, we lose our deposit...which is code for "Andrea, Cassie, Elizabeth and Sarah have to eat it." That still gives you nearly two months to locate your check book though, so hop to it!

Can I bring my husband/wife/partner/hot date?

Please do! The more the merrier! It's still $50 per person though.

Where do I send my money?

Make the check out to either Sarah Woodside or Elizabeth Holt (or both, if it makes you feel better) and mail it to:

LHS Reunion
1001 Villa Maria Court
San Jose, CA 95125

I don't know how I feel about sending you hoodlums money. How do I know this is legit?

No bones about it, we're asking you to trust us.

Why do I have to make the check out to Sarah or Elizabeth? Why not Cassie? Why not Andrea? Why not something more official sounding?

Sarah and Elizabeth are the two names on the bank account. We tried getting a business bank account so we could have the checks made out to the reunion itself, but that involved forming an LLC or something and blah blah blah, we aren't funded for that so we're going the cheap route.

Can I pay via Paypal?

No, sorry. There are transaction limits on free accounts and fees associated with upgraded accounts and it's just not a good option for us. If you know some way around this, let us know!

Seriously? You want me to go find my checkbook and send you money the old school way? For reals?

Yes. We know from personal experience how HARD it is to find exotic things like ENVELOPES and, *gasp*, STAMPS, but we're asking you to pretty please with sugar on top, make the effort.

YES! We need to cover the fees though so if PayPal is your poison, just send us $52 per person! Our account is linked to our lincolnlions1994@gmail.com e-mail address, so send, send away!!

What happens if the reunion gets cancelled?

The only way the reunion will be cancelled is if we don't sell enough tickets to meet our contractual obligations with the restaurant. We know this makes it kinda sticky for people who need to make travel arrangements but we'll let you know AS SOON as we meet our minimum...we need everyone to buy their tickets by April 20th anyway, so you'll still have two months to book your flights and/or your parents' guest rooms.

Go ahead! Knock our socks off! Send us your money TODAY! We dare you!

BUT, if the reunion DOES get cancelled, then we'll send your money back ASAP. We pinkie swear.

How many tickets do you need to sell?

We're hesitant to blab that because we don't want anyone to make any assumptions about whether or not they need to send in their money NOW NOW NOW or, you know, whenever they get around to it. Like, we don't want our reunion to get Chris Daughtry on American Idol Syndrome -- where everybody thinks everybody else is going to do it so they don't have to.

So anyway, it's a TOTALLY do-able number. Now send us your money. Please.

What do I get for my $50?

You'll get appetizers and one drink ticket at The Loft Bar & Bistro in downtown San Jose. We'll have a private room from 7-10PM but after that, the restaurant turns into a lounge with a DJ and a dance floor. You are welcome to stay and shake your groove thang or see if an after party spontaneously develops.

So there's no dinner?

In the interest of keeping the cost down so as many people as possible would come, no, we are not able to include dinner in the ticket price. The Loft is a restaurant though so if you wanted to make your own dinner reservations for the pre-reunion period, I'm sure that would be fine, but you'd be on your own for that.

I didn't graduate in 1994, but I'm a Lincoln teacher and/or a friend of the class of 1994. Can I come?

Sure thing! We know that plenty of teachers and people in higher or lower classes were tight with people in our class and we're more than happy to have them join is. All the regular ticket buying guidelines still apply.

And now a question for YOU:

What questions have we left unanswered? Please e-mail us at lincolnlions1994@gmail.com and we'll get right on it!

More FAQs here:

http://lincoln1994.blogspot.com/2009/01/faqs-part-1.html

Okay here's the part where we try to squeeze blood from a rock.

If you've been following this blog or if you're on our EXCITING! ADVANCE! INFORMATION! E-MAIL! LIST! then you already know this but here's the OFFICIAL skinny on the Saturday night portion of our reunion:

WHO: Lincoln High School's Class of 1994 & their guests.

WHAT: 15th reunion! Tickets are $50 per person and will include an appetizer buffet and one drink ticket. We're hoping to add a few more perks but it all depends on whether we can sell enough tickets, so PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP send us your $50 EARLY!

WHERE: Loft Bar & Bistro at 90 S. 2nd Street in downtown San Jose. We'll have a private room for the first three hours but then the venue turns into a lounge/nightclub. We won't be kicked out or anything, but it will no longer be a private event.

WHEN: 7-10PM on Saturday, June 27th

WHY: Because it's been 15 years since most of us saw each other!

***NOTE***

There are TWO reunion related events: The Saturday night cocktail party detailed above AND a picnic at the Rosegarden on Sunday. Sunday is a free event, though really, we're using the word "event" kinda loosely because it's BYOP (Bring Your Own Picnic) and it will be much more casual and low key. We totally want to meet your kids (and see what you look like in the daylight) and Saturday night's festivities will be for grown-ups only.

All the ticket purchase information that we're going to be blah blah blah'ing about will be for the cocktail party ONLY. We'll share more about the picnic part later.

