OUR 29TH WEEKLY UPDATE REGARDING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY TWO ENTERTAINING VIDEOS
FRIDAY, September 25
FROM CHRIS KRARAS
PRESIDENT OF WHITE STAR TOURS
DEAR FRIENDS:
“WHEREVER YOU GO BECOMES A PART OF YOU SOMEHOW!”
Well, another week has passed and as you can see, we are in the 29th Week of living through this unprecedented pandemic. In some weird way, it has become part of our lives, but a part of our lives that we don’t want to ever experience again. What was at one time unusual and uncomfortable, has now become a way of life. For example, look at wearing masks. Up until six months ago, the only people that wore masks were Zorro, the Lone Ranger and people who robbed banks. It is somewhat ironic, and funny in a way, that if anyone ever walked into a bank up until six months ago wearing a mask, the alarm would go off and the police would show up. Nowadays, if you walk into a bank and you don’t wear a mask, the alarm goes off and people escort you out the door. This is the new way of life. How about washing our hands? I honestly can tell you that I have washed my hands more in the past six months than I did cumulatively the previous 72 years of my life. And how about social distancing? I, for one, am a person who loves to hug people. Now I am being forced to be at least six feet away from everybody. Other than my wife and my grandchildren, I have not been able to hug anybody in six months. So life, in fact, is different and we are sort of getting used to it. But, I have to tell you, I can’t wait for this whole Coronavirus Pandemic to disappear so I can return to the way of life that I treasured.
So, how are things going with the Pandemic in the past week? As I have always tried to report the positive aspects of this Pandemic, I must tell you that the statistics continue to be relatively encouraging. Yes, the big news this past week was that we surpassed 200,000 deaths that are attributed to the Coronavirus in the United States. But, there is a lot of debate about that, and I guess we really don’t know how many people directly died from it. But, any number is certainly too many. One thing is for sure, the number of people succumbing to COVID-19 percentage wise has dramatically lessened. Yes, there are still people testing positive and the numbers are still relatively high, but it is clearly evident that those percentages are dropping and that most of the spikes that are occurring are happening in colleges that have reconvened. I read an interesting statistic recently that out of almost 100,000 college students who have tested positive in the past three weeks, almost none of them had to go to the hospital. Even more encouraging is that there have been absolutely no deaths as a result of college students testing positive. I consider that a positive, as I always try to look at the brighter side of things. I think all of you as Group Leaders should start feeling that same positive feeling and expressing that to your Group Members.
This past week was very exciting for us at White Star because another large Group of buses from all around the country have taken multi-day tours. It just raises everybody’s spirits and this should raise your spirits also. Below is a picture of a small Group that started in the Detroit area of Michigan and traveled to Nashville, TN this past week. They reported to us that it was one of the best trips that they have ever experienced. As I mentioned in previous notes to you, there has never been a more safe time to travel because everyone is taking all the precautions to be sure that everyone stays healthy. Even more than that, all the destinations are just rolling out the red carpet for every Group and every Group Member to show how appreciative they are that people are starting to travel again. So, keep that in mind and, again, relay that to your Group Members.
Speaking of traveling, there are still some great opportunities for Holiday Trips in 2020 and it is not too late to reserve. You don’t need to have forty or fifty people, so you might want to consider raising the spirits of your Group Members by putting together a quick three or four-day trip to places like the Wheeling Festival of Lights in West Virginia, Holiday shows in Lancaster, PA, the Christmas Experience at the Ark Encounter & Creation Museum in Kentucky and Cincinnati and so many more. Give it a thought and give us a call to discuss it with our White Star Staff someday soon.
Also, almost all of you should have now received our 2021 Tour Book. But, in addition to that, we have an updated Booklet of our Most Popular Trips With Special Pricing that should be arriving in your home over the next week or so. In this Booklet are about fifty extremely popular trips that are easy to fill for you and your Group. We hope you will take a good look at them. I have a picture of the Booklet right next to this column, so please look for it in your mail and take a moment to read it carefully and have it handy. Our White Star Staff plans on calling every single one of you as Group Leaders and asking you to look through the Booklet with them to maybe make some good selections for a couple trips that you would like your Group to think about for 2021.
I certainly know that most of your Groups are not meeting yet because of fears of gathering together. But, when you finally can meet, it would be a great idea for you to have the trips already picked out, along with some potential dates. You are under no obligation at all, and there is no expense or any risk associated with it. But, it would be so encouraging for your Group Members to see what you have to offer for them. So, give it some thought and have the Booklet handy when our Staff Members start calling you in the next few days.
So, as we do every week, I have a couple little pieces of entertainment for you to look at. The first one is for people who are pet lovers and people who love dogs. This is such a cute video about a talking dog that I think you will enjoy. So, just click here and enjoy the video.
The second video opportunity is a little more lengthy, but certainly extremely enjoyable. It is the Rogers & Hammerstein version of “Cinderella”, and I know you will find this video very captivating. So, to enjoy this video, just click here. (By the way, I just want to make you aware of the fact that some of these videos have an advertisement that precedes the video. These are advertisements that we have absolutely nothing to do with, and we certainly are not promoting them in any way. They just happen to be attached to the videos, so all you have to do is click on “Skip Ads” and you can go right to the video we are sending you. Thank you for your understanding on this.)
THAT IS ABOUT IT FOR THIS WEEK. HOPEFULLY, THE WEATHER WILL CONTINUE TO COOPERATE FOR A FEW MORE WEEKS SO WE CAN ENJOY THE GREAT OUTDOORS OF THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY! THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO BRING YOU SOME OF THIS INFORMATION AGAIN, AND GOD BLESS YOU AND ALL YOUR FAMILIES.
“SO MUCH OF WHO WE ARE, IS WHERE WE HAVE BEEN!”