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Attention Vikings from Everywhere!

Northeast's All-Years Laughlin Reunion

Welcome to the (K.C., MO) Northeast All-years Reunion in Laughlin, NV web page! We very cordially invite you to join us for a very enjoyable reunion at a very low cost. This page is here for information and to find out how to get to this continuing Northeast event.

February 22-February 27th, 2009 are the dates for the 12th Annual Northeast All-Years Reunion in Laughlin, NV. We'll be meeting at the Riverside Resort again, so please put these dates on your calendar and plan to attend one of the neatest reunions that all Northeast Vikings can enjoy. We welcome ALL NE alums to come and soak up some sun and enjoy themselves!

Besides being in a warmer climate, the Riverside has hosted this group for the past ten reunions and we have a good working relationship with the staff. We have tried to find an alternative location each year that may have more attractions, entertainment, cheaper prices for the same or better accommodations, etc., but have not found anything better for our group. We had a meeting of all attending at this last reunion and the consensus was to keep it in Laughlin because we like the Riverside and we can accommodate the alumni coming from the west coast and the southwest, as well as those from all over the country.

Gaming is not part of our reunion, but both we and the Resort know that some will gamble and some will not be interested, so we use their hospitality and lower room rates, and other discounts, to enjoy the benefits for our alumni.

You Can Now Fly Direct to Laughlin from Selected Cities. Click on "Links to Other Pages" just below this page.The cost for all the events; Tuesday Welcoming Breakfast, Monday Continental Breakfast on the Patio, Thursday Farewell Dinner/Dance, Hospitality Room and all the associated amenities, will be a tiered fee. As an incentive to those who register early, $75.00 each for those registering between September 1st, 2008 and January 1st, 2009; and $80.00 each for those who wait until the last two months to register. The Riverside room rates will be $35.00 per night during the week from Sunday night thru Thursday night (February 22-February 27th, 2009), with 12:00 noon checkout on February 27th, 2009. Rooms with a river view will be a bit more, and staying over before and/or after the reunion are higher, so check the rates out for rooms on the River Side and rates before or after the reunion. To get these rates and other free perks, you must give the CODE to the reservations agent. THE CODE IS C/NEALU.

Laughlin is about 95 miles south of Las Vegas (about a 2-hour drive). If you fly into Las Vegas and rent a car, there are some very good rates in the month of February from KC and other locations. Many drive from the east and most from the west, but they all love to pull into the parking lot at the Riverside for this enjoyable week. There is also bus service daily to and from Las Vegas. Some come early to this reunion and some stay longer to soak up some of the atmosphere before heading to cooler places. Be advised that if you do this, the costs will be a bit higher for rooms. Our contract is for the nights of Sunday through Thursday only. The Riverside is usually a high-occupancy hotel, so if you are considering coming early or staying over after the reunion, please check with the hotel on their room availability and prices when you make your reservations beforehand.

This reunion is for ALL YEARS, so no matter when you attended Northeast, or for how long, you are welcome to attend and bring along your friends, because that is what reunions are for. So get your group together and try it out. Many of the "regular All-Years Reunion attendees" came out on a lark, out of curiosity, and have been returning every year since.

Check the Riverside's webpage and look over the rooms and other facilities.Room registration can begin anytime now and we want everyone to be able to get rooms in the hotel and this can be locked in with registration very early, like NOW! The early birds can call and reserve rooms requesting to be close to friends, there are 1,404 non-smoking and smoking rooms available, handicap equipped rooms, even rooms that allow pets! For information on reserving your room, call the Riverside at its toll-free number, 1-800-227-3849. Tell them you are with the “NE Alumni Reunion” group, give the code “C/NEALU”, verify the $35.00 cost per night room rate and be sure to get your confirmation number. We must have the headcount for the meals and banquet to the hotel by February 12th, 2009, so that will be our cut-off date (we are not heartless, so if you find you CAN make it at the last 3 or 4 days before 2/22/09, give a call and tell us the good news and we'll reserve your place in the events). Check with us about our policy on no-shows or those who cancel their reservations.

Please use the reservation form found below, along with your check, to secure your attendance at these reunion events. Don't forget to use the discount for early registration discussed above!

