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)