May 2009

Warm Greetings to All:

We have several months before West Area Meeting, but I wanted to get some information out to you well in advance so you can make your plans to come. We are going to have a great meeting this year!

If you attended Convention in San Jose last year and heard Past International President Bobbie Carey’s presentation, then you know she is a dynamite speaker. I am delighted to tell you that Bobbie will be our keynote speaker at the West Area Meeting. You won’t want to miss hearing her. Although I don’t have the agenda completed, I do know so far that we’ll also be privileged to have our new President-Elect, Dr. Gwenn Jackson, as one of the speakers. In addition, we’ll have workshops, round-table discussions, question and answer sessions, and, of course, our cherished times of fun and fellowship. For you yoga fans and early risers, Past International President, Mary Cotter, will conduct yoga classes each morning.

We are again booked for our meeting at the Circus Circus Casino Hotel, which is located in the heart of downtown Reno. The hotel provides free shuttle service to and from the airport. For those of you who will drive, the street address is 500 North Sierra Street, Reno, NV, 89503.

We will have the same affordable room rates that we had last year: $65 per night for Thursday and Sunday; and $85 per night for Friday and Saturday. The rates are based on single or double occupancy, with $10 per person for additional occupants – up to four per room. Mini-suites are available for an additional $30 per night. Although the minisuites have two rooms, I should mention that they have only one bedroom with one kingsize bed and a sofa in the sitting room that makes into a bed. If you want a mini-suite, be sure to request it at the time of your reservation because they are on a space availability basis. All rooms are subject to the current county tax rate of 13.5% per night.

When making your reservations, please remember to identify your affiliation with "Quota International West Area Meeting" in order to get the special group rate. You can call the Circus Circus Hotel Reservation Department at 1-800-648-5010, or write to the above address. The deadline for hotel registration is September 28, 2009, at 12:00 Noon. Any reservations made after September 28th will be only on a space and rate availability basis. Cancellations can be made without penalty up to forty-eight hours before your arrival, but if it is within forty-eight hours of your arrival, there will be a penalty of one night’s room rate. 

Once again I have kept the registration fee down to $95 with the hope that our raffle sales will be really good since the meals cost a little more this year than we paid last year. So, buy a lot of raffle tickets, and I’ll try to keep expenses as low as possible. Included in the registration fee will be a buffet dinner Friday night, breakfast and lunch Saturday, and  breakfast Sunday, as well as the cost of materials and other expenses for the meeting. Prices for the meals include taxes and gratuity.

There is a lot of entertainment in Reno from casinos to museums to shopping to shows. In fact, Circus Circus provides 10 free circus shows daily, featuring a variety of circus acts, and a Cabaret, which is also free, with live music where you can just sit and listen or dance if you wish. If you would like to see the descriptions of this entertainment, just Google Circus Circus Reno, for their website. A Google search under Reno Entertainment and Museums will give you numerous other choices. If you like shopping, there are many shops to browse around on the connecting walkway from Circus Circus to the Silver Legacy and the El Dorado hotels. For those who enjoy gambling, there are plenty of casinos.

I realize I’m sending this information early, but not to worry if it gets misplaced; I’ll send a reminder with hotel contact information, rates, and deadline for room reservations the first part of August. By then, I’ll have a preliminary agenda too.

On another subject, I am sad that our club in Temple City, District 25, is dissolving, but the good news is that the membership statistics as of May 1^st indicate that no other club in the West Area lost members this past month.  In fact, the following clubs (hooray for them!) gained new members in April:

• QI of Monterey Penninsula, District 12
• QI of Central Oregon, District 14
• QI of Monrovia-Duarte, District 25
• QI of Morro Bay, Distict 33
• QI of Pampanga, Philippines, District 41

Total membership in the West Area is 1,052.

I am very much looking forward to seeing you at West Area Meeting.

In Quota Love,

Pattie Mhoon

West Area Director