Reunions

Reunions are get-togethers of CTY students from specific sites, sessions, classes, halls, and/or groups. They can occur right after a session ends, or many years later.

Reunions are useful and fun for several reasons. First, they allow you to reconnect with friends from CTY who you may not have seen in years. Second, they allow you to meet other CTYers in your area who you may become good friends with. Third, they allow CTYers from different sites, sessions, and years to gather to discuss general CTY issues. Finally, they are a neat way to spend an afternoon.

Reunion Organization

Here are some guidelines on how to organize a general CTY reunion in your area.

• Pick a Date: In general, I have held reunions twice a year... once in the Spring and one in the Summer. The Spring reunions usually draw a smaller crowd than the summer ones, as people tend to be busy or out of town in the Spring. Summer reunions tend to draw a lot more recent CTYers. Try not to hold a reunion while CTY is in session, as then a lot of possible attendees will be at CTY. I have always held my reunions on Saturdays.
• Pick a Time: Usually, I hold reunions from noon until about 5, though an evening reunion would be interesting, depending on the activities planned.
• Pick a Place: I have always had people meet at the Washington Monument, as it is a pretty easy place to find in the District. I would suggest picking a place that someone who is from out of town would not have too much trouble finding. Be very specific... it would suck to have someone be just around the corner and not find you.
• Plan Stuff To Do: Usually, I have kept plans very loose... meeting at the Monument and then heading out for food. Generally, hanging out is enough fun. However, if you have a specific activity in mind, be sure to find out all the necessary information.
• Decide How Responsible You Are Going To Be: Once or twice, I have been approached by the parents of some younger CTY students, trying to make sure that I was a good and responsible person who wasn't going to let their child get into trouble. If minors attend your reunion, as the organizer you are responsible for making sure they don't get hit by cars or arrested or something. If you aren't comfortable with this responsibility, make it clear ahead of time.
• Get the Word Out: I send my reunion notices to about 15 separate CTY mailing lists, as well as my personal friends from CTY. Try to spread the word as far as you can. Be sure to include all the information related to the reunion... not just when and where, but if money will be needed, should people bring sunscreen (I've been badly burned once or twice because I forgot to put on sunscreen at the outdoor reunions), and anything else you think attendees should know. You can post your own reunion dates further down on this page.
• Show Up: Be there early, and make sure you have a good idea of how many people plan on attending so no one gets left behind. Wearing a CTY shirt if you meet in a public place is a good idea, so that people can pick out who is with the reunion. After that, just have fun.

If you have any questions or want better advice, feel free to e-mail me at elizaweb@bigfoot.com and I'll help out as much as I can. Reunions are easy to plan, and they are fun!

In addition to the day-trip type reunion, there is the sleepover reunion. This is generally held by a certain group of friends within the CTY community, typically on a holiday weekend. The friends train, bus, or are driven to the organizer's house and then spend the weekend. Many time, a CTYer will ask if he/she can bring a friend, a request almost always granted. Depending on the parental supervision, guys and girls may sleep on seperate floors. Certainly there is always one room designated as the "Girls' Room" and one the "Boys' Room" for any parents leery of the co-ed sleepover.

Reunion Dates

List reunion dates, times, meeting places, sites, years, sessions, etc. here.

Lancaster

05.2
New Jersey Six Flags August 26th, 2005

06.2
NYC August 8th, 2006

06.2
NYC September 9th, 2006
Labor Day Parade: 11:00 am. If you want to march, meet at NE corner of East 44th and Madison at 10:30. 06.2 (though all welcome)
NYC October 14 2006
Monthly Meeting; 12pm. Intersection of W 34th and 7th (right intersection when exiting penn station)

2006 (both)
VA November 4th, 2006

CONFIRMED REUNION
There's a reunion in NYC on August 12th for anybody who wants to come, but Second Sessioners in particular are invited. Go here for info: http://hs.facebook.com/event.php?eid=4482706253

New York City
January 27th and February 17th

LANCASTER SESSION I&II
We (meaning me, Yulia, and several others) would like to start having regular reunions in NYC on the second Saturday of each month. Not only would this keep CTY withdrawal to a minimum, but it'll give out-of-towners the chance to schedule to be at at least one New York reunion. Thoughts?

