Portage Northern - Class of 89

Reunion Photos Available Online

2009-08-18T11:41:33Z

Good morning all,

It’s hard to believe that our 20th reunion, which was approximately 8 months in the making, has now come and went. We sincerely hope that everyone had a great time reminiscing and catching up with old friends. To that end, I’ve been downloading many of the photos taken by your fellow alumni at Saturday night’s event. Many thanks to the photographers for sharing their excellent shots! The photos are available as a web album found at the following address:

http://picasaweb.google.com/PNHSClassof89/PortageNorthernClassOf198920thReunion?authkey=Gv1sRgCLGdpYqPxNrdaA&feat=directlink

As additional photos become available, I will simply append them to this photo album. I’ll also attempt to caption them with alumni names wherever possible.

One last thing, the PNHS89.com site will remain active and online. Look for me to post additional info via the “Announcements” blog for the next couple days where I’ll touch upon topics such as the Classmate Directory and discussions for a 25th or 30th reunion.

Take care,
-Matt

Only One Night…to ROCK!

2009-08-13T01:37:37Z

Good evening alumni,

I’m currently in the midst of converting a VHS tape of our beloved 1989 Portage Northern Talent Show to DVD (thank to Jenny (Ouding) Frye for the tape). The show was kicked off with a rock edge by none other than “Trinity”, which was comprised of Class of ‘89 alums Jim Hughes, Brian Blackmer, Scott Larsen, and Matt McKenzie.

And now…for one Night ONLY, Trinity returns to rock the reunion! The original band reunites with additional members, Todd Evans and his keyboard wizardry, alumni James Powell running the soundboard, and Brad Blackmer on vocals. Fresh off a jam session in the Windy City, Trinity plans a 10-song set of 80’s rock favorites and recent tunes thrown in for good measure. If you’re a fan of U2, Shinedown, or The Cure…you will not want to be leaving early Saturday night as the band takes the stage at 10 PM!

Until we rock on Saturday! \m/
-Matt

Main Event Timeline for Saturday Night

2009-08-11T02:00:53Z

Good evening all,

Despite all the messages we’ve posted about the reunion over the past 8 months, we’ve negelected to post the actual times for the main reunion event for August 15th! Here’s the general timeline for this coming Saturday. The timeline may vary by 15-20 minutes here and there depending on the ebb and flow of the evening’s events:

Reunion event (and registration desk) opens: 6:00 PM (Registration open until ~8:00 PM)
Food stations (save room for dessert): 6:00 until approx. 8:00 PM
DJ and Dancing: Approx. 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM
LIVE Alumni Talent Show Reunion Band, “Trinity” takes the stage: 10:00 PM to 10:50 PM
More dancing: 11:00 PM - Midnight

After the event closes, many alumni will undoubtedly continue the party elsewhere. We do not have an “official” place to gather after the event, but the rumblings point towards the Main Street pub in Portage and/or back to Wayside, the host for our Friday night gathering.

Four Days & Counting! Until then…

Friday Night @ Wayside

2009-08-08T21:58:26Z

We’re now less than one week from our first reunion weekend event at Wayside in Kalamazoo next Friday night, August 14th! I thought I’d drop a post here due to the questions I’ve had over the past few weeks about who can attend and if the event is open to PNHS grads other than the Class of ‘89.

In a nutshell, Wayside is a huge facility and I don’t believe they’ll turn down a hoard of thirsty bar patrons! We don’t yet have a specific “start time” for the event, but it will be held in one of the bars in the upper level of Wayside. I’ll post some specifics in the next day or two about this event as well as the timeline of events for the Main Event on Saturday night.

Bottom line…bring your friends to Wayside next Friday night! If the crowd we expect for the reunion shows up plus additional Northern alumni, it could be pretty legendary!

Cheers,
-Matt

Wondering What to Wear to the Reunion?

2009-08-07T15:05:33Z

Good morning all,

I’ve been asked quite frequently “What should I wear to the reunion?” or “Does the reunion event require formal dress?” My basic response to this frequently asked question is that the Saturday night event does not require formal attire. As far as suggestions, based on all other reunion pictures I’ve viewed from past reunions (including our PNHS ‘88 alums) the dress code leans towards “business casual.”

Alternately, I’ve told people to wear whatever you think makes you look great! Will we see people wearing ripped jeans circa 1989 to the reunion? Probably not! However, if anyone wants to dust off their old prom dresses, it’s strictly your choice! All I know is that you shouldn’t plan on seeing me wearing a tie!

