Family Reunion Planning Meeting #2

2010 Oscar Sanner Reunion Planning Meeting
– Sept. 23, 2009 – Sue & Bob’s House

Attendees: Tom Baker, Denise Safranek, Patty Sanner, Carrie Jerome, Jennifer Sanner, Michelle Sanner, Steve Sanner, Bob & Sue Christenson

We’re getting closer….lots of great work was done in the past month by this group of cousins (with lots of help). Here’s the update:

•We are ready to send out “save the date” cards letting family know our reunion will be held in the Twin Cities metro area July 2nd and 3rd.

•Friday evening we will have a catered dinner gathering with time for socializing. Tom had checked on several options and Bob volunteered to check on a caterer he knows. Tom will continue to explore more options for the dinner (place and menu) now that we know the exact date. He, too, has a contact used by his company.

•Patty has checked several metro area parks. We will be able to reserve a park after January 1st. She is “on it”!

•Jennifer brought a DVD of “old” movies taken over many years by her parents. We will want to play this during the reunion events.

•Jennifer also brought prototypes of buttons for the reunion which could be color-coded per family. We will certainly have buttons. Some families may choose to have shirts, too. Carrie knows a person who will silk screen or print shirts very reasonably.

•Denise is requesting appropriate pictures (digital, if possible) from anyone who has them and she will compile all of them on a DVD.

•Steve is working to get all families’ addresses and other contact information.

We discussed the need for pre-registration for the reunion so we will be able to accurately anticipate the number of people at each event.

We thought it a good idea to invite Sanner cousins like Ellen & Verna’s families, Amie, and possibly others. We will talk with those older and wiser than we are to determine who all should be invited.

We talked about games – should we have a bowling event or horseshoe tournament? How about an arts and crafts area for the youngest generation? Maybe a scavenger hunt would be fun as a way for younger family members to know older members. How about a game with pictures of each generation and the generation below would have to identify the pictures? We talked about enlisting the help of a few people to come up with fun ideas for activities/games.

We asked the question…How often should we have a Sanner Family Reunion – every 3-5 years? Maybe once we get this one organized, the next one would be easier…
Carrie volunteered to get a Sanner Family Reunion Blog started to keep family informed about the upcoming reunion.

Thanks to everyone for the great work! We will meet again on Wednesday, October 21st at 7pm at Sue & Bob’s to continue the planning process. ALL COUSINS/SPOUSES/SIGNIFICANT OTHERS ARE WELCOME! THE MORE IDEAS THE BETTER THE END PRODUCT!

-Susan Christenson

First Sanner Reunion Meeting

2010 Oscar Sanner Family Reunion Planning Meeting
– August 26, 2009

Attendees: Tom Baker, Steve Sanner, Denise and Al Safranek, Patti Sanner, Jennifer Sanner, Michelle Sanner, Bob and Sue Christenson

A great group of can-do/will-do cousins gathered at Bob and Sue’s to get the ball rolling for a Sanner Reunion next summer. According to Michelle, who archives events through scrapbooking, summer of 1993 was our last reunion. Uffda! That’s just too long!

We made some decisions and cousins accepted some assignments to get us to the next step. Here’s what we decided…

•We are focused on the 4th of July weekend, depending on availability of sites for an evening dinner and a park to accommodate our group for a day of fun and visiting.

•Once we know the exact dates, we will send out a “save the date” card or letter.

•Steve volunteered to work with Dolores to get all the needed addresses.

•Patty will check on parks in the metro area that would work for our group.

•Tom is checking on possible sites for an evening dinner.

•Denise volunteered to begin working on a DVD of family pictures that could play during our reunion.

•We will need means of identification. Jennifer volunteered to come up with some ideas. We discussed buttons and also having each family wear the same color as another means of identification.

•We talked about some games that would engage the younger generation.

•We discussed the possibility of having prizes – we would need to ask for donations of items or $$ to purchase these.

•All of us will benchmark with other successful family reunions to get ideas, i.e., the Wilebski clan.

•We stopped short of assigning Brad Keil with entertainment chair. Hopefully he and Heidi will be able to make it to our next meeting.

I think we accomplished a lot for our first meeting. We will start on the above assignments and touch base via email with what we are finding. We will meet again on Wednesday, September 23rd @ 7:00pm at Bob and Sue’s. ALL COUSINS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND. We also had fun just catching up…did you know Steve Sanner is a professional photographer?....or that Patti is driving the free State Fair Trolley during the fair?

Hope to see you at our next meeting.

Sue Christenson