When is it? The 40th reunion will be held the weekend of September 17, 2011. The summer vacation season will be over, the fall religious holidays are weeks away, and the weather in Chicago will be GREAT! Plans are in the works for a series of activities over the weekend. We hope that all of you -- Bowen Class of 1971 classmates as well as other Bowenites and your significant others -- will be able to attend some or all of these activities.
What time is the reunion dinner? The dinner will take place on Saturday night - probably at 7:00 pm.
What is the cost of the reunion dinner? Although setting the price of the dinner is still a work in progress, we estimate the price will be approximately $85/person. We will know the exact price by mid-October of 2010.
Where will the reunion dinner be? The reunion dinner will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn O’Hare on River Road in Des Plaines. This hotel is conveniently close to expressways running in all directions. There is plenty of free parking. The hotel operates 24/7 free shuttle service to and from O'Hare Airport and to and from the Blue Line train station where you can catch a train that gets you downtown in 45 minutes.
What other events will there be? Also under discussion are a number of other activities: An informal Friday night get-together; A Saturday morning bus trip to Bowen and the surrounding community; Group tickets to a Saturday afternoon play; And, depending on their schedule, group tickets to a Sox game at Cellular Field - Comiskey Park in the old days. Again, setting prices for these activities is still a work in progress.
What about people who wish to spend the night at the reunion venue? Out-of-towners and in-towners who want to make it easy to participate in the weekend's activities can stay at the Hilton Garden Inn. We have negotiated an $85/night (plus tax) room rate or $95/night (plus tax) room rate that includes breakfast for everyone staying in the room. You can read customer written reviews of the Hilton Garden Inn by clicking here. The reviews help explain why we chose the Hilton Garden Inn for our reunion. By the way, the current tax on the hotel rooms is 16%.
When can you register for the reunion? Our goal is to set up the web site for registration by mid-October of 2010. At that time the web site will explain how to pay for the reunion and how to make hotel reservations. You should be able to pay for the reunion via the Internet or via postal mail.
Who is invited? Although this effort started as a 40th reunion of the Bowen Class of 1971, we have received requests from classmates who began high school at Bowen but graduated elsewhere, from members of other classes, and from friends of Bowen classmates. Everyone is welcome!
Does the reunion planning group know where you are? Click here to learn if we know about you but have been unable to locate you - We have tried hard to locate everyone and will continue to try hard.
What if you have never been contacted about the reunion? We make mistakes. We started with the combination of the 1971 yearbook, the 30th reunion invitee list, and Facebook to determine whom to invite. We then added people to the invitee list based on our own knowledge and requests from other class members. - Please save us some work and click here to provide us with your name and e-mail address.
What if you want to help with the reunion? Please contact us at bowen1971org@gmail.com There is still plenty of work left to make this a fun and memorable reunion. Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Who are the current reunion planning group members? Bruce Romain, Carol Sanes-Miller, Fran Allen-Leake, Ixta (Isolina) Piedra de Menchaca, Larry Greenfield, Mayda Kantor Raffe, Pam Cohen
Please join our Facebook Bowen High School Class of 1971 40th Reunion page!
The pictures are from the Bowenite. We thank the Bowenite staffs.