Registration for the 50th reunion of the Mt. Rainier High School Class of 1974 is now open!
Why you should attend the reunion
The 50th year since we were seniors at Mt. Rainier High School is our golden anniversary of class reunions. This moment marks a transition for many of us from our working lives to retirement. Change is facing every person in the Class of 1974. The 50th reunion is a wonderful time to catch up with classmates and learn where their lives are headed, and to share your stories with them.
How much does it cost?
The cost is $95 per person
The Reunion Committee has worked hard at developing a strong budget for this event. The Committee balanced competing goals: make this a reunion to remember and keep the cost below $100 per person. The Committee has set the registration cost at $95 per person for the 50th reunion event, just enough to cover estimated costs.
Please contact us if this is not affordable for you
If you find the registration fee is not affordable, please reach out confidentially to Tom Salzer at tsalzer@gmail.com. Tom will work with Treasurer La Jean (Heim) Rohland to use donations to help bring the cost of the reunion down for you. The top priority of the Reunion Committee is to attract as many classmates as possible to the event. Please don’t let the cost be a barrier. Your participation in the reunion is important.
Your donation will help classmates attend the reunion
If you would like to donate to help support getting the most classmates to the reunion, we have a donation page for that! No amount of help is too small or too large.
Please note that your donation is not tax deductible. We are in the process of incorporating as a nonprofit social club, but this kind of nonprofit is not a charitable entity so donations are not deductible.
What you get for $95
A beautiful venue
The reunion is being held at the beautiful Taylor Mountain Ranch in Maple Valley, Washington on Saturday, August 3, 2024. We are getting this location during the height of wedding season when the grounds will be in wonderful condition. This is a very special facility.
Ample parking will be available with people available to help direct you to open spots.
Remarkably good food
Great food will be prepared by two of our classmates. Instead of hot dogs and chips, we’ll have a variety of slow cooked meats by Brad Goodspeed along with baked potatoes. Trudy (Baever) Briggs is assisting with appetizers, salads, and desserts. The Catering Committee sampled the meats and found them to be excellent.
Drink tickets and a bartender
Each registrant will receive two drink tickets. A bartender will be on site to serve beer and wine. If you wish to bring your own bottle, write your name on it and the bartender will pour for you.
Professional photography
The Committee has retained a professional photographer to capture some great memories! We will get some group photos and the photographer will mingle to snap some candid shots. A photo booth will also be available.
We hired a photographer so that you could enjoy your time with classmates. You are, of course, welcome to take photographs, too. If you get some good photos, please upload them to the Mt. Rainier Class of 1974 Facebook page or send them to Tom.
Music and dancing
We will have a 1970s playlist going for your enjoyment. Suzy (VanHout) Lindeke and husband Dale will be on hand to teach some dances to interested folks. (If you can’t wait to hear those old songs, hit this Spotify playlist of hits from 1974!)
Decorations, name tags, maybe lawn games
The space will be decorated, of course, and name tags will be provided to registrants. Some discussion has occurred around offering some lawn games, too.
Help us find missing classmates!
To fulfill our goal of including as many classmates as we can, please take a few minutes to scroll through the Missing Classmates List. If you are in contact with a missing classmate, ask them to reach out to the Reunion Committee at mt.rainier74@gmail.com. We want as many of our classmates to be able to participate as possible!
Business will be conducted
The first annual meeting of the new nonprofit, named MOUNT RAINIER 1974, will be briefly held at the reunion. The main purposes of the nonprofit are to maintain expertise in planning reunions and to help classmates remain connected between reunions.
The nonprofit is directed by a Council of Directors. The initial Council of Directors consists of these six classmates:
- Kerry Brown (Wisconsin)
- Steve Carlson (Washington)
- LaJean Rohland (Washington)
- Tom Salzer (Washington)
- Robert Fletcher (Michigan)
- Suzy Lindeke (Washington)
The initial Council only exists until classmates elect a new slate of Directors at the reunion. In this first full election, some director positions will be elected to serve one-year terms, and some to two-year terms, so that we have staggered terms. After this year, directors will be elected to two-year terms.
We’ll have more information for you on process and balloting as we get closer to the reunion.
Closing
The Reunion Committee wants as many classmates to attend as possible. If you can’t make it but wish to support the reunion, please consider donating.
We would like to know if any other services would be helpful. For example, would a mailing list service (where you send a message to a group address and everyone subscribing receives your message) help you keep in touch throughout the year? Please let us know by emailing to mt.rainier74@gmail.com.
