Mister Spiffy Picks a Date

Date – n. The time when any event happened or when anything is to be done.


Mister Spiffy Says: "When I was younger, it was hard to get dates. Nowadays all you need to do is circle one of those squares on the calendar and make a few calls."

How Long Should Your Reunion Be?

It varies. In all honesty, they can alter in length from an afternoon to several days to even a week. For families who live close to each other, one day may be plenty of time to share the fun activities, visit, and gossip (oops, I mean socialize). However, if most of the people must travel a significant distance to get to the reunion (you know, from the four corners of the earth), they’ll most likely find it difficult to justify the expense for a single stinkin’ day. In general, if you have most of the people coming from Denmark to Colorado, make it longer. If they drive for fifteen minutes, make it shorter.

Selecting the Date for the Reunion

Once you’ve decided on the type and length of your reunion, you’ve got to choose a date. It’s an inevitable fact of reunions. Make sure, in your planning, that you leave enough lead-time to do the proper amount of planning for this shindig. Family members hold grudges if you force them to scramble with their schedules so they can attend "that family thing I found out is tomorrow". Keep in mind Mister Spiffy’s Law while you are choosing the date – no matter how hard you try or how pure your intentions, you can’t find a date that is perfect for everyone. Just try your hardest and get as many people as you can to come. Need a calendar to help select your date ( 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)?


While most people think of summer as the time to hold family reunions, don’t limit yourself to just that. I do know that it’s good to have warm weather whilst swimming, water-skiing, hiking, camping, playing outdoor games, et cetera, but say you want to go snowskiing. Now, I know very little about this sport and I may be misinformed, but from what I understand, you need snow for that. You’re not going to find snow around the US in the middle of July.


Long weekends during other parts of the year can also be a good time for a family get-together. You can plan around dear Grandma Gertrude’s birthday, a fiftieth wedding anniversary, or another important milestone taking place in your family. Also, did you know that some hotels offer discount rates during slow times? That’s a well-kept secret that Mister Spiffy thinks should be out in the open now.


Mister Spiffy’s Helpful Hints – Don’t hold reunions on short notice on a long, holiday weekend. Most people will already have things planned then. Even with an advisor like Mister Spiffy, it may be hard to convince everyone to drop everything and come humor you.