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Josie and Joseph,
Count me in, and of course it's subject to change depending on what else is going on in my life but for now I'm in. Hubby is not sure at the time whether he wants to come and if he doesn't go I'm up for sharing a room with one of the ladies of the Ranchos group. It would have to be a non-smoker as I don't smoke and can't tolerate smoke for health reasons.
I can't wait to see and meet some of these people who I feel I already know through this group. Yes I know that we're there to learn from the speakers but what I truly look forward to is meeting all or some of you. I know meeting Joseph, Kitty and Rich, Helyn and Jonathan was a real pleasure.
Thanks Josie for helping us put this together. When I went by myself last March I should have stayed at one of the hotels next to the temple. Walking by myself at night was a little scary and a little stupid on my part. The Greyhound Bus Depot is a block and a half away and there are some scary individuals. One night I was followed by a man on a bike who was asking me for money until I caught up with another couple who was leaving the library. I'll never do that again.
Alicia Carrillo de San Jose, Ca
Joseph Puentes <makas@...> wrote:
I forwarded this to the group for Josie:
Joseph asked me to bring this to the group every month or so until the conference happens. He said that way any new members that join in the meantime will have the earliest notice available in case they might want to go.
As far as the proposed research trip to SLC for NEXT YEAR - 2006, I spoke to Ruth Gomez Schirmacher (Librarian and Latin-American Consultant International Reference) in SLC when Mickey Garcia and I were there in September. Ruth helps George Ryskamp put the Hispanic conference together each year. I told her we (the Ranchos Group members) were interested in attending next years conference and she liked the idea. We also met with Jonathan Walker at the library. He is a very nice person and helped us tremendously! He had some very good tips that would be very helpful to all of us when we do our research on "familysearch.org".........We
spoke to the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Best Western Salt Lake Plaza Hotel which is located right next door to the library and he can give us a good rate of $80.00 per room (for 2 people) and just a few dollars more if you want 3 or 4 people per room........This is very convenient! Being right next door makes a lot of difference if the weather does not cooperate! There is also another place a couple of blocks away that is a little less in cost and is nice also for people who do not mind walking a little. There is a trolley that one can catch just as short distance from that hotel and ride up to the library....and this is free. These are the only two places I recommend. The rest are a little farther away but are ok also. The nice thing about the Plaza is that the Sales Manager will let us have a small refrigerator (upon request at no extra charge) so one can keep sandwich fixings, snacks, etc. and run to your room for a quick
lunch and get right back to researching! The Plaza Hotel also has a restaurant. The FHC library has a snack room but I have not been there. I guess they have vending machines and tables...... A lot of people will snack in their room and eat one meal out so it does not get boring! The LDS library also will give you a "pass" so you can go to their cafeteria (a short walk away) and have breakfast or lunch at a very nominal cost! Ruth got us passes to eat there and the cost is much more reasonable than at the Plaza Restaurant and the choices are tremendous! You can have anything from a sandwich to a full meal.......a lot of healthy choices too!
The Director of Sales at the Plaza hotel said he would set aside a block of rooms for us. He needed an idea of how many rooms we might need and I told him I had no idea at the present time but that I would let him know soon. The conference is usually around the middle of October. Just to give you an idea this year the exact date for the conference was Saturday, Oct 15 and the year before the conference was Saturday, Oct 16. I plan to call Ruth Gomez Schirmacher to see if they have an agenda for next year. I would like to know if anyone is interested in attending next year. This does not obligate you but just gives us an idea of how many rooms to set aside. Each person would be responsible for their own travel arrangements and hotel reservations, etc. I will give
more details a little later as I know more. Right now I just would like to have an idea of how many are interested in going next year.
The number of days you stay is up to you........some may want to stay longer than others. No matter how long we stay to do research it is never enough, right? :-)
P.S....I know a good many of the group members live in California. If we can get 15 or 20 of us to fly our of the same airport we MIGHT be able to get a group rate. Let me know if you all are interested in this and I'll contact a travel agency.
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