Semiannual gathering, The Fourth, Houston 20 10.
It's time again for another gathering of the faithful or faithless as the case may be. This document is to announce a gathering of good folks this fall at the Marriott North Houston at Greenspoint. We will begin our celebration on Friday October first and continue until Monday morning October the fourth. Some have described this three day event as a great party and I, for one, wouldn't disagree with that assessment. Our structure is very loose allowing for much visiting, playing music, eating and drinking, and dancing. We do however have a very flexible schedule of activities. Most attendees will arrive sometime Friday and gather in our conference room for live music and a getting acquainted period Friday evening. This will of course include a meeting of the blind rifleman's association. However, we must insist as always, no actual rifle shots be fired. In fact, the only shots there will be probably brought by Carla or rifleman association president Dale Campbell. Speaking of Sir Dale, we will be recording an episode of Cooking in the Dark Saturday at one p.m. Dale of course will be on hand for the recording along with Cheryl Cummings and her husband and audio engineer the awesome Tim Cummings. Our actual introductory session is scheduled for Saturday morning at around nine thirty. At that time we will record everyone's name and ask a little something about each person. As always, I promise no speeches or lengthy lectures. Saturday afternoon we are working on a "all in play" poker tournament. Details will be fourth coming. Saturday, a great night of music and dancing until all hours. Some individual performances and a group of us at times but much music. If you play, sing, or whatever bring what you need and come on down you will be welcome. Piano and key board will be provided for all. If your instrument needs amplification you need to let me know so I can bring enough electronics. My contact information will be at the bottom of this document. Sunday morning, Miss Emma Lee, will host the singing of Hymns and a little Sunday morning service for those who wish to attend. We do need more attendees on Sunday morning or they are going to cut off our federal funding. Sunday afternoon we will have our famous show and tell. If you have something made for blind persons or a product you use that is blind friendly bring what ever and show us. Sunday night, more music and dancing some live and some from other sources, you will just have to take your chances. As I stated, this gathering will be at the Marriott North Houston at greens point very close to Bush international airport. The hotel has a free shuttle that runs every 30 minutes to transport you from airport to hotel and back to airport when you are ready to leave. By the way, dog guides are certainly welcome. I have asked that we all be billeted on the same floor but we will just have to wait and see if they honor that request. Jovina has much information about the hotel and will post it to the list very soon. Cost of rooms is 79$ per room, not per person. This means if you have a shared room the cost will be half that. Rooms can be reserved by calling the Marriott north in Houston at 281. 875. 4000. Ask that your room be with the blind handyman gathering. You will need a credit card to guarantee your room but, your card will not be charged until you arrive in Houston to claim your room. It is my understanding that the reservations office is open between the hours of 9 A M and 5 P M central time week days. We have blocked 20 rooms for now but they assure me more can be acquired if needed. I can tell you this hotel offers two restaurants so we won't go hungry. Of course you will be on your own for meals so, how you handle this is up to you. Registration fee this year is 30$ per person and if possible needs to be paid in advance of the gathering. We have done this by mailing a check the last three times and that has worked out very well. The address to mail your registration check is, Phil Parr, 16 04 Southwood drive Lufkin Texas, 7 5 9 0 4. Even if you live in Houston and plan to attend, please snail mail me your check so if we need a larger conference room or more sleeping rooms this can be arranged. Besides that, it is a real drag to get a sighted person to walk around trying to figure out who paid and who didn't. There is an internet connection in our conference room and we are going to try to set up a wireless network so, bring your lap tops. This gathering is not affiliated with any political party, blindness organization, religion or movement of any kind. Many of us have very differing opinions about such things but, we promise not to discuss these issues during the gathering. This way their won't be any blood shed. This weekend is set aside for making new friends, catching up with old ones and just having a good time. Every one is welcome regardless of your beliefs or ideas so, come on down to Houston, meet some new people and have a wonderful time. I always say, I think I covered everything but I am not sure. This will be the fourth time we have done this so, if you want to visit with a person who has attended gatherings in the past, e mail me and I will connect you with someone. Pleas pass this along to any list you may be a member of and, to any person who might be interested. If you need more information or have questions my e mail is [email protected] Phone, 9 3 6. 6 3 4. 9 5 0 0 Hope to see you in October in Houston, I'm staff announcer Phil Parr. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
