MPE 2009 Graduation Reception Committee Report:
Our goal: well done, simple and repeat what worked well.
We ordered bakery cookies from Price Chopper (95th/Antioch) as they served us so well the year before and gave us a 10% discount. Punch was made of pineapple juice from Aldi’s, ginger ale from another Price Chopper, and sugar and Kool-Aid from SuperWalMart. We used white napkins from Sam’s, without a plate and used 9 oz cups for the punch, also from Sam’s. Two years prior, we heard that nuts & mints had been problematic and were stomped into the carpet, so we avoided these. Also, two years ago, they recommended not doing coffee as not many drank it that year.
We used 6 separated, staggered tables (3 in two rows) and it gave us decent room to move about and felt less crowded than if more tables are used. Be sure to ask the decoration committee to order the tables that are needed for the reception, as they also provide the tablecloths, skirts and any other decorations for the table. We had then use the “balloon bouquet” for the tables to coordinate with the decorations in the room with the graduate displays. You may request something different if you want to. Just be sure to communicate early enough. Know early who is spearheading the committee so you can work with them. We had no problems, they were very helpful!
The decoration committee provided a simple balloon bouquet for each table. Each bouquet had three balloons (blue & silver) with a weight. Each table had two cookie trays with the balloon bouquet separating the paper goods & cookies from the cups and punch and water. The punch was situated at the end of the table with a junior serving. We put napkins out in a fan shape so they were easier to pick up. There was also two pitchers of water on each table the balloon bouquet on the punch side. We had one serving punch, while another assigned at the table to refill cookies, punch and water. They were called the runner. It is important to communicate that they need to continue serving for the evening, so that the tables are manned properly.
We had an absolutely fantastic group of junior moms/dad/ and a sophomore mom as well as great junior/family member (older and younger) servers. They came with a spirit ready to help and serve however they could. Without that, things could not have gone as well as they did. We had a total of 4 parents: one to host and supervise the reception overall as well as give direction to the jr/family member servers, one to spear head clean up, one was working with part of the punch in the kitchen, and I think another helped with the serving. We also had 12 junior/family member servers. Two per table, one serving punch and the other was to replenish supplies as needed. We should have had one of the adults working directly with the kitchen parent to be a punch runner.
Our punch took a little more work this time, but not too bad. From the feedback we received, people really liked the punch a lot, so if you want, it may be worth repeating.
We planned on 1500 people. I think we had quite a few less. The graduation happened to fall on the same date as a CYT play, that involved many other home schooled families, a ballet, and another event. That may have been the reason. It seemed like a lot of people, but I would try to adjust the amounts some for next year and see if we hit it closer on quantities.
COOKIES
We ordered 234 dozen (2808) cookies from Price Chopper. (I ordered at 87th & Antioch in Overland Park. They have been very good to work with the past two years. They were three inch signature cookies: Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, and Sugar Cookies. I thought we had M & M cookies as well the prior year, but I may not have ordered it that way this year. They did thrown in a big handful of M & M’s in the center of the cookies. They normally come with peanut butter cookies, but we had them substitute these and replace them with Choc. Choc. Chip. Big hit! These were the Carnival trays that contain nine dozen cookies for $29.99. They went up $5.00 a tray from the year before, but a lot of things have. Sam’s was no cheaper and were not placed nicely on the trays like at Price Chopper. Price Chopper has them displayed well, so you do not need to put them on another tray and rehandle them. They gave us the cheapest price for a 3 inch cookie. They were almost .28 a cookie with a 10 percent discount as well, making them closer to .25 each. You need to request the 10 percent discount. It needs to go through the manager. He has given us this the past two years. I We ordered 26 trays of cookies with no extra dozens ordered. We had cut down from 16 dozen from the prior year. We ended up with 4 trays left over. I think the servers held back some trays as certain cookies they saw certain cookies were going faster. I think we had more left over, as there were several major events involving home schoolers scheduled at the same time. The junior moms began to close down tables one at a time as the crowds thinned down. The lights were to be flashed at 9:20pm, but I missed it if they were. We were to be out of there close to 10pm.
CUPS
We used most of the cups. Ones that were left went to families of those having graduate parties or a home for summer gatherings of students.
