20th All Classes AHS Alumni Holiday Get Together
AHS Holiday Get Together
Was Held Friday December 26, 2014
2014 Holiday Gathering Photos
Click the photo above to check out all the great photos from the 2014 All Class AHS Holiday Gathering held on Friday Dec 26, 2014. Sorry if we didn't get your photo this year, there were too many Alumni and friends attending the event to get everyone, maybe next year. Also,check out the Facebook page for this same 2014 Holiday event.
We had a blast again as usual, there were 110+ AHS alumni and spouses at the 2014 Holiday Gathering, some showed up early and had dinner at Olde Main, most were there at the appointed time of 7pm, and the crowd didn't start to thin until after 11pm. We were sad when it ended, but are looking forward to next year.
The ALL CLASS Get-Together was originally started by late 1970's and early 1980's AHS Alumni, but All AHS class years are encouraged and welcome. We were very happy to see representatives from every every decade from 1972 thru 2008 again this year!!
- what: 20th annual AHS All Alumni HOLIDAY GET TOGETHER
- who 1: All AHS Alum, significant others, friends, elves, whoever.
- who 2: EVERY year is invited to attend, there is always a strong mid 70s to early 80s classes showing, but the younger classes have discovered us too! We need the 50's and 60's and early 70's AHS Alumni to discover this great get-together.
- where: Olde Main Brewing Co. on Main Street in Ames
- how: Cash (yours)
- when: 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. (if we can find an after-gathering), Friday, December 26, 2014
A 20th anniversary message from Perry Beeman:
All Classes Holiday Get Together marks 20th Anniversary on December 26, 2014
What started as the Ames High School Class of '77's desire to hold informal gatherings in addition to formal reunions led to an all-classes reunion in Ames every holiday season. Perry Beeman and Julie (Anderson) Larson of the Class of '77 set up the original Friday evening gathering in 1994. They quickly decided to invite all Ames High School grads. Many Ames High grads don't want to wait until a formal reunion rolls around to chat, and this was a way to cater to those back for the holidays. The idea was to keep it simple: show up, buy your own refreshments, no tickets, no fees, no fuss. Along the way, fellow Ames High grads Bill Nutty and Heidi Conis helped build the turnout, which now often is bigger than some formal reunions. "We began with 30 or so, mostly from '77, but it continued to build," Beeman said. "Let's just say I gained a lot of Facebook friends when word got around I was one of the organizers."
Last year, 2013, a crowd of 150 or so represented AHS classes from 1972 to 2008. Typically, the event occurs the Friday between the holidays, or whichever Friday seems to make the most sense. For convenience and tradition, the gathering has remained at Olde Main Brewing Co., 316 Main St., which is big enough to handle a large crowd and has a full menu. Details are always at www.ameshigh.org a year in advance. Still confused? Email Beeman at perrybeeman@gmail.com.
This year's gathering is Dec. 26, 2014. We'll look forward to seeing you. Please invite your classmates.
This is a really big deal !! This is the 20th, yes, the 20th All Class Holiday get together!
See you at the next GREAT AHS Holiday Gathering!
The All Class AHS Holiday Gathering is normally held the Friday between Christmas and New Year's. If the holidays hit that day (like it did in 2009 and again in 2010 and 2011) we will pick a different date, but this year date landed perfectly 1 day after Christmas on Friday December 26, 2014.
The 2014 Ames High School Alumni Holiday Gathering / Reunion night will be Friday evening, December 26, 2014 at Olde Main Brewing Co. in downtown Ames. We normally take over the place. It's simple, we set the date, you show up, buy your own food or drinks, and, if you're a big spender, for your friends. Then drink up (in moderation of course and we encourage soda pop or water), chat, and get caught up. This has been a meaningful, wonderful reconnection for many people, and we've had classmates from New York, California, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois and elsewhere attend. The holiday gathering got off the ground 18 years ago, in a small way and mostly involving the AHS Class of '77, but has become much more. "We started out with about 30 people a year, but in the last couple of years, this has really taken off," Beeman said. "I rely heavily on the this alumni site for email addresses - and beg people to update theirs -- and that helps. What really got this going, though, is the simple act of friends letting their friends know about it through personal email address books and phone calls. The alumni newsletter and the website also carry notices.
Why?
The idea for an informal All Classes AHS reunion came out of years of discussions among Perry Beeman, Julie (Anderson) Larson, Bill Nutty (all 3 from the AHS Class of '77) and others. The thought was to catch people while they were back in town for the holidays, and to have an informal, relaxing, annual fun gathering (i.e. reunion) for those of us who hate to wait five years for our own class gatherings to roll around. Finally, the trio of big talkers backed it up by actually planning an event.
Please help get the word out. Every year, we have hurt feelings because someone didn't didn't know about it. The more emails and phone calls, the better.
Stats:
Details: Just like last year! Lots and lots of fun and reminiscing and catching up and meeting new AHS Alum. Plus, you see your friends from other classes who you normally don't see at your own AHS class reunion because this is an ALL Class AHS gathering. About 100 AHS Alumni turned out for the 2006 AHS Holiday event, and a record 110 turned out in 2007 from the AHS classes of 1967 to 2003. Some scholars think it might have even been more. The foggy weather caused attendance to drop to 50 in 2008, there was a good turnout in 2009, 2010 wasn't the largest turnout we have ever had, but there was a respectible showing of about 60 AHS Alumni in 2010. Perry says a lot of younger classes are showing up now too and it is harder for him to know who the AHS grads are, so maybe there were more than 60 classmates at the gatherings in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The 2013 All Holiday Gather had the largest attendence ever at 150+ alum, the AHS classes of 2008 and 1998 had big reunions the previous summer, so they both opted to also have Holiday mini-reunions over the holidays and piggy-backed onto our event, this was great! There were approximately 20 from 2008 and 20 from 1998, which bumped up our attendence by 40. This year, 2014, had a tie for the 2nd largest turnout ever, at 110+.
Disclaimer:
This is the age of disclaimers, and of course we have one too. This Get-Together is not sponsored by the AHSAA, or anyone else affilated with AHS. We just want to see all our great friends from AHS again.
Is your email current?
Your AHS reunion committee wants to contact you via email, to keep you informed about your reunion + save postage.
Update your email here: view add update search. If that didn't work click
Is your postal mailing address current?
Moved? email the AHSAA your new mailing address, keep the AHSAA updated so we don't loose you, click here , tell us your name, current mailing address, year of graduation + anything else you care to add.
