MCJ 2018 - New Orleans, LA

We did that! Yep, your New Orleans hosts delivered an amazing experience for our family to enjoy in the just concluded MCJ 2018 Family Reunion. It was a total team effort with our entire local committee playing their part and holding down their responsibilities. Party Gras is in the books now and quite possibly will go down as the most memorable family reunion ever, although admittedly they're all good. A huge thank you and congratulations to the New Orleans host committee on a job superbly done, a product of many hours of meticulous planning and an admirable level of commitment to the work of staging this event. We salute you team New Orleans and acknowledge that you've set a new standard. Kudos to each and every member of our local host committee who all contributed their unique talent and skills toward making this reunion special. However, we want to make sure that everyone understands that we had as one of our goals to do it New Orleans style and that requires an extraordinary level of hospitality which may not always be financially or logistically possible going forward with future reunions. From the shuttle van service to the multiple entrees at the banquet, to the feat of pulling off a bus tour for 183 people within one day of having only 20 people or less confirmed to attend the bus ride. And that quilt Ms. Dawn made tho. We were both focused and fortunate in achieving a nearly flawless three day event. We'd also like to thank all of our family for showing up and showing out, you guys had a ball! You already know that New Orleans is a place that inspires just doing everything too much, eating, drinking, especially the partying! What good would throwing a great party be unless everybody had a good time right? Well, enjoyment definitely was not a problem for you guys from the breaking and entering of the hotel pool to the many visits from hotel personnel to tell us to keep it down. We're thrilled that everyone had a good time and we're thankful for the opportunity to host this big shindig in our fair city. And, after staging a super reunion we're also pleased to report a surplus of funds after all bills are paid. Wow, I gotta tell you that the New Orleans group is really trying to take that title of all time best reunion! It looks like approximately 1,500.00 or more will be returned to our treasury pending final accounting and the local hosts have already decided to turn that balance over to our Virginia Beach hosts. We'll be forwarding a final report soon. In our business meeting, we discussed many interesting ideas for things that would make our reunion even better and stronger. I'm so pleased with you guys for engaging and offering your thoughts on issues from how to fund the scholarships to how to involve the students themselves in the process. We also talked about how we can access a wider range of reunion locations and new experiences for the family. I'll be consulting with our secretary Dee Dee in order to give you a fuller record from the business meeting in a future blog post.