We are having a bit of a squabble between two factions: those who want t-shirts, and those who do not. Other than SSA, how do people handle souvenirs? (Cups, mugs, t-shirts, etc). Do you get them produced locally? Do you take orders up front, or do you order a few, and hope they sell? Not necessarily looking to make a profit, but just to break even.

One year we made laminated placemats that had the elementary schools, junior high schools, and the senior high school. We did the art work and had a company print and laminate. I still have mine.

Our Reunion is this June - For souvenirs, we will be taking orders up front - will have a deadline for ordering as it takes abut 2 weeks for a company to put order together.

We included the cost of the party favor in our overall cost. Makes it easier as you don't have to take orders and keep track of who gets what. We had a compact umbrella for our 50th and it was very well received. Who can't use an umbrella!

The umbrella and placemats sound great. How was the umbrella decorated? A mousepad would be neat also depending on the expense

The umbrella was dark blue with the school logo printed in one section. It's in my car and my car is in for service today. I can take a picture tomorrow. It's a very simple look so people wouldn't be embarrassed to use it.
Mouse pads aren't used much these days because people use their phones and/or tablets - so no mouse.
Some groups have done grocery store tote bags, but people seem to have accumulated a lot of them at this point.

For our last reunion, we had koozies made with our class name and logo on them and gave them out. When our classmates travel around the world, they take pictures with the koozie and we post them on our website.

Hi,
We've handled one reunion and are having another one in 2018. I buy all my souveniers and table give aways (pens, flashlights, mousepads, calendars, etc.) through Vistaprint.com. It used to be they had no phone number to call. Everything had to be on-line. It's still on-line, but now there is a number to call to explain your situation. i.e. I've told them I probably will end up buying $1000+ by the time I get the trinkets and banner etc. but I can't buy it all at one time because I have to wait for money to come in. They're very understanding and will open an account for you so that you can buy certain items when they are on drastic sale at different times of the year. BTW, I buy Business cards from them with the school logo and use them as a 'paid registration for one' receipt. I buy empty labels and put their name on the back with the label. It worked for our 50th reunion and we're using it for our 55th
Barbara

Diana,
GOOD IDEA !!
Barbara

Thanks for reminder that I promised to send photo of umbrella wording...see attached.

Our class reunions have never done the souvenir route.
For the major years of 10/20 we had used a reunion company.
For our 30th we took it upon ourselves and formed a committee of 25.
It was hard enough to raise our 10 yr. cost of only $10.
We have our 40th in 2016 and are in the planning stages now.
As we discuss everything surrounding the reunion I would imagine that the idea of building the cost in for a souvenir will not be looked on favorably.
Personally, I like some of usable shelf life type souvenirs e.g.: Coffee Mug
For the 30th we did give away a free 'goodie bag' with anything that our classmates wanted to contribute. This typically amounted to pens/pencils paper pads with their business' on them, which had mixed reviews at best.
As we get into the grit of the planning and if we decide to do any class souvenirs, I will come back and report.