So now that's been said, it's ticket buying time!

Here are some important things to keep in mind:

1. If we don't sell enough tickets, we can't have this event.

2. The deadline for getting your $50 into our hot little hands is Monday, April 20th.

1 + 2 =

3. If we don't sell enough tickets by Monday, April 20th, we can't have the reunion.

We'll be publishing the ticketing FAQ shortly, but if you want to cut to the chase and buy your ticket, here's how to do it:

Step One:

Write a check for $50 per person to Sarah Woodside or Elizabeth Holt -- both names are on the account so pick your poison.

Acceptable Payees:

Sarah Woodside
Elizabeth Holt
Sarah Woodside OR Elizabeth Holt
Sarah Woodside AND Elizabeth Holt

We hate to make it complicated, but we're trying to give you options...because, you know, maybe you think Elizabeth is going to run off with your money and buy hair products or something. She promises she won't though. And Woodside? She's your elected official...but don't let that sway you...she's 100% trustworthy.

(We're TOTALLY KIDDING here...neither of them would ever do anything with your money other than pay for reunion stuff.)

Step Two:

Mail it, along with your name (ladies, if you've changed your name, please tell us what your name USED to be too) and phone number or e-mail address (in case we have any questions) to:

LHS Reunion
1001 Villa Maria Court
San Jose, CA 95125

Attention Stalkers: This isn't Sarah OR Elizabeth's address...it's the address of a different committee member entirely. Checks and balances and all...

Step Three:

Take a nap, read a book, bake us some cupcakes...whatever you like. We'll take care of the rest.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE:

If you'd like to pay via PayPal you can! Just send $52 per person (the extra $2 is to cover the fees) to us at lincolnlions1994@gmail.com.

That's it?

Pretty much! We'll contact you to let you know that you are officially good to go, but otherwise, we'll just look forward to seeing your smiling face at Loft Bar & Bistro in June!

So I'm not getting an actual ticket or anything?

No. Just check in with us when you get there. The registration area should be obvious. We think.

So I just show up?

Yep! Trust us. It'll be great. We're looking forward to it and we can't wait to see you all there!!

Venue Announcement!

It's official!

We plunked down the deposit and signed the contract over the weekend and we are pleased to finally be able to announce that Lincoln High School's Class of 1994 Reunion will be held at Loft Bar & Bistro in downtown San Jose!

Loft Bar & Bistro
90 South 2nd Street
San Jose, CA 95113
408-291-0677

Tickets will be $50 per person and will include an appetizer buffet and one drink ticket. We're working on a few extra details so BUY YOUR TICKETS EARLY so we know whether or not we'll have the cold, hard cash to make the magic happen!

Ready to buy your tickets?

YAY!

But keep your pants on, Lions. We're going to announce ticket details later this week, we promise. In the meantime, find a stamp, get your checkbooks out and scribble your pen around to get it going.

Woodholt

We didn't register for gifts and we weren't wearing white and there wasn't any cake involved, but Sarah and Elizabeth have a special announcement to make:

We opened a joint bank account and we are now financially obligated to each other.

For better or worse, richer or poorer.

WHY did we spend a Friday evening opening a bank account at the Wells Fargo in the grocery store? WHY did we give the 20-year-old teller (with a really darling attempt at a mustache) our social security numbers while listening to the soundtrack of the scanners and price checks in the background?

We did it for you, Lions. We did it for YOU.

You see, since we're not using an official reunion planning company, we needed to come up with a way to accept payment from you guys that felt OFFICIAL. We couldn't get a business bank account (Because did we mention? We're doing this on the cheap.) and we didn't want people to feel skeevy about sending money to people you haven't seen in 15 years and who could very well be organizing this whole thing as a scheme to steal your money.

I mean, we're totally not. I swear. Scout's honor. Except we were never Boy Scouts and I don't remember the Brownies having an honor-based hand gesture and my mom wouldn't let me graduate to Girl Scouts for some reason that, now that I think about it, isn't quite clear. But really, we're totally on the up-and-up.

(Ignore the crazy lady tangent -- someone has Girl Scout Cookies on the brain, it seems -- and let's get back to the business of making you feel good about sending us money.)

SO, in order to make you feel good about sending us money, we decided to put the entire reunion committee on the bank account. Except that child care and careers and bay area traffic and this and that made it so that only two of us could make it to the "bank." (Seriously, banks in grocery stores feel so unofficial...I'm not used to banking at the same place I buy tomatoes.)

But it's all for the best because now Sarah and Elizabeth are able to share the special bond of co-banking and when you send us money you can send it to one or the both of them and everyone will be happy.

If you're wondering if you missed the part about sending us money, don't worry...you haven't. We haven't announced anything yet, but when we DO, we want you to have some background on why the heck we're asking you to write your checks out to Sarah or Elizabeth.

And also to share the glory of opening a bank account at Safeway. It's kinda like VIP check-in in Vegas.

Except without the complimentary cocktails.