A lot to like: Facebook group’s success leads to reunion plans

Clark County

SO YOU KNOW

• WHAT: All-county reunion for members of the Facebook group ‘‘Kids’ that grew up in the 60’s and 70’s in Clark County, Ind”
• WHEN: 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Aug. 25.
• WHERE: Endris Lodge, Lapping Park, Clarksville.
• COST: $20 per person. Proceeds will benefit tornado-relief efforts in Henryville.
• ENTERTAINMENT: Picnic-style meal, live music, volleyball, horseshoes and other surprises.

ON THE WEB
• “‘Kids’ that grew up in the 60’s and 70’s in Clark County, Ind” is accessible via Facebook. To join, type the group’s name into the website’s search bar or send a friend request to Dave Kraft, Carolyn Miller or Lisa King Dixon.

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August 16, 2012

A lot to like: Facebook group’s success leads to reunion plans

“Kids” who grew up in Clark County in ’60s and ’70s to converge at Lapping Park on Aug. 25

By MATT KOESTERS matt.koesters@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Thu Aug 16, 2012, 08:14 AM EDT

CLARKSVILLE — Dave Kraft lives in Indianapolis and works for Subaru America, but thanks to the power of Facebook, he’s more in touch with the people he grew up with in Clark County than he’s been in decades.

Kraft is the senior administrator of “‘Kids’ that grew up in the 60’s and 70’s in Clark County, Ind,” a Facebook group with about 2,800 members who now live both nearby and all over the world. Formed in November 2009, the group has steadily grown since its founding, owing much of its success to high levels of participation from its members.

“We’ll bring up a topic, and then you never know where you’re going to end up,” Kraft said. “That’s what’s so fun about it.”

There’s one exception to that. Kraft knows where he and the group will end up on Aug. 25, when the “Kids” are set to gather at Lapping Park in Clarksville for an all-county reunion.

“You’ve got the ’80s kids and the ’90s kids, the Gen X and Gen Y and all that. Facebook isn’t really a big deal to them, because they’ve already been connected all these years,” Kraft said. “Our age group, the 50, 60 and 70-year-olds, have not been connected. I’m meeting people that I haven’t seen or heard in 35, 37 years.

“That’s why it’s such a monumental [event], because nobody’s ever done this.”

The reunion was the brainchild of Lisa King Dixon, a member of the Facebook group who wanted to take her new friendships offline and have a face-to-face interaction.

“We were friends in school,” King Dixon said. “We’ve reunited as friends on Facebook, and met a lot of cool new people that we didn’t even know back when we were kids, and I just thought it would be nice for everyone to get together face-to-face and reminisce and meet some for the first time and make it more personal.”

The group’s reunion will take place from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Endris Lodge at Lapping Park. The cost of admission will be $20 per person, and attendees must be members of the Facebook group. Attendees who have paid the admission price will be allowed to come and go throughout the day.

The group has a day full of activities and entertainment planned, and there are a few surprises on the itinerary as well. Attendees will enjoy a pitch-in, picnic-style meal, live music from the Southern Bird Band, a DJ when the band isn’t playing and activities like horseshoes and volleyball.

In addition, there are some top-secret activities that should delight attendees who are children of the ’60s and ’70s. Kraft declined to give details, but he said they’ll be a hit with people from his generation.

The event isn’t just about reuniting old friends, though. The group will look to recover its costs for the event with the admission fees, but it plans to give every penny left over to tornado-relief efforts in Henryville.

“We’re trying to give back to the community, and I think that’s important,” King Dixon said.

The Facebook group is still accepting new members ahead of its event Aug. 25. To become a member of the group, just search for the group on the website’s search bar, or send a friend request to one of the organizers, Kraft said.

Several of the group’s more recent additions got on board because of the reunion, event treasurer Carolyn Miller said. Expect conversations about everything from the street dances at the Clarksville pool to eateries of yesteryear.

“We talk about everything from music, to Silly Putty, to things we remember around town and how they’ve changed today,” Miller said. “There’s just different topics that go on all the time, and it’s just really amazing to see what somebody will bring up, and then all of the sudden, you know, our thread will have like 100 or 200 replies on it. It’s active. It’s very active.”