Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2016!
Gene, Jackie and Jack
Classmates,
It’s been just over a month since the ‘65Reunion and we started receiving emails about the Holiday Inn refund from Classmates a week later. A surprising number of Classmates have asked us to donate their refund to a charity, others would like us to donate to a specific charity, several have told us (the organizers) to have dinner on them, while others suggested that we use the money to cover "out-of-pocket expenses”. But recently it’s been “where’s my refund?”
We would like to thank those benevolent Classmates for their generosity and kindness however, we don’t have the cycles to send checks to charities – the refund will come directly to you and you can direct it to your charity of choice. While the dinner offer is tempting, we thank you for your thoughtfulness but will have to pass on the offer – we were happy to organize the '65Reunion. Finally, we have no out-of-pocket expenses - everything was covered by the ticket fund.
So where’s my refund? We received the check from the Holiday Inn as promised. As many of you know, Jackie and I put our house on the market in August and went to contract in early September. On October 18th the morning after the reunion we left for North Carolina to look for a new house. Since our return we have been busy moving out of our home of 37 years and, on November 19th, we closed on our house in Yorktown. Busy with more important things is not an excuse for not getting your refund money orders out, but it will have to do.
We will not be comingling the refund with our personal checking account, then writing 90+/- checks. We will be sending postal money orders to those folks that purchased full priced tickets, either singles or doubles, as soon as we move into our new place and we garner the courage to spend a few hours at the post office followed by an envelope stuffing and licking marathon. All very exciting!
In sum, the refund is not a priority for us and since you trusted us enough to send the money in the first place, trust that we will send the refund to you as soon as we can.
We appreciate your understanding.
Regards,
Gene & Jackie
Classmates,
Thanks for a great '65Reunion!
Gene, Jackie & Jack
MUST READ
Classmates,
Jackie and I collaborated on a professional, but nevertheless aggressive letter and sent it via fax and FedEx to the senior executives and board members of The Roedel Companies, they own the Holiday Inn along with 400 other hotels – the letter also went to all of the senior executives of the Roedel Hospitality Group, the operating subsidiary of The Roedel Companies. Additionally, the letter went FedEx to the CEO of IHG, InterContinental Hotel Group, with global headquarters in London. IHG owns 6,000 hotels worldwide and they franchise and own the Holiday Inn brand.
There was a near immediate response, the net: The Holiday Inn will host the reunion as contracted plus some improvements (e.g. valet parking) and Classmates will be receiving a FULL REFUND of the $8,209.94 we paid to the Holiday Inn. The terms of our agreement were confirmed by email this afternoon from the Holiday Inn’s General Manager. Their accounting department has to go through a bit of a process so I should probably see the check the week of the 26th. I anticipate the refund will be between $65 – 70 per ticket, the balance going to other costs such as the DJ, flowers, website, mailings, decorations, gratuities for the servers and DJ. I will provide a high level accounting after we receive the check.
I will explain what happened to everyone during the ‘65Reunion. You will each have a card/note with your place setting expressing sincere apologies from the General Manager of the Holiday Inn. I will not get to see the card/note in advance but the apology and REFUND suffice as far as I’m concerned. Trust you agree.
Final Note: the LHS Football outing has been cancelled for Friday16th so those interested can join the Wachowski party at Applebee's in Mt. Kisco.
Looking forward to a good time!
Gene
Classmates,
We will be having our long awaited reunion in a few days, here are a few good & not so good updates, be sure to read them all:
1. Bob Guyon and Pam Goodall are working on the Lakeland Football game event. Initial reports, to be confirmed by Bob, point to a Lakeland vs. Mt. Vernon home football game, under the lights at 7:00 Friday night October 16th at the LHS campus in Shrub Oak, with a get-together before or after the game. More to come.
2. Steve Wachowski has booked a ‘big’ table at Applebee’s in Mt. Kisco for 6:30 – ½ price appetizers and $3.00 pints. They are located at 185 North Bedford Road in Mt. Kisco, less than 5min. from the hotel. I have asked Steve, Bob, and Pam to work together to coordinate events. Because of the timing 7:00 vs. 6:30 in two different towns it may only be possible to attend one event – let’s see. More to come.
3. The ugly: Why is there always ugly?When we contracted with the Holiday Inn in March we were told that all of the guest rooms were being renovated and that the ballroom we booked, the Hudson Valley Ballroom, was being completely renovated, the bar / club “Teddy’s” would remain open until 2:00 am for post-reunion excesses, and a few lesser commitments were made. On the basis of the aforementioned commitments we decided to contract with them.
