Reunion
2017 Updates (Thread)
Richard
Henry
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Update:
10/24/2015
THE
MAYBE NOT SO LAST
SAIGON KIDS REUNION
*****
SPRUCE
POINT INN & RESORT
BOOTHBAY
HARBOR, MAINE
SEPTEMBER
5 - 8, 2017
It’s
about to begin!
What
you’ve been waiting for — the Contract is
signed!
Our
blocked rooms are ready to be booked!!
The resort has given us all the
least expensive rooms they have available, and working up from there, all at a
group rate. All rooms are subject to a Maine Hotel Tax of 8%, which goes
up to 9% in 2016. In addition, the resort charges a daily “resort fee” of
10% for all Modern Lodge and Cottage Rooms, and 15% on all Cottages
and Townhouses. I am told the resort fee covers such things as use of the
spa, cooking classes, use of the kayaks and bicycles, boat and land shuttles
into the town of Boothbay Harbor (a mile away), and other resort amenities.
I have reserved the 3 - Bedroom Townhouse in order to tend to the
large upstairs living room that will serve as our “24/7” room. The other
blocked units are available as of this notice.
The resort will charge your credit card for the first two
nights. That charge is refundable in the very unfortunate event the room
is cancelled earlier than 15 days before the reunion.
The resort is closed for
the winter except for administrative staff, including
the reservations people. Sometimes they are out and about doing
different chores. If they don't answer the phone, call them back.
Be
sure to inform reservations that you are calling to reserve a room in
the
"Saigon
Kids Reunion" group managed by the sales manager, Carolyn LaRoche.
PLEASE
SEE THE CHART OF BLOCKED ROOMS SET FORTH BELOW THIS NOTICE
Please
contact the resort at 207-6334152 to make your reservations
Please
contact me or the resort if any questions.
(It
would be helpful to me if you e-mail me with the room you've reserved
so I can keep track of how many rooms we have
left in each rate class
and get more added to our group rate
block if needed.)
ALSO
note the following website for the Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce:
http://www.boothbayharbor.com.
The
above website will give you details about all kinds of things and activities
Boothbay Harbor has to offer.
Here’s to a successful
and memorable reunion!
Thanks, All !
Rich Henry
520-661-7776
Room Reservations:
Room Type Number of Units Held
Dates/Nightly Rate
Checkout
Three Bedroom T.H.
1
9/5/2017 9/6/2017 9/7/2017
9/8/2017
$632.00 $632.00
$632.00
Woodlandview
Cottage Room
5
$190.00 $190.00 $190.00 9/8/2017
Check-Out
Modern Partial
Oceanview Room
16
$271.00 $271.00 $271.00
9/8/2017
Check-Out
Modern Woodlandview
Room
10
$252.00 $252.00
$252.00 9/8/2017
One Bedroom
Woodlandview Cottage
Oriole A
1
$228.00
$228.00 $228.00 9/8/2017
Two Bedroom Woodlandview
Cottage — Pelican
1
$357.00 $357.00
$357.00 9/8/2017
TOTAL :
34
(37 rooms)
NOTE: Each room has its own full bathroom
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Update:
10/07/2015
Maine Reunion
2017
September 5 – 8, 2017 (3
Nights 4 Days)
Spruce Point Follow-Up
Information
I
have the answers to most of the questions folks have asked about making
reservations, cancellation policy, etc.
First, when people call in to make a reservation, 2 nights will be charged on
their credit cards. Not put on as security, but actually charged. I questioned
that policy in light of the fact were are looking at almost two years out.
The answer is that they are holding those rooms out for almost two years and
have no guarantee people will actually make a reservation, while in the
meantime they could be selling those rooms. They won't back away from that.
Personally, I have no objection. It will mean that people signing up will be committed, and will have the first two nights paid for long before the reunion starts, an advance expense that hopefully will be long forgotten, and which should make the reunion itself that much less painful.
Rooms not reserved by four months before the first day of the reunion will go back to the hotel. No penalty.
Rooms can be cancelled up to fifteen days before the reunion starts. There is a $25 cancellation fee, but otherwise the advance payment would be refunded. A problem may arise if someone wants to leave early (e.g., decides to stay two nights but not three), and makes that decision within the fifteen-days before the reunion.
They are giving me five more units (rooms), Modern Partial Ocean View, which are $271 a night. I have also asked for the 2-bedroom, 2-bath cottage (Pelican Cottage), at $357 a night, or $178.50 per bedroom.
