Reunion Recap

When the IASC Executive Board green lighted the attempt to form the IASC Alumni Association work began shortly thereafter on a reunion.  The plan for IASC Reunion this summer was focused toward the alumni that have been out of the organization for over a year or more.  Loosely structured as a family event in a park setting, a date and site for summer 2010 needed to be chosen relatively soon to give people adequate time to add the event to their calendars. 

After an unsuccessful try at a reunion last summer I had been in touch with Former IASC Executive Director Ed Phelps about having this year's reunion and we agreed that a venue in the middle part of the state would be the best for all involved. We agreed the choice would be the Bloomington/Normal area due to the obvious central nature and easy access by multiple Interstate highways.  Mr. Phelps continues to keep in touch with many people from during his tenure as IASC Executive Director and was helpful in suppling contact information about former students and advisors.

Discussions began about a date to hold the reunion and finally a date of Saturday June 12, 2010 was chosen to try to stay away from high school graduations and before the NASC Conference and the IASC Summer Workshop.  Kelsey Umbarger took on the task of reserving a park in the Bloomington/Normal area. Her research yielded a decision upon Ironwood Park in Normal, IL.  We decided on a timeframe of 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. to allow a big window if people wanted to filter in and out. 

The goal of this reunion was be an important avenue to build people’s enthusiasm into becoming potential Alumni Association members, especially those who have been out of the organization for a number of years. The idea was to have the reunion event be mostly an unstructured affair with an open, welcoming nature. Finally, the reunion format could be continued in the future on a regular or semi-regular basis.

An event was set up on Facebook to notify everyone of the details regarding the reunion.  Although, there were few people who committed to attending the event, many had listed that they might attend or had not replied.  Multiple attempts were made to contact those two groups to see if a determination could be made to know how many people were going to come.  

Everyone brought something to eat and drink and only spent $10 to $15 of our own money for a bar-b-que style lunch.  We met new friends, caught up with what each other was currently doing, reminisced our memories of the past and discussed moving forward in the future with the creation of the IASC Alumni Association.  Several decided to join on as Charter Members of the IASC Alumni Association and for that we are grateful. Teresa Lane made the following comment on Facebook regarding the reunion:

"It was a great time seeing everyone in attendance. Wow, what great memories!!! Looking forward to more opportunities in the future....If any former IASC State/District officers/advisors or those who attended State/District/National student council events would like to be among the charter members of a new organization "Illinois Association of Student Councils Alumni Association", there will soon be a registration form available......Charter members so far are: Kelsey Umbarger, Ben Guyot, Leslie Sabick, Jay Mann, Scott Allen, and Teresa Lane."

Thank you to everyone who was able to brave the humidity and then a hard summer rain to make it to Normal, IL for this reunion.

Scott Allen
Jim Connolly
Ben Guyot
Kim (Stash) Hart
Jamia (Newton) Jones
Teresa Lane
Jay Mann
Valerie (Koelker) Rasche
Leslie Sabick
Kelsey Umbarger