Jackie and I had a meeting there last week (October 7th) with the Catering Sales Manager to finalize a few of the details, only to find that while all of the guest rooms had been renovated but the ballroom renovation was postponed until 2016. Additionally, the lobby is closed for renovation and Teddy’s has been gutted. You can imagine our reaction. The Holiday Inn and the Sales Manager were aware of the change in schedule in July but elected not to notify us, obviously to avoid cancelation, which would have been a certainty.
We are embarrassed beyond words but finding out less than 10 days before our event effectively left us no option but to go through with it. That said, we are not going quietly into that dark night. We have reached out to the hotel management company that owns and operates the Holiday Inn along with 400 other hotels, and to the InterContinental Group who own the brand, and the local management, but we are not anticipating they will act more responsibly than the Holiday Inn has. We will not let this rest. I will provide more details on how you can help at the reunion.
Here’s what you need to know: There is a temporary entrance on the left side of the building, as you enter the Holiday Inn location - please park there and Holiday Inn attendants will direct your to our location in the hotel; we will have a GREAT TIME! The event is all about getting together after 50 years and once you get to the ballroom the construction will be forgotten. If not, see me and maybe I’ll buy you a drink.
Gene
LHS Class Of ’65Reunion
Important Information And Updates
Tickets – Volunteers for Events Around the ‘65Reunion - Documentary Film – Waiver and Release of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity Agreement
Please Read
Online and/or Check Ticket purchases/payments: Purchases must be completed by September 30th - there will be no tickets available after that date and you will not be able to pay at the door the evening of the event. Several classmates still have a balance due for their tickets - please check that you have paid the full ticket price of $90 per person.
The Fun Stuff: There will be 20-25 Classmates plus their Guests staying at the Holiday Inn for the weekend, and other Classmates staying at different hotels or with family locally - there are also quite a few Classmates that still live locally. We are asking for volunteers to reach out to Classmates interested in participating in events Friday evening October 16th, or during the day on the 17th. Here are a few suggestions:
- Group dinner on Friday night
- Bear Mountain will be holding their annual Octoberfest on Saturday – they draw a huge crowd so early arrival is suggested
- Golf on Saturday
- Putnam County Golf Course is open to the public
- Centennial Golf Course in Carmel is a nationally recognized 27 hole public course designed by Larry Nelson, World Golf Hall of Famer
- Mohansic Golf Course
- Lakeland High School football games are played under the lights on Friday nights – please contact them regarding the 2015 schedule
If you are interested in volunteering please contact Gene Mastro so the details can be posted on the ‘65Reunion website.
The Good Stuff: A small film crew will be filming a documentary of the ‘65Reunion. To protect the film crew a standard release clause, all photographers and filmmakers require, has been added to the Waiver and Release of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity Agreement, explained below and can be found in its entirety on the left rail of this page under the "Waiver and Release of Liability" tab.
The Ugly Stuff: Unfortunately we live in a litigious society and in order to protect the Event Organizers and Volunteers for the ’65Reunion we have had to add a Waiver and Release of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity Agreement to this website as consideration for the right to participate in the ‘65Reunion. We have tried to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible. While alcohol is not being provided as part of your ticket purchase, alcohol will be available at the Cash Bar. On that basis, among others, we need to protect the Event Organizers and Volunteers. Please Read The Waiver and Release of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity Agreement which can be found under the Waiver and Release of Liability tab on the left rail of this page (Welcome Page). If You, AND your Spouse/Guest DO NOT AGREE you must ‘OPT OUT’. To Opt Out you must email genemastro@mac.com with a “Confirm Receipt” for your email. Please include your preferred home/cell telephone number in the email. We apologize for having to do this and trust you understand.
http://LakelandClassof65.ClassQUEST.com
To ensure all Classmates receive this information, the contents of this page will be emailed twice: from Gene Mastro to everyone who has registered on the '65Reunion website, and; by Ken Herst. If you have any issues accessing the website or with the payment process, or want to discuss the Waiver and Release of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity Agreement, or volunteer, please contact Gene at 914.393.5800 or via email: genemastro@mac.com
We look forward to seeing everyone there!
Gene Mastro, Jackie (Ghessi) Mastro, Jack Herlihy
