A meeting of the organizers for the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps was held on June 29, 2011, at the Peace Corps Office. This Anniversary Celebration will take place in Washington, D.C. from Tuesday, September 22, through Sunday, September 25, 2011. This special meeting to share information was arranged by the Peace Corps Deputy Director Carrie Hessler (Western Samoa 1981-83).
In addition to the events listed below, many, many country-of-service groups are holding embassy receptions and country updates. The Peace Corps HQ building will be using the first floor Shriver Hall as a meeting place for RPCVs, a location where RPCVs can leave notes and collect information. The Peace Corps, however, citing government regulations, will not be spending any money on the weekend events, or on RPCVs.
The Reunion Weekend is being arranged and paid for by RPCVs, not by the agency. Here is a listing of the major events, so far.
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Thursday, September 22, 2011
Special Luncheon for Peace Corps Writers
12 noon
Library of Congress Members’ Room
Establishing of a Peace Corps Collection at the LOC
Invitation Only
Advocacy Day
NPCAÂ
www.peacecorpsconnect.org
Hospitality Suite
Peace Corps Shriver Hall
Open Thursday thru Sunday
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Friday, September 23, 2011
Staff Reunion
7 – 10 pm
National Building Museum
Open to all the Peace Corps alums
Join present and former Peace Corps Directors, RPCV Members of Congress and other Peace Corps luminaries, Staff and RPCVs for a very special evening, wonderful memories and catching up.
Admission, food and drink for $60 at www.pcstaffreunion.com
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Saturday, September 24, 2011
“Mad Men & Women at the Mayflower”
8:00–9:30 am
Breakfast at the Mayflower Hotel
Hear how the Peace Corps was created in 30 days from those who were there! Mark Gearan, former Peace Corps Director, will emcee this morning event.
Tickets for breakfast are $25 at www.peacecorpsfund.org
For all RPCVs and Staff.
Peace Corps Fund
3rd Goal Bash
George Washington University Smith Center
6 - 11 pm Peace Corps Fund
Tickets are $33 at www.peacecorpsfund.org
Fabulous Raffle — $50,000 worth of prizes
Grand Prize is 2 round-trip tickets on Delta & one week hotel stay value $7,000
Additional prizes — airline tickets, hotel stays, week in Paris, and more….
Raffle tickets are $25 each 5 for $100
To purchase Raffle tickets go to www.peacecorpsfund.org/raffle
Winners announced at the Bash.
Winners need not be in attendance to receive prizes.
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Saturday, September 24, 2011
Black Tie Gala
7 -10 pm
Hosted by the NPCA
Reagan Building
Tickets are $250-$300 at www.peacecorpsconnect.org
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Sunday, September 25, 2011
Memorial Service - Arlington Cemetery & 50th Anniversary Walk of Flags
Sunday, September 25, 2011
10:00 am–2:00 pm
Organized by RPCV/W
Join 5,000+ RPCVs for this special service honoring fallen Peace Corps Volunteers, emceed by RPCV Maureen Orth, with speakers representing RPCVs and host country nationals, and a special keynote address. Following this morning service, at 12:30 pm, the RPCVs will arrange themselves behind the flags of  139 Peace Corps countries, and walk from the National Cementery to the Lincoln Memorial. http://www.rpcvw.org/50thAnniversary
Photo: Gathered in the room were, from left to right:
Ken Hill, RPCV, former Peace Corps Chief of Staff, organizer of the Staff Reunion
Bill Combs, RPCV, Staff Reunion Committee
Maureen Orth, RPCV
Susan Koch, not an RPCV, film-maker
Matt Losak, RPCV, Peace Corps Fund, organizer of the 3rd Goal Bash
Tamar Lechter, RPCV, President of RPCV/W
Carrie Hessler-Radelet, RPCV, Peace Corps Deputy Director
Barbara Ferris, RPCV, Peace Corps Fund, 3rd Goal Bash.
Barry Hildebrand, RPCV, organizer of the Ethiopia & Eritrea Reunion
Chris Lisi, no Peace Corps experience, Head of Peace Corps 50th Group on contract to Peace Corps
Barbi Broadus, RPCV, Peace Corps 50th Group staff
Dorothy Sales, RPCV, Peace Corps 50th Group staff
Kevin Quigley, RPCV, President and CEO of the NPCA
Anne Baker, RPCV, Vice President of the NPCV
Kristina Owens, RPCV, RPCV/W 50th Coordinator
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Looks great! And I second that “thanks” to John. My husband and I are really looking forward to this. I hope the country reunions get added into the schedule at some point — it’s getting hard to keep track of everything already.
A couple of things I don’t understand. While I think it’s great that you’re attempting to publish and inform your readers of this blog about the great events that are coming up, it’s odd that you’re missing major events organized by the folks at the National Peace Corps Association.
First, there is a Day of Service on Friday during the day for anyone who will be in DC; this is a great way for all RPCVs to carry out the goals of service.
Saturday, country leaders will be discussing what Peace Corps means to them at a panel beginning at 2pm at the National Theater in Washington, DC.
Finally, after the Walk of Flags on Sunday, I know that the NPCA is organizing a big outdoor festival for all of the country of service groups and geographic groups of RPCVs to sell stuff and share information about their organizations.
Hope to see you and everyone out there in support of your association’s efforts on your behalf. We wouldn’t be talking about any of it if wasn’t for them. Give credit where credit is due, my man!
Maybe it’s just an oversight, I don’t know, but perhaps you and your readers should also keep up on the latest and greatest by subscribing to the NPCA email listserve for announcements about all of the events.
There’s more info here and a link to the main calendar: http://bit.ly/PeaceCorpsSeptember2011.
See you on the Mall!
Thanks, Ernesto–
These are good additions. I was at the meeting, Ernesto, and these were the major events that were given out that day, and they weren’t on the NPCA calendar. So, for that reason I listed them here so people might know about them.
Kevin did mention the Sunday afternoon event, but he had no details (at that time) of where or when it would be held. He said that everything was still in the works.
The Day of Service was also mentioned, but no details were given, so I didn’t know what to put up on my blog. For example, there was no mention of where to meet, etc. or what was involved. I am sure that will be forthcoming, of course, from the NPCA.
A few other events were mentioned at the meeting. The Smithsonian “Out of Storage” artifacts display, for example, and the Rebroadcasting of Peace Corps: The Early Years Panel at HQ, as well as the baseball game.
What I decided to do–to getting something ‘up’ on my blog–was just to list the ‘major’ events that required tickets, and what the tickets would cost, and where to buy them. For example, the NPCA Gala where tickets are $250 and $300, and one has to buy or rent a tux before coming to D.C.. So I listed those events. Also, of course, the National Cemetery and Parade of Flags, the key event for Sunday, RPCV/W, I know, need people to carry the flags and they asked me to get the word out to our readers. And I wanted to help them out.
I am sure the majority of RPCVs are checking the NPCA calendar, and have a very good ideas of all of those many, many events planned by them. Thanks, however, for your suggestions.