Letter To The Family

Hello Everyone -

I should start with introducing myself for those of you who don't know me. I am Sarah Leone the daughter of Lowell Nelson. Lowell is the son of Albin & Helen Nelson. For the last 8 months I have been working on setting a location and date for the reunion. Previously this was held over the third weekend in July, but for next year I would like to propose a change to the third weekend in June (19th - 21st) for weather reasons. I have been working with the Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Florida regarding our reunion. Right now I am in the final stages of putting the package together, but preliminarily it is looking to be around $250.00/person for the 3 day weekend. Although this amount may seem high, this is about what we have been averaging the past several reunions. This price includes the following:

*2 nights stay in their moderate level hotel
*Transportation to and from the airport (renting a car is not necessary!)
*Breakfast together Saturday & Sunday morning
*Choice of activity on Saturday (day) which includes: a golf tournament, a miniature golf tournament or horseback riding
*Big family activity Saturday night involving private jeep tour of the Animal Kingdom park and private buffet dinner in the park directly following

There will be an option of adding on a 3-day park hopper pass for approximately $230/adults and $200/children for those who wish to take advantage of the various amusement parks. This is not required however for our weekend activities. Smaller durations of park passes are also available.

All of the rooms will be located in a block together and can be reserved at the group rate for a longer duration if desired. Friday night will include a buffet style dinner at the park located at the hotel with the option of taking part in a sand volley ball tournament or cribbage tournament for adults or having fun on the playground for children.

For the past few years there has not been a large turn-out to the reunions, with the lack of activities for children being cited as the main reason. I am hoping that some time at Disney World will change this. As time keeps passing we are losing more and more touch with each other, with the younger family members hardly knowing their family. It would be nice to stop this trend and have a great showing next year.

Attached you will find an Excel spreadsheet which breaks the family down by the initial siblings in each of the Nelson and Christ families. Please fill out or update the information pertaining to your family. I would like to compile a large contact list which includes all the family members. Please do not be offended if I have forgotten anyone, this is just my starting list. If a family member would like to be contacted through their physical address instead of email please note that.

I have also setup a website which will be updated frequently with information regarding the reunion as well as family profiles so that we all begin to get to know each other a little better. For this I ask that when you send back your contact information, please include a little bit on your family and any current pictures you might have.

I tried for a location here in Colorado in a Dude Ranch setting, but the summer months require a week stay or are not large enough to handle a reunion. I hope that this location works for most of you and welcome any feedback you have. Please do not be shy with your opinions or thoughts as this is a working idea at this point. Since time is an important aspect, please let me know your ideas as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from you all soon. I would like to have the updated contact list as well as family profiles within a couple weeks. Again, thanks so much for your help with this.