07/13/2026
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐?
The question we get the most (particularly from people who did not attend) after every reunion is โHow many people came?โ Whether the motivation is to confirm they were โrightโ in deciding to not attend, wondering if they missed a good opportunity to see old acquaintances, simple curiosity, or something else, we donโt know.
๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ (๐.๐ . ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก) ๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ ๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ โ ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ. This is about one out of every six (16%) of the classmates with known contact information. This may sound like a low turnout, but our experience is that the people who attend feel the time, effort, and cost is well worth it.
๐๐จ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ? Forty five (71%) of the attendees live in the local Jamestown area. Nineteen came from outside the area requiring a longer drive or a plane ride and lodging, i.e. more time and expense. They came from other NY (2), NJ (2), PA (2), NC (2), FL (3), OH (3), IL (1), CA (2), and WA (1). Anyone who thinks the cost of the reunion ticket is too high best not bring the subject up with a classmate who spent serious money on travel and lodging in addition to the reunion ticket.
As a certified nerd, I find the numbers behind the basic attendance interesting. Hope you do too. ๐๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง. For reference, the 1971 class numbered 588 graduates.
At the start of this reunion cycle we had (five year old) contact information for 400 classmates. We knew of 100 deceased classmates. We had no contact information (postal or email address) for almost 100 classmates. Sue Terwilliger Arrowsmith (my lovely wife) has done some pretty fantastic record keeping for the last 55 years!
We sent announcement letters to the 400 postal addresses. This cost $400 for stamps, envelopes, stationery, and labels. In 1971, first class postage was six cents (equivalent to 49 cents in 2026). Stamps now cost 78 cents each! About 20 of these letters were returned to us as undeliverable and not able to be forwarded. We also sent 400 emails to the classmates we had email addresses for. We got a similar number of bounce backs from this group. The number of classmates with known contact information dropped from about 400 to 367. Every reunion cycle, we lose contact information for some more classmates.
The net is that 250 classmates received both a letter and an email. The other 150 classmates received either a letter or an email.
From the 400 notices, we received responses from the 63 classmates who attended and 24 responded that they would not be attending, a 22% response rate. Pretty good considering how busy peopleโs lives can be.
๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐? Not surprisingly, 166 (43%) live in the Jamestown area. About 105 live in other parts of the US. Five live outside the US โ Canada, Botswana, South Korea, and Kuala Lumpur. We only have email addresses for the remainder, so we donโt know their place of residence.
๐๐ง๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ๐๐: As the ratio of known living to known deceased classmates is approximately 4:1, my guess is about 20 of the 100 unknowns may be deceased. This raises the likely number of deceased classmates to 120 or 20% of the original class. Scary!
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐: Of the original 588 member class, we have contact information for 387 (80%) of you. Some 120 are known or likely deceased. You are probably NOT one of the deceased classmates๐. The contact information for another 80 or so is unknown to us.
๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐๐ฒ: In the early reunions, we published directories or classmate contact lists. As misuse of personal information became more of an issue and privacy concerns increased, we stopped wide publication of classmate contact data. If someone wants to contact another classmate, we will contact the other classmate on your behalf.
Hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes look at classmate data and reunion planning.
Write to us if you have any questions about this or earlier JHS reunions at [email protected]
Bob Arrowsmith
