Gather Your Friends And Family, Summer Is Reunion Season

Mon., March 13, 1995

Lynn Gibson Correspondent

Reunions are unique among special events. They are universally anticipated with both dread and excitement. Nostalgia reigns. People reconnect. Even romances begin.

Reunion season is ahead and for those planning a reunion, the 1995 “Reunions Workbook and Catalog” is available from Reunions magazine, filled with helpful information and step-by-step tasks required to make your reunion successful.

Used as a tool, this workbook will help answer the necessary questions of who, where and when, as well as how to “feed the masses.” A detailed timetable and expense worksheet are included and can be tailored for a family reunion of 50 or a military reunion of 500.

The book is full of tips as well, such as how to personalize your reunion, how to develop a group history book and how to plan activities for children.

To obtain a copy of “Reunions Workbook and Catalog,” send a $10 check payable to: Reunions magazine, P.O. Box 11727, Milwaukee, WI 53211-0727.

Child care with cultural flair

In 1995, more than 3,000 Europeans ages 18-25 will come to the United States to live with families for one year through Au Pair in America.

This cultural exchange program allows au pairs (meaning “on a par” or “as an equal”) to experience American culture and family life while providing 45 hours a week of child care.

Each prospective au pair is screened and receives a comprehensive four-day orientation that covers all aspects of child care and safety. Au pairs are then placed in more than 175 communities in 37 states.

For a free brochure detailing this unique child-care program, write: Au Pair in America, Dept. P-6, 102 Greenwich Ave., Greenwich, CT 06830 or call (800) 9-AU PAIR.

Starting a child-care business:

There is a market for high quality, reasonably priced child care and Patricia Gallagher, a nationally acclaimed expert on the subject, is offering a mini-guidebook to get you started.

“Tips About Organizing Child Care Programs” is brimming with information on in-home care, incenter care, common child-care problems and a Q&A section. Also included is a creative list of 100 ways to keep kids happy, for parents or care-givers.

For a copy of the guide, which also gives information on related books, send $4 to: Young Sparrow Press, Box 265, Worcester, PA 19490.

A lesson in love and trust

When author Susan Ekberg was 7 years old, her father took her to the edge of the woods in Minnesota, let go of her hand and told her to walk into the forest all by herself. He assured his daughter if she became frightened, she needed only to call out and he would be right there for her.

Ekberg recreates her childhood “right of passage” in “The Trust Walk” ($17.95, Spiritseeker Publishing), a beautifully written and illustrated book that teaches children trust and courage, as well as unconditional parental love. For a copy, call (800) 538-6415.

MEMO: Family Track appears weekly on the Families page. Send items of interest to families to Lynn Gibson, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax (509) 459-5098.

Family Track appears weekly on the Families page. Send items of interest to families to Lynn Gibson, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax (509) 459-5098.