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Q. Why in the world the "Spank the Monkey Award?"
A. Since nobody in
the class of 1972 had a clue as to what sort of awards are traditionally
handed out at high school reunions, we have taken the exact reverse
approach with the "2002 Spank the Monkey" awards. This monkey
thing has taken on a life of its own and has morphed into a parody
and complete spoof of all other traditional reunion awards.
Q. Yeah, but why "Spank the Monkey?"
A. One of the goals regarding
the committee's chosen nontraditional reunion venues is to make
this reunion really different, memorable, and a lot of fun. Since
the "Monkey" lives as pure entertainment, we'd say the "Monkey"
fits the bill.
Q. Well OK... But, I still don't get how it works?
A. Envision it: Everybody
gets a ballot when they sign in at each reunion event. All the
monkey award categories are listed. The voting is write-in only.
The idea is for folks to mingle with the purpose of trying to
find somebody to vote for that even remotely fits the categories.
Can you imagine the opening lines? Oh man! (Just imagine the people
watching potential here!)
Q. Yeah, but I'm shy in social situations. How could I possibly
ask someone if they deserve the "Least Hairy Monkey"
Award?
A. After 30 years, we have
a situation here where most of us can't even remember the classmates
we actually knew! What could possibly serve as a better icebreaker
and conversation piece than write-in ballots with all those bizarre
"Monkey" categories?
Q. Are we back to clique awards just like back in school?
A. Are you serious? The "Spank
the Monkey" awards of honor and distinction are not meant to hurt
anyone or meant to focus on any particular clique. Frankly, after
30 years the playing field is finally level. We are all adults
here. Acne has been replaced by wrinkles, the jocks have bad knees,
the hippies are the investment bankers, and 'most likely to succeed'
is living in a backwoods cabin in Montana. Cliques? What cliques?
Folks is folks!
Q. Sure... So, just how do you determine the winners?
A. This is the most democratic
type of voting anyone could possibly dream of. There are no nominations,
it ain't student council, no "academy" rigging the votes, and
the winners don't even necessarily have to do anything in particular
to win! That's democracy in action!
An exception to the write-in voting and ballots includes any
"Monkeys" awarded for "Best Guestbook Entry" or similar.
Obviously, this type of award would have to be determined by the
committee.
Q. Aren't we just a bit too old for this sort of thing?
A. You must be kidding! —
Just two years from now most of us will be seeing an invitation
to join AARP and their danged magazine will be in our mail on
a monthly basis. We had better enjoy this reunion before we are
too "old" and don't care about the "Monkey" anymore.
Q. After the awards, will I start having that recurring locker
combination dream again?
A. Nah! The 2002 Spank the
Monkey Awards are all in good fun. We're hoping that everyone
will take the time to say hello to those they remember as well
as to introduce themselves to classmates they never knew during
high school. So what if the events look like "Speed Dating
Gone Mad?" We hope to see you and your monkey at our 30th
— This ought to be quite a show!
Register for our
30th today!
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