Dear Ancianos, Border Collies, other Reunion enthusiasts and motley fool crew members, et al.:

I’ve suggested to our Reunion planning committee that — as we move closer to key dates in preparing for our 2022 Reunion meetup on November 3 through November 6, — I circulate regular email reminders for those planning to attend regarding what they need to do in preparation for the Reunion.  

This email is the first of these reminders, which I expect to send out at least weekly and maybe more often as needed. This reminder centers on sending money to Doc so that he can make the necessary payments and arrangements for the Reunion. 

You may recall that Doc calculated a while back that everyone who plans to participate in the full multiple-day Reunion needs to send Doc a check. As has sometimes been the case in the past, the checks typically take a while to start rolling in. (I’ve been tardy sending mine in more often than not.) This year, a couple of people have already sent in checks to Doc (thanks!) based on an earlier estimate of what the total cost per person would be.

Here’s an update: after further review of the costs and calculations, we’re now asking everyone who’s attending the Reunion to send in a check for $465—40 dollars more than Doc had originally estimated. (Doc is inordinately apologetic for having set his estimate too low, but I forgive him!) If, like me, you haven’t sent your check in yet, please do so now or as soon as you can. The deadline for having all the money collected is October 15. 

As Gail noted in her August 17 email,

“Doc strongly prefers to receive payment in the form of paper checks, made out to him, and sent to the following address:

PO Box 202 Round Top Tx 78954”

(I had to order new paper checks from my bank just for this. The twenty-something bank clerk snickered. “I need it for our Shakespeare reunion,” I meekly explained. She snickered again.)

Just to recap some other key details, I’m reposting other sentences from Gail’s Aug. 17 email:

‘Doc has solidified housing and food arrangements for our gathering in November. We'll be staying at Festival Hill in rooms of three beds each and having breakfasts and dinners at Menke House, with lunches bought from the Mercantile. We will have a catered barbecue on Saturday evening. The first meal will be at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 November, and the last will be breakfast on Sunday morning, 6 November, at 9:00.  Check in for the weekend will begin at 2 p.m. on Thursday.’ Gail noted in that email that the money we’re sending in covers all “creature comforts.” So all of us creatures will be comfortable!

There may be no clocks in the forest, but our clocks everywhere else are ticking away. And I now have new checks I can fill out. 

(Oh, wait, where do I keep my pens? Do I even have any pens?)

More notes soon, and feel free to circulate these details to others in our Company who may miss this particular email.

Doc, Gail, and other planners should feel free to supplement and/or correct what I've written here.

Love to all,

Mike