Me (Max) thinks thinks we should change it around a bit. It's hard enough for me to come to NY (as in, I can't), and it's pretty much the same distance from NJ. And then there's the DC and VA people *shudders*. I say we change the place around each time. But the times are fine.

Me thinks that this is an eminently sensible idea. The way I see it, the great majority of the Lancaster community, besides a few outliers on the west coast, essentially is concentrated into four clusters: New York/Conneticuit (sic)/Long Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia/Maryland/D.C (or Virgyland, D.C.). As such, if we want to hold regular reunions, we could maximize attendence by rotating the location from NYC to DC to (Philly? Newark? or perhaps some middle ground?). This is all well and good, but before we schedule anything we need to able to answer three important questions: How will we get there and back, What will we do, and Where will we stay?
For now, I believe we can table the second question as it can be individually addressed at each reunion. The first is the major obstacle; however, Apex Bus offers service between NYC, DC and Trenton, and there's always the slightly more expensive Amtrak. As to the third question, it's unlikely we can find parents that are willing to take on several CTYers for a night, and then get all of them on the way home. What's more probable is a situation in which several houses will absorb a few CTYers each.
Personally, I don't think my parents would mind one or two sleepovers every once in a while. Does anybody else think they could swing something of this nature?

Rips says that my parents will be totally chill with a bunch of people sleeping over every once in a while. Im in central jersey, fyi. The every second Saturday idea is fantastic, props to yulia &several others. I think we should do those, and also seperate reunions on the first & third/fourth in places other then NYC. we could always think of times square, then have everyone donate like five buck, go out, and buy cold cuts and bread and drinks and have a big picnic? if someone has an outdoor projector that'd be cool to rig up.

Ariel thinks this is brilliant. I'm organizing something in NYC for around Labor Day this year, just a day thing, but the Second Saturday scheme would be AWESOME. I could host something in CT occasionally (I have lots of floor space for sleeping bags) if anybody wants to hang in New Haven or go to ConnectiCon next year before session 2

Laney has been conspiring with Will Steinberg to hold a MASSIVE sleepover reunion at her house. It is roughly exactly between NYC and DC (about three hours from both) and maybe two hours from Princeton. This reunion would be held over Christmas break (but not actual Christmas, don't worry) and might even last TWO NIGHTS. This has been in the works a long time, ever since Greg and I wandered around figuring out how many CTYers we could fit into each room of my house during Intersession last year. The reunion would include first- and second-sessioners, as I am friends with both. This is no time for modesty: my house is quite large. It can fit y'all. PLEASE CONSIDER IT.

OH YEAH AND I ALMOST FORGOT, there are trains to a station five minutes from my house (Middletown) from New York and Philly.

Wendy (in reference to Max's comment) thinks different reunion locations would be great. I recommend Philadelphia because it is very close to all the NJers, the MD/DC/VA kids can get there with relative ease, as well as the NYers. Oh, and not to mention us who live in PA. With different locations, we would probably get a wider variety of people at the reunions, which is great because sometimes people can't always go to NYC.

Carlisle

2006 (both, mainly 06.2)
NYC Grand Central August 26th, 2006

??.1
August 19th, Pallisades Mall
Meeting on 1st floor by cheesecake factory between 10:30 to 11 AM.
SNAKES ON A PLANE!!!

Everyone (Starting with Car.2.05 kids, and branching off with all of their CTY friends from various sites/sessions, and then all of their friends...etc.)
PHILADELPHIA, PA
August 17-18 (Tentative)
(We need people in the Philly area for housing if this is really going to be a 2 day reunion)
AIM RaiTheEmoHugger to make a suggestion or ask for details (We also have an event page on Facebook, search for Rachel Feltman.)

Saratoga Springs (Skidmore)

September 1, 2007 - Strawberry Fields, Central Park, NYC Time???

June 21, 2008 - NYC comment below

Easton

March 3, 2007 Priya's Sweet 16! Tree Crew Reunion. "Time of my life"

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e208/papapriya/caamp%20o6/camp.jpg

Loudonville (Siena)

November 23, 2007 New York City museum of natural history 79 Street And Central Park West noon