Have a great day!
-Matt

The Ticket-Less 20th Reunion

2009-08-06T01:35:23Z

Good evening all,

Couple questions regarding tickets for the reunion have hit my inbox lately. The most frequently asked question is a pretty straightforward, “Do we get tickets for the event?” In lieu of the cost of printing tickets and the relatively small number of attendees, we’re simply tracking all paid attendees as a separate section of our Alumni Database that we’ve been constructing since Day One.

The basic method of tracking is that we’re emailed whenever a PayPal purchase occurs which I then immediately enter into the database. The same method applies to attendees that send personal checks to my attention. I drop the names into the database and take the checks in for deposit.

The short answer is no printed tickets, but we’re definitely on top of the list of who’s attending. In fact, we’ll have a registration table at the entrance of Pine West where you can pick up your lanyard and name tag which will be emblazoned with your smiling face from your Class of 1989 senior picture!

Have a great night…10 days until the reunion!

Cheers,
-Matt Malone
Reunion Coordinator

Reunion Attendance Numbers or “How Many People will I Party With?”

2009-08-03T02:27:09Z

Fellow alumni,

Now that we’ve passed the deadline for ticket purchases, I’m pleased to publish a few numbers on the reunion attendance. As you’ve read over the last few weeks, the RSVP list has grown and the Missing List has shrunk (thanks to everyone’s efforts)! There are a few people on the RSVP list that have indicated they may not make it to the reunion as well as a few that stated they might not know if they can attend until closer to the reunion. Either way, we’ll try to accomodate as many people as possible.

Without further adieu, here are some numbers for you digest:

Total Number of Individual Alumni Attending: 64-66
Total Number Attending Including Spouses/Significant Others: 99-101
Total Number of Live Rock Bands Playing at the Reunion Composed of Alumni: 1 (much more on this later!)
Number of Great Memories Waiting to be Shared Again: Immeasurable

Please check out the “Announcements” space in the next few weeks for additional updates and thanks again to everyone that’s attending!

Until August 15th!
-Matt

Who’s Attending and Who’s Missing!

2009-07-10T13:13:17Z

Fellow alumni,

Are you curious to see who’s RSVP’ed that they’re attending our reunion on August 15th? Perhaps you’re curious as to who’s missing and if you can lend a hand? Then look no further to our Bulletin Board forums where we have current listings for both categories!

Classmates Attending:
http://pnhs89.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/17/

Classmates Missing: (as of July 10, 2009):
http://pnhs89.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/18/

We’re always open to assistance on any of our committees and in finding our missing alumni. Please shoot us an email at PNHSClassof89@pnhs89.com with questions.

Hope to see you all there!
-Matt Malone
Reunion Coordinator

Reunion Ticket Purchases by Personal Check

2009-06-06T16:09:45Z

In addition to the convenience of the PayPal purchase route we’ve set up on our website, you can also send a personal check to me for purchase and deposit into our 20th Reunion bank account. We’ve established a separate checking account dedicated solely to reunion monies to pay for the banquet facility, dinner, etc. If the personal check route is your preferred payment method, please send a check payable to:

Matt Malone
325 Glenwood Dr
Walled Lake, MI 48390

Thanks! We hope to see you all there!
-Matt Malone
Reunion Coordinator

Reunion Web Payments Online!

2009-05-26T14:57:26Z

Thanks to the wizardry of our webmaster, Shelah Davis (Holt), you can now purchase reunion tickets online via our secure PayPal account. The cost of the tickets is a nominal fee of $55 for an alumni and $105 for an alumni and guest. The tickets prices include use of the beautiful Pine West banquet facility, catered dinner, and 80’s music entertainment courtesy of the house DJ. Plans are also underway to possibly have live music courtesy of our own Northern alumni! We’d like the reunion to be an event to reminisce with your former classmates and discover the wondrous details of the direction our lives have taken us over the past 20 years. We’d love to see all of you there on Saturday, August 15th, 2009!

Thanks,
-Matt Malone, Reunion Coordinator

Web Site Launch

2009-02-18T16:11:15Z

The hub of our planning is now online. I am quite excited. There are a few things to work out with the site but nothing that will hinder our planning.

I have to admit, planning a reunion was not on my agenda this year. Not at all. Getting back in touch with the classmates that are on Facebook moved me to jump on board. I am glad that Matt stepped forward to spear head the project. (Yes, I pushed him out there. Still, he didn’t object. ) So Thank you Matt.

Our first order of business needs to be finding a location and getting that secured. Once that happens, we can cement our date and start making more definitive plans.

While the location is being hashed out, we also need to be locating everyone and encouraging them to get over here and register so we can keep track of them. Matt has created a database file with a list of all of the students from our graduating class. We will be posting a list of all unfound classmates shortly. We will need everyone’s help to make that list as small as possible. I think with all of the offered help, we can make this reunion fabulous. The key: Communication.

Happy Day All.