February 15, 2012

NORTH CAROLINA RUGBY FESTIVAL

THIS MESSAGE REQUIRES ACTION ON YOUR PART REGARDING

-          HOTEL RESERVATIONS

-          GROUP DINNER ON SATURDAY, MARCH 10

Please read below and complete the required steps.

As should be apparent, this is shaping up to be a magnificent trip.  In the days ahead, I will be sending out suggested ride arrangements and other information about the festival.  I’m excited and hope you are too.

Curt

1.      HOTELS

Attached please find the rooming list as of this morning.

(If you do not see your name there and you want to join the trip, you need to contact me ASAP.)

Since our group is so large this year, we will likely be residing in two sister hotels, as follows:

High School Girls:

Spring Hill Suites Charlotte Ballantyne Area

12325 Johnston Road

Charlotte, NC 28277

High School and U-14 Boys:

Residence Inn Charlotte Piper Glen

5115 Piper Station Drive

Charlotte, NC 28277

Room rate at both hotels is $94 per night which will result, after tax, in a total cost per night of $108.34.  A hot breakfast is included in the room rate.

Note:  The hotels are attempting to move reservations between the two facilities so that our entire group can be at the Residence Inn.  There is a 50/50 chance this will happen.  I have assigned the Girls to Spring Hill at the suggestion of the festival organizer, who indicates that some of the other girls teams will be staying there.

OUR RESERVATION PROTOCOL IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM PAST YEARS. 

YOU MUST DO THE FOLLOWING RIGHT AWAY:

Call or email the travel agent who is handling our account.  Lydia is with Covington Travel.  Direct phone line is 804-747-4193.  Email is lydiam@covtrav.com.  You will be asked to provide the following information:

-          Room number from the attached room list

-          Player and/or family name

-          Name as it appears on the credit card

-          Billing address

-          Phone number

-          Credit Card #

-          Expiration Date

For those who want Marriott points for the stay, you may also provide your Marriott card number.

VERY IMPORTANT:

We are prepaying rooms this year, so your credit card will be charged as follows:

-          For those reserving a full room:  2 nights at $108.34 for a total of $216.68

-          For those reserving a half room (i.e., players sharing a room):  2 nights at $54.17 for a total of $108.34

Any incidentals that are incurred will be paid at checkout.

I WILL BE RECEIVING REGULAR UPDATES ON WHO HASN’T YET PAID.  FOR MY SANITY AND CONTINUED GOOD HUMOR, PLEASE GET THIS DONE RIGHT AWAY.

Please do NOT provide your credit card information to me.  Our hotel arrangements are being handled entirely by the travel agent. 

2.      SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER

On Saturday night, March 10, Unionville Rugby is returning to McKoy’s Smokehouse – which many critics say serves the best BBQ in North Carolina.  That’s saying a lot since BBQ is arguably more important than NASCAR in Charlotte.  (Note:  The NASCAR Hall of Fame – “Where Racing Lives On” – is one of the city’s top attractions.)

We’re a really big party (about 150), so we’re working with the restaurant to make sure that this is, once again, a great experience for everyone.

Last year, the festival schedule resulted in our teams arriving in shifts – and we anticipate the same will happen again this year.  (This is particularly challenging for the restaurant, since they must contend with a flood of people, then a pause, then another flood of people.)

With this in mind, I volunteered to submit our orders in advance.  This will have three benefits:  (a) It will help the kitchen to organize their work so that our food is prepared and served in a timely manner, (b) it will assure that no menu items sell out so that everyone gets exactly what they want, and (c) the process of preparing checks will be much easier, especially when players sit away from parents. 

So, please find attached a McKoy’s menu.  Please also find attached an order form.

YOU MUST DO THE FOLLOWING RIGHT AWAY:

PLEASE COMPLETE THE MCKOY’S ORDER FORM AND RETURN IT TO ME BY FEBRUARY 25.  (I know that choosing between so many great options is a challenge, but I believe that 10 days is sufficient time for contemplation.)  Please get this done promptly.

As you know, we had some technical difficulties at the annual meeting that prevented us from effectively sharing a slide show about Unionville Rugby. The show is now posted below as a .pdf document.

While the file does not have musical accompanyment from U2, I still think it important that each of you take a few minutes to step through the photos. (By the way, the file is large. You probably will want to download the .pdf onto your machine and watch it from the downloaded file. I found that the images are slow to load -- and occasionally don't load -- if you try to watch directly from the website.)