DATES AND INFORMATION

Dear Alumni and Friends,

We hope you are as excited as we are about our upcoming reunion at Emerald Isle, North Carolina, May 15-22, 2022!

We have planned a week-long stay at the beach with plenty of opportunity to be with your classmates and fellow Schutz alumni, family and friends, and lots of fun and interesting things to see and do along North Carolina’s Crystal Coast. Emerald Isle is a favored “family” beach venue for North Carolinians, within reasonable driving distance along the Eastern Seaboard and with convenient airports nearby for those coming from afar. You can come for the entire week or you can opt to join us only for the long Thursday-Sunday weekend when we’ll have our formal reunion activities.

The reunion fee of $135 includes all costs for planned Friday-Saturday group outings and group meals. For those opting for the week-long stay, there are many things to do on your own or with your friends. If there is sufficient interest, activities we can arrange for Monday-Wednesday of the reunion week are:

• Golf outing at Star Hill Country Club in Cape Carteret
• Deep-sea fishing trip out of Swansboro
• Day-long excursion to Shackleford Banks (wild ponies!)
• A visit to the pre-Revolution colonial capital of New Bern
• Visit to Fort Macon in Atlantic Beach (Civil War battle site)
• Outing to visit old Wilmington (USS North Carolina)

Indicate your interest in these outings on the reunion registration form and we will send out details and costs depending on the response. Plus, there is surf and pier fishing, crabbing, clamming and casting net fun in the Sound right behind where we will be staying.

The reunion schedule is provided in the side-bar. We will have a number of group events Thursday-Saturday, with outings to the charming seaside town of Beaufort about 30 minutes’ drive from Emerald Isle including with a double-decker London-style bus guided tour, a visit to the North Carolina Maritime Museum, and a visit of the superb NC Aquarium only 12 minutes from where we will be staying. We’ll have meals catered at both venues, along with interesting presentations. On Thursday we kick off the formal reunion with a welcome reception at the Clark cottage.

Housing at the beach

Of course, an important factor for your consideration is the housing cost. Our challenge is to give you an accurate cost. To make this as affordable as possible, our basic housing plan is for reunion attendees to stay at shared-occupancy beach houses rented in the vicinity of the Clark cottage, where we will hold reunion gatherings. The reunion committee will assign lodging accommodating your requests as best we can. Here’s how we have planned it:

1. The beach houses have varying numbers of bedrooms and amenities. We don’t know how many we will need so we can’t precisely predict housing cost until registration is complete.
2. We are booking both ocean-front properties and sound-front/2nd row, within walking distance of the Clark cottage. There are only four rows between the ocean and Bogue Sound along this stretch of the island, so all the properties are a short walk from the water. There is a cost difference between oceanfront and the other houses, so you can choose either option, depending on your budget and preference.
3. We have priced the housing by room for either category (beachfront being somewhat more expensive). You can elect to have a room to yourself or opt to share a room with someone else at half the room cost (e.g., roommates or couples).
   

The estimated weekly room rates are as follows:
Oceanfront: $900
Sound-front / 2nd Row: $500

If electing to share a room, you will pay half the cost (i.e., a couple sharing an oceanfront room will pay $450/person; i.e., two people sharing a sound-front or 2nd row room with two or more beds will pay $250/person).  There will be a limited number of rooms with multiple beds, so register right away if you elect to share a room!  Family groups or larger groups of friends wanting to take a house are also encouraged to book soon.  We will do our best to house you according to your preferences, on a first-come/first-served basis.

Because the properties are rented for the full week only, the price for partial week stays (e.g., just for the formal reunion Thursday–Sunday) is the same as for full week stays – that is, housing costs will be the same whether you stay for the week or not.  But where else can you get a week at the beach for these fantastic prices?!

You may opt to book your own property and we can help you find these houses.  Others not wanting to stay in group houses have several nearby hotel options. You can Google Emerald Isle hotels and vacation rentals and you’ll find plenty of options.

As you complete the registration form below, indicate your housing preferences. For those choosing to stay in houses we rent, you will be required to pay 50% of your estimated housing cost at the time of registration. The remaining cost will be charged once we know the number of people attending and the actual total cost of the property rentals. Your final payment may be more or less than 50% of the projected cost.

If you don’t choose to stay at a group house, you are free to book your housing separately and pay directly for your accommodations. Typical weekly rates for the beach houses in May range from $2,000 to $4,000. Hotels could be the most expensive option if you plan to attend for more than a day or two.

Except for the reunion group meals Friday and Saturday, everyone will be “on your own” for meals. The houses all have fully equipped kitchens and the reunion committee will be providing a few items in each house such as basic condiments, spices and other staples by the time you arrive. For those opting to stay in group houses, you can do your shopping at several nearby grocery stores. So, it will be just like “Schutz family” meals, only you do the cooking!

On Friday night of the formal reunion weekend, we plan a pot-luck dinner at the Clark cottage. We’ll ask each group house to bring a side dish, and we’ll provide the mains with a selection of meats, plus drinks. Households can “opt-out” on providing a dish and pass the hat for $20 for the reunion committee to bring in some of the food for everyone to enjoy buffet-style.

So, we’re trying a different format for this reunion. With a week-long vacation, there will be lots of time for people to do what there is to do at the beach as you please with your friends and family – walks on the beach, exploring the area and shopping, shelling, fishing, swimming, bicycling, you name it. As noted, we’ll do our best to house you with your friends and classmates. We’ll also have games to play at the Clark cottage any old time throughout the week, and other group events.

We apologize if the timing for this reunion won’t work for some people, but seasonal housing prices in the summer and hurricane threat in the fall make it advisable to make this a spring event. 

PAYMENT PAGE

If you are looking for the Payment page and have already registered, follow this LINK!