PUNCH
We chose a new recipe this year. Tried and tested by one of the committee members children. They voted on this recipe as being the hit. I think it was! One recipe contained these ingredients: 2 pkts of Kool-Aid (we used one of fruit punch flavor, the other was lemon lime flavor), 1 cup of sugar, 4 cups of water, 1 can of pineapple, and a 2 liter bottle of ginger ale. We planned to make a total of 78 recipes. We also froze ginger ale to make ice rings. The year before we used the juice to freeze in the rings along with thin sliced fruit (overlapping and angling). You can make your choice on this. Either worked. We made 12 ice rings. We had a few left over. The prior year we made 9 and used all of them. We bought too much punch supplies. We purchased 78 + 6 bottles of 2 liter ginger ale bottles from a different Price Chopper. They ended up throwing in a few extra as they were in a case and did not charge us for those. The 6 bottles were for the ice rings. We bought 78 + 6 (the 6 was a mistake) = 84 cans of pineapple juice from Aldi. We bought 4 bags of 10 lbs of sugar along with 78 pkg of lemon lime Kool-Aid and fruit punch Kool-Aid from Super WalMart. We made sure that the pineapple juice and the ginger ale could be returned if there were any unopened bottles or cans. Both Super WalMart and Aldi were fine with that. Be sure to get it in writing on the time frame you have to make your returns, as it may affect how early you buy it. You also definitely want the ability to make any returns that you can.
This is what we did with the punch:
We started saving empty milk jugs weeks ahead of time that we could use to mix the water, Kool-Aid’s and sugar. We washed this with hot soapy water and completely dried before putting the lids back on. We mixed one recipe at a time, and continued mixing and adding until we had 3 recipes in a jug. We marked each recipe level on the milk jug with a Sharpee so the servers would know how much to pour in each punch bowl. We used 26 jugs. It was easy then just to refrigerate these jugs at the Church when we dropped other items off on the Thursday before the graduation.
Another thing we had to think through was the logistic of opening the pineapple cans, transporting them safely to the punch bowls (without spills), etc. We had someone assigned during the reception to open the pineapple cans half way (shake first!) and pour the can into a pitcher, then it was safe to transport. We opened the first 6 cans and poured it into the pitchers and had them waiting in the refrigerator while waiting for graduation was to end. Then, as soon as it was over, they were used to make the first set of 6 punches, and 6 more were to be opened and prepared ahead. Perhaps next year a cart on wheels could be helpful for this if one is available. It would be worth checking out. There is a counter in the reception room that we used to store supplies for cups, napkins, ginger ale, etc…..
Paper Goods
We were able to get the best prices for cups and napkins at Sam’s. We purchased Vanity Fair regular size napkins. We purchased 3 cases (600 each) totaling 1800 napkins. I think more packages were opened than were necessary. Maybe less needed to be kept on the tables near the latter part of the evening. We used 9 oz short cups (wide at top) for the punch cups. They worked well. They came in a package of 200 each. We purchased 9 of these.
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We met with Dennis from College Church of the Nazarene to look at the reception room and kitchen. He showed us what was available for our use:
ice machine (we filled the water pitchers with this)
refrigerators (to bring punch supplies on the Thursday before so it could be chilled)
freezer (to store the ice rings, we brought on Thursday night)
any cleaning supplies, liners bags for trash
we also borrowed 2 punch ladles. We really should have gone ahead and purchased 2 more ladles to go with the punch bowls MPE has.
water pitchers – we used two per table, as well as used pitchers to transport the pineapple juice to the punch bowls to mix
three big trash containers that were kept in the reception room to be used that night
they supplied the dish soap. We brought old towels from home to clean up with. Six – eight small towels seemed sufficient.
The last two years, we have chosen to recycle the bottles/cans that were used. If you do this, you may not use the recycle container at the church. You must remove it from the property. You also then need to bring your own trash bags to transport them. I just brought my own trash bags from home. It only took, I believe 3 or 4 bags total. Someone should be designated to take care of this. Be sure to clearly communicate that recycling is the plan so that trash does not get mixed up. We took the bags to the recycle container just behind the Olathe City Annex on Sante Fe(135th) and Northgate. They are unattended so things can be dropped off late. A junior Mom graciously did this for me, though I wish I would have arranged this prior. Thanks Kristy!
MPE has 6 punch bowls stored at the office, as well as 4 ladles. We should have bought 2 more. We had 5 adult helpers and 12 juniors or family members (older and younger). One Mom hosted overall and gave directions to the juniors/family members and oversaw the entire reception. Another oversaw the clean up, though all helped with it.