The sales manager told me that she is not really too concerned about us having enough rooms, to this extent: If we have made reservations for all the rooms blocked, and need more, she feels that will not be a problem if rooms are reserved at least a year before the reunion. They are a bit sensitive about blocking out a whole bunch of rooms and then having a bunch of them unused, like what happened recently -- 45 rooms blocked, only 33 actually reserved by people in the group.
All the rooms have decks.
Reserving the townhouse has to be done by one person, who must put down two
nights on their credit card, about $1300 or so. Frank and Susie want one of
those rooms and Frank suggested my wife and I take the other, to be close to
the 24/7 room. I have no objection to that, and will be glad to put the
townhouse on my credit card. Then I would need to get someone to agree to take
the third bedroom in the townhouse. Then I would need to collect one third of
the advance payment from Frank and the other person(s) each, before I get itchy
and have to enlist the services of my close friends, Guido and Willy the Wonker.
The large room where we would have the 3rd night served dinner and music/dance does, indeed, have a wooden dance floor.
I should have a contract in hand by the end of this week, and will let everyone know.
If other questions arise, please let me know. If I don't know the answers, I will get them.
For links of Spruce Point Resort and thread of this update letter, check the website http://www.saigonkids.com, <Reunions> tab, <Reunion 2017 (Maine)> link.
Thanks, everyone.
Rich Henry
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Update:
10/03/2015
Dear Saigon Kids,
Though I haven't signed a contract yet
(hopefully that will be done this week), I wanted to give everyone a heads up
on the rooms.
I attach a list of the rooms we have reserved
(set aside) as of now. (Note: the 1960-1961 refers to my 11th grade
years, not to marginalize those of you who were in Saigon in different
years!).
The resort has given us all 5 of the least
expensive rooms (Woodland View Cottage Rooms). These are all on the ground
floor, have no water views, and are lined up in a row with common walls between
them as if they were a long five-plex. These rooms
are very nice and I believe each of them has a single king bed with an ample
living area and at least one deck, and maybe even both a front and back deck.
We have also been given all 11 of the Modern
Partial Oceanview Rooms and all 10 of the Modern
Woodland View Rooms. The latter are a bit less expensive than the others
because they have no water views. Each set of those rooms is in one building
(i.e., two separate buildings, each with a ground floor and second floor). The
rooms are very nice and roomy and are nicely appointed. Each has a nice living
area and either an outside patio, front and back, on the ground floor, or a
front and back deck on the second floor. These are right next to the Woodland
Cottage Rooms building. Some of these rooms have two queen beds and some have
single kings.
There is a One-Bedroom Woodland Cottage set
apart from the others that have been reserved but nicely situated,
attached to a building with two other similar units, so the building forms
a triangle with the resort's main deck and the water, though "Oriole A) it
does not have a direct water view.
The townhouse has three bedrooms downstairs.
It's located convenient to all the rooms we have reserved. Each bedroom in the
townhouse has its own bathroom. The townhouse also has a downstairs hall
bathroom that would be available for use by the "activity" or 24/7
room upstairs, assuming the bedroom people would not object. The resort cannot
give us for free a dedicated 24/7 room anywhere like we had at the Wigwam, and
they don't really have one that would be very good for that purpose. Those who
have a room downstairs in the townhouse should not be overly bothered by the
use of the 24/7 room. The 24/7 room upstairs is very large with a nice, full
kitchen, counter space, a big living area with good seating, and a large
outdoor deck.
I've attached two photos I took with my
cellphone of the 24/7 room, one facing from near the deck towards the kitchen,
the other from near the kitchen toward the deck -- did the best I could with
those.
The two townhouses are privately owned by
individuals and are leased each year to the resort. As the attachment
indicates, the leases won't be signed until the end of the year so those two
building can't be formally "committed" at this point; but they are
reserved for us.
All told, we have 30 rooms right now. (The tally
of 28 on the attachment counts the townhouse as one unit even though it has
three bedrooms). There is another building that has three bedrooms and 2 1/2
bathrooms that I can probably get. There is another townhouse, a one-level
2-bedroom, that I could probably get and I think the rate for that is somewhere
like $480.00; I'd have to check again. Anyone wanting those two rooms would
have the big living area that goes with it, which might be redundant or
unnecessary. Someone there would have to share a main bathroom shower with
someone else because the half bath has only a sink and toilet.
In some of these rooms there is the ability for
people to double up. A couple of the rooms (I can't recall which ones but will
find out) have, in addition to two queens or a king, a small little room
included that has a single bed in it, so would sleep three, and a few of the
rooms also have sleeper sofas. The resort has something like 150 rooms so I
think we'll be able to get what we need.