Here's agenda for our 2009 Reunion: We gather on Sunday, February 22nd, 2009, starting about 3:00 PM, opening the Hospitality Room (room 498 in the South Tower), which has a large patio-balcony attached, overlooking the Colorado River. This is where we conduct the Welcoming Party, with drinks and munchies, and the Continental Breakfast on Monday morning! As alumni from various parts of the country arrive, we keep the party going so that we can talk, enjoy the warm weather, catch up on what each other have been doing over the past year(s), show pictures, look through those old yearbooks, (so don't forget to bring them along) plan events, check on golf tee times (for those who can't pass up the opportunity to play on one of the 5 or 6 local courses), take side trips to Oatman or Lake Havasu, AZ, etc. The hotel's showroom has entertainment and we can get group rates if enough want to see the show. (See Tuesday) The other hotels in Laughlin have showrooms, also, and several have very fine entertainment, too. The shows are much cheaper in Laughlin than in the Neon City to the north.The Reunion Agenda by Day:

Sunday, February 22nd
We gather on Sunday, starting about 3:00 PM in the hospitality room for another great reunion when alumni begin to arrive. The Theme for this reunion is "Hollywood." Upon arrival SUNDAY AFTERNOON, which is Room 498 in the South Tower, you will be welcomed with light snacks, and drinks on the large patio, meet with the other alu mni, and plan events for the week. By popular demand, the "Silent Auction" will be included once again in our reunion. These are items folks who attend each year have either made themselves or purchased to donate to this auction and are mostly keyed to Northeast Viking memorabilia. Delicious food items can also show up!

Monday, February 23rd is another casual breakfast, a Continental Breakfast on the large patio. This was a first in 2002 and has become an annual event. A caravan trip to old mining town Oatman, AZ will take place after the breakfast. Lots of visiting and settling in will still be going on, reminiscing "the good-old-days" There may be another Jet Boat River Cruise to Havasu City and return this time. It was very popular and we will investigate the price and date for 2009 and add this to the reunion events if enough folks are interested. So indicate on the reservation form if there is interest and we’ll take it from there.

Tuesday, February 24th we host an 8:30 AM Welcoming Breakfast which will be in the 2nd Floor Harbor Room. This is a great time to join friends, classmates, meet new alumni, and use as a meeting point for the week's events. After the breakfast, we usually get our photo taking in, with groups, individually, or candidly. Most show up in Purple & White, so it looks just like a pep rally in the old school days, but casual is the uniform of the day, every day. Tuesday evening “The Oakridge Boys” are performing at the Riverside Hotel. Tickets are $36.50 each. Several of us attended this outstanding performance in 2008. This year we are fortunate they are performing on Tuesday. We are not doing reservations as a group. You will need to book reservations for this at the same time you book your hotel room. Ask the reservations agent to transfer you to the booking agent for the Oakridge Boys. Enjoy the rest of the week by taking side trips with friends, groups, or people you meet at the reunion; golfing, hiking, shopping, taking a riverboat ride, talking, planning, reminiscing, and renewing old friendships in the hospitality room and large patio balcony. There are two classic & antique automobile showrooms at the Riverside, an almost new 34-lane bowling alley, a large outlet mall just across the street, six first-run movie theaters, sports book, bingo, other games in a very large non-smoking casino, located in the bottom of the South Tower, which is all non-smoking and also has a very nice & inexpensive deli and snack bar.

Wednesday, February 25th is a day to do things away from the hotel on your own, swim (2 pools at the hotel), golf, take a riverboat ride, visit the local attractions, etc. The Hospitality Room is still open and those who didn't get enough interaction with their former friends and classmates. There will be CARD BINGO at 2 to 4 p.m. in the Mirror Room, on the second floor If you haven't played it (nickels only), you may be surprised how easy it is and fun, too. This is a good day to take the Jet Boat to Havasu, see the famous London Bridge, have lunch and jetboat back. Indicate on the reservation form if you may be interested and we will get the necessary information to you.
In the evening we have our ANNUAL MEXICAN DINNER, hosted by Archie McGee. The cost is additional, depending upon what one orders. (It is very inexpensive).

Thursday, February 26th: Join groups touring old ghost towns, gold mines and several day trip outings to local events. But save the evening for the Main Event! The fabulous Dinner and Dance, with music from 40s, 50s and 60s proms, banquet dances, or any serious dancing or listening. The music always brings back pleasant memories of our days at Northeast. Ask those who have attended and they will verify this "Farewell" Dinner/Dance is a night to remember. Tonights menu will be a “surf and turf” dinner. Finalization of the Silent Auction will be at 4:30 p.m., with the DINNER DANCE and cash bar at 5:30 p.m. "The Line-dancing Class of 2009" will demonstrate what they have learned, and there will be a "surprise performance" given at intermission time.