Junior Moms/Dads and juniors/family members will be staying through the entire reception and helping with clean up. It is a full evening. The senior moms are to take care of all supplies: left over food, drink, punch bowls/ladles back to MPE, paper products… etc.
Recommendations
Our first recommendation is again, to cut back on the punch. We didn’t lose out much as everything could be returned except for the sugar and Kool-Aid we mixed (not a lot of money there). You could try doing 48 – 50 recipes (based on having 59 graduates this year). We used half a bottle of ginger ale per ice ring. Possibly see if a cart on wheels could be used to transport 6 jugs of pineapple juice at a time to replenish punch. Also, need a runner just to help out the pineapple can person. The runner at the table should be the person refilling the ice water jugs as well as filling cookies, napkins & cups.
Keep good communication with the decoration committee. It went very smooth this year.
Know what to do with left over cookies. I just brought zip lock bags from home and we passed the cookies out mainly to seniors or those having a senior celebration the next day. You can also divide up some for those who helped with the reception. As the oatmeal raisin cookies seemed to be the least desired, you might see if they would substitute those for M & M or at least do less of the oatmeal raisin and more of the choc choc chip. I do not recall if they do the M & M or not. As we had too many cookies left over, I would cut out 3 trays, only ordering 207 dozen or a total of 2484. Of course these numbers should depend on the number of graduates as they fluxuate. We had 59 graduates this year.
Use the tax exempt status! You will save a lot of money for MPE. We had already made purchases before we got the status this year. If receipts are submitted, they will refund up to 2 years prior with proper documentation, I understand.
The junior moms/dad and junior & family members were such an incredible part of this all flowing so smoothly and successfully. We could not have done it without their hard work and dear servant hearts. I know that they worked so hard to pull this off.
Watch for sales early on what you want to purchase. Comparison shop and get the best prices possible. Don’t be shy about asking for a discount. Stores are willing to place orders for juice/ginger ale… etc. Be sure to ask their policy on returns!
Be sure to let the church (Dennis) know your need for the refrigerator use/ freezer use on Thursday so another group does not conflict.
The goal is to have great jr helpers serving so that you as a senior parent can enjoy the time with your graduate and guests. The juniors are also to help with the clean up (most is paper items, but punch bowls and pitchers need to be washed). Your committee will deal with left over items. Involve graduates with helping unload from the store and deliver items from the church. You might find other ways to involve them. They are free on graduation night.
Bring trash bags from home if you want to recycle. There was also cardboard boxes that needed recycling as well. We just broke these down to do this. Bring about 8 small old towels for clean up from home. Possible purchase a box of gallon sized zip lock bags to distribute any left over cookies.
Summary of Reception Expenses for 2009
Cups: 9 bags of 9 oz. clear cups (short, wide at top) — (SAM’S) – Each bag contains 200 cups, totaling 1800 at $7.48 each
Napkins: 3 cases (600 each) of white napkins — Vanity Fair (SAM’S) – Each case has 6 pk of 100 each, totaling 1800 at $7.39 each $89.49 + $7.07 Tx = $ 96.56
Pineapple Juice: 78 + 6 = 84 cans (mistake, should have only bought 78 for recipe) – Dole brand (ALDI) at $1.69 each $141.96 + $10.86 Tx = $ 152.82
Ginger ale: 78 + 6(for ice rings) = 84 two liter bottles —- (PRICE CHOPPER) – .79 each bottle (store threw in a few extra left in the case) $66.36 + $5.07 Tx = $ 71.43
Sugar: 4 – 10 lb bags of sugar —- (SuperWalMart) – $4.98 each bag
Kool-Aid: 78 pk lemon line + 78 pk fruit punch pkts —- (SuperWalMart) – .10 each pk
Total at SuperWalMart $ 35.52 + $2.72 Tx = $ 38.24
*** (after returns total punch cost was $165.54) : $152.82 + $71.43 + $38.24 = $262.49 – $96.95 = $165.54
Cookies: 234 dozen with 10 % discount (2808 cookies) — (PRICE CHOPPER – 87/Antioch) – came in carnival trays of 108 cookies per tray. Bought 26 trays.
$779.74 – $78(10 %) = 701.74 + $52.81 Tx = $ 754.55
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= $ 1113.60
Returns: 29.23 + 2.23 Tx = $31.46 + $60.84 + 4.65 Tx = $65.49 = $ 96.95
(37 bottles ginger ale) (36 cans pineapple juice)
Total Cost To MPE $ 1113.60 – $ 96.95 = $ 1016.65