I will be talking to the sales manager early
this coming week to see how many more rooms we can have set aside, and for how
long and at what prices. We have 19 people signed up so far, consisting of 7
couples and 5 individuals. I figure that's maybe 10 rooms and that if we get a
really good response we could need all 30 we have now, maybe more, especially
if we get a lot of singles.
Links (Attachments):
24-7 Room (Back) – http://www.saigonkids.com/work/Reunion_2017_Maine/Attachments/24-7_Room_Back.pdf
24-7 Room (Front) – http://www.saigonkids.com/work/Reunion_2017_Maine/Attachments/24-7_Room_Front.pdf
Room Rates - http://www.saigonkids.com/work/Reunion_2017_Maine/Attachments/Room_Rates.pdf
Menu Choices – http://www.saigonkids.com/work/Reunion_2017_Maine/Attachments/Menu_Choices.pdf
Roster (Who is Coming?)
– http://www.saigonkids.com/work/Reunion_2017_Maine/Attachments/Who_is_Coming.pdf
More to follow . . . .
Later, Rich
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Update: 09/29/2015
REUNION 2017 IS COMING TO MAINE !!!
Hello,
Everyone,
Following the "Final" Saigon Kids Reunion held
this past summer at the Wigwam Resort in Phoenix, there has been an outcry for
another reunion. The success of the Wigwam reunion was made possible by the
superb planning, organization, and generosity of Roy and Frank, who put it
together, and by those who attended it. I met old friends I had not seen for
years, and met new friends I had never known before. It was fun, exhilarating,
and very uplifting.
I inserted myself into the e-mail threads about another
reunion. I mentioned Maine as one possibility because my wife Sharon and I spend
summers in Portland, Maine (Tucson, AZ, in winter). The idea was picked up by
someone and has caught on. I have been informally designated as the point man
to organize the “Not So Last Saigon Kids Reunion”. The gist of the
conversations so far has been that 2017 would be an ideal time to have it in
Maine.
Mid-Coast Maine is uniquely and awesomely beautiful, like
nowhere else. There are coves, marinas, little towns, and harbors, everywhere,
and unlimited seafood and ocean. It sells itself. After searching diligently
for a great reunion venue north and south of
Portland, I have found one that stands out above all others based on
affordability, amenities, and our needs. It is the Spruce Point Inn and Resort,
located on a point of land in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Please see the photos
and details in the attached website. It is approximately 75 minutes by car
up the coast from Portland. I believe you will find enjoying the company of
other Saigon Kids at Spruce Point to be an experience of a lifetime. There is a
tentative schedule of really fun events to be held each evening at the resort
as you drink in the magnificent scenery of the ocean. I expect our internal
activity fees to be about $140.00 per person.
The events/sales manager at Spruce Point is now holding 30
rooms for us, ranging in price from $190 to about $260 per night, depending
largely on water views. The prices are post-Labor Day today, guaranteed for
2017, and discounted for our group. Many places here are higher and do not even
discount for groups. The dates reserved are from Tuesday, September 5, through
Friday morning, September 8, 2017. Weekends are very tough to reserve; this
resort, like all the others, hosts weddings constantly. Spruce Point (like most
coastal Maine resorts and inns) is in very high demand, some families having
stayed there for forty consecutive years or more, and they hold back some rooms
for their better returns guests.
For those of you who would prefer housing elsewhere but who
would still like to fully take part in this reunion, there are many smaller
inns and motels in and around Boothbay Harbor within a little more than a mile
from Spruce Point where you can stay without limiting your access to reunion
activities or the activity (24/7) room. The disadvantage would be not being on
site the entire time. Check expedia.com for a list.
Please commit to attending this reunion. None of us is
getting any younger. Some of you may find it difficult to plan this far ahead,
but it may be necessary in this case. It will not be long before I have to give
the events manager at Spruce Point some sort of commitments in terms of the
number of rooms, and sign a contract. This reunion being two years off, we all
have some time to prepare for it. You will be missed if you are not there.
Thanks very much! Best regards to all. I look forward to
hearing from each of you soon.
Links (Attachments):
Spruce Point Inn – http://www.saigonkids.com/work/Reunion_2017_Maine/Attachments/Spruce_Point_Inn.pdf
Boothbay Harbor – http://www.saigonkids.com/work/Reunion_2017_Maine/Attachments/Boothbay_Harbor.pdf
Rich Henry: 520-661-7776 (11th grade, 1960-61; Summer, 1964)
(Please contact me with any questions concerning the
reunion)