Friday Noon, February 27: is check-out time, unless you have made other arrangements. Time to head for the next destination and make your farewells to all your reunion friends until next year!

Don't miss this wonderful reunion and the warm weather; just make this your vacation and renew old acquaintances. Plan to come join us for a very relaxing and enjoyable week. Check the links below to see pictures of the rooms at the Riverside, other attractions and events.Look at the Guestbook/Message Board (Who’s Gonna Be There) below to see who's coming to this event and leave messages for others, ask reasonable questions concerning the Laughlin Reunion, and use it to communicate with your friends & former classmates. Send us an e-mail message by clicking on the blue envelope just above the hit counter at the bottom of this page.SO...get going with the reservations; fill out the Reservation Form below, send it along with your check, and we'll expect to see you there in the warm days of February in Laughlin!! "Try it, you'll LOVE it."

(Open your wordprocessor, then try to highlight this form, copy and paste it to your wordprocessor. If that doesn't work, E-mail me at jhfults@verizon.net)

Laughlin Reservation Form
February 22 – February 27, 2009

Cost - $ 75.00 per person, $80.00 per person after Jan 1, 2009

Name:__________________________________________________
Year Graduated From NE:__________
Spouse or Guest Name:________________________________
If Spouse or Guest Graduated From NE... Year Graduated:__________
Address:________________________________________________
City:_______________________________
State:________________
Zip:__________________
Phone:______________________
Email Address:___________________________________________
Indicate Interest: # ____ The Oakridge Boys Concert (optional) $36.50 pp
Indicate Interest: # ____ Jet Boat to Havasu (optional)
(We will contact you with cost of jet boat event)
Amount Enclosed: $__________________

Mail Checks Payable To: "Carol Lee Piraro"

Send This Form And Check To:
Carol Lee Piraro
5245 S. 68th E Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74145

2008 Laughlin Nevada All-Class Reunion

(Note: Click on pictures to increase size)

Reunion attendees drove through ice and snow storms to get to our Eleventh annual all-class reunion in Laughlin, NV. They were rewarded with beautiful sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s and low 80s. We visited the old gold mining town of Oatman, Arizona and hiked to the petroglyphs in the desert (near Laughlin), took a jet boat to Lake Havasu and the London Bridge, a dinner river cruise featuring prime rib cooked to order, played golf, saw the Oak Ridge Boys in concert. The Riverside Hotel also prepared a breakfast for us on Tuesday morning and dinner for our Thursday night diamonds and denim event (Dick Lujin ’55 provided the music for dancing). Our Thursday evening dinner featured a lot of picture taking and also amusing stories by Fred Piraro ’53 (Beverly Pace coordinated the room decorations). Chuck Naylor ‘48, Beverly (Pennington) Pace ’53 and Mary (Schlie) Smith ’53 kept the Hospitality Room hopping and even had a breakfast there for us on Monday Morning. Floyd Cannon ’49 and Jerry Richards ‘57 made sure we didn’t run out of beverages. Wednesday afternoon Chuck Housman ’53 sponsored the Card Bingo event and Wednesday night Archie McGee ’48 planned a big Mexican dinner event for us. The Hospitality Room was a favorite hangout where we shared stories, pictures and even watched a 1947 Northeast High School football game (complements of Dan Davis ’48) on the large screen TV. Harlene Huckett worked behind the scenes preparing folders for everyone in attendance. All in all, this was a fun week.

We want to do it again, so we have reserved a block of rooms ($35.00 per night) for you at Don Laughlin’s Riverside Hotel for February 22 – 27, 2009. We have selected menus for Tuesday morning breakfast and Thursday evening’s Surf and Turf dinner (featuring Halibut, Shrimp and Prime Rib). Imagine - we have planned a reunion for all of you – all you have to do is attend. Make this a special celebration for your 50th, 55th or 60th or whatever and encourage all of your friends to come. Which class will have the most attendees? You might even plan a special February get-away to the warm southwest and include this event. It beats shoveling snow. For more information you can contact Carol Lee (Mitchell) Piraro ’53 clpiraro@hotmail.com or Jon Fults ’53 jhfults@verizon.net or telephone Jon at 714 846 7548 (leave message with telephone number).

(Line Dancing) (Click on arrow to see dancing)


This page last updated on May 21, 2008.