OUR 36TH WEEKLY UPDATE REGARDING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, SOME GOOD NEWS REGARDING THE PANDEMIC, A PROFILE OF ONE OF OUR CO-WORKERS, AND SOME ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOU TO ENJOY
FRIDAY, November 13
FROM CHRIS KRARAS
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
“TRAVEL MAKES ONE MODEST, YOU SEE WHAT A TINY PLACE YOU OCCUPY IN THE WORLD!”
Dear Friends:
Well, this week was certainly an exciting one for all of us who have been praying for a vaccine to come along to help to get us out of this terrible pandemic that we have been experiencing for almost nine months. Our big break finally came to us this past Monday when the Pharmaceutical Company Pfizer, in collaboration with a company known as BioNTech, announced to the world that they had discovered a vaccine that was at least 90% effective. I am sure all of us let out a big sigh of relief knowing that, although it will still take some time until the vaccine goes through its absolute final stage and until it is distributed and administered to most of us in the United States, it is still a realistic solution to this dreadful virus. Estimates are now telling us that these companies will begin administering the vaccines during the month of December, and then during most of the first quarter of 2021. The hundreds of millions of doses of this vaccine that are needed will take some time, but this long-awaited miracle is on the horizon now and we can all realistically look forward to enjoying life as we had before the arrival of the Coronavirus.
Of course, tempering this excitement of the vaccine is the fact that there is an obvious surge in the number of people testing positive for Covid-19. This rise has continued over the last few weeks, and we are just hoping that it will level off and start to decline like it did during the spring of this year. Most of the experts are saying that the strain of the virus that people are getting now is a little less potent and, therefore, the side effects are not as dramatic as they were earlier. But, the fact is that the virus is still around. So, until we all get a chance to get this vaccine, it is strongly recommended by everyone, and certainly by all of us here at White Star Tours, that we continue to take the many precautions that are needed. We all know what those precautions are. Mainly, they are that we all wear masks whenever we are out and about, that we remain socially distanced, and that we wash our hands as frequently as possible. These seem like very simple things to do in order to help guarantee that we don’t fall victim to this virus. So, for those of us who may have been dropping our guard a little bit over the last few months, let’s go back at it now and increase our guard and protect ourselves so that we can get to the end of the year and put 2020 behind us and look forward to a wonderful year in 2021.
Speaking about 2021, as we have been mentioning so many times over the last few weeks, it is absolutely important that you as Group Leaders call and get your bookings in place for 2021. There are several reasons for doing that now. First of all, it assures you of having the dates and the places available where you think you and your Group would be interested in going. Secondly, by putting the reservations in place and getting flyers and some of this information out to all your Group Members, you create an incredible feeling of joy, happiness and hope with all your Group Members, knowing that there is “light at the end of the tunnel”. Thirdly, as the vaccine takes effect and as people decide that they are going to start traveling again, there will be an absolute rush on reservations which may actually cause a problem in getting placement for all the Groups going forward. Right now, all of the many attractions around our country and around the world are starving for business, and they are accepting reservations at a very reasonable rate, which is what we are able to offer you. But, as the expected crush of people to travel in 2021 becomes a reality, the prices will probably go up and availability will go down. So, the simple thing to do is to make your reservations now, since there is absolutely no risk at all and you are under no obligation. You accomplish all the things that we mentioned above, and you can then rest through the Holiday Season knowing that you have your future travel arrangements in place.
New Feature…White Star Tours Staff Profile
This Week’s Staff Profile is Dominic (Nick) Mascheri
Speaking of travel arrangements, we have a lot of Groups traveling over the next four weeks on a variety of our Holiday Trips all around the country. Today, I would like to highlight one of our White Star Staff Members who has been with us for over 38 of our 50 years in business and runs many of them for us – Dominic (Nick) Mascheri.
Dominic is a graduate of Penn State University and has worked his way up in our company to become one of our Senior Staff Members. His knowledge of what Groups and Group Leaders want and need is incredible. Group Leaders are always impressed with Dominic’s knowledge of group travel. He helped us to create the tremendous package to Norfolk, Virginia, featuring the Parade of Nations and International Tattoo Show, previously called the Azalea Festival. He also handles all of Florida tours, the Outer Banks tours, and is now handling all the groups into the Amish Lands of Pennsylvania to see the wonderful shows at Sight & Sound Theater. As mentioned, Dominic is busy next month with a number of Holiday trips to the Festival of Lights in Wheeling, WV, the Celebration of Christmas in Virginia Beach, VA, and our Savannah New Year’s Eve tour. We are very proud to call Dominic a very intricate part of our White Star Family. Dominic is married to his lovely bride Kimberly and is a resident of the Reading area where our office is based. If you have not yet dealt with Dominic, we hope you get a chance to speak with him soon.
Now it is time for some great entertainment for you regarding some of our Tours. The first piece of entertainment is a scene from the Living Word Outdoor Drama from our Shawshank & The Wilds Safari trip, which is on Page 59 in our White Star Tour Catalog. I think you will find it very enjoyable, so please view it by clicking here. The next piece of entertainment features a wonderful comedy ventriloquy act from the Amish Country Theater, which is part of the Ohio Amishlands Trip (Page 42 in the Catalog) in Berlin, OH. This act will certainly make you chuckle and can enjoy it by clicking here.
So, that is about it again for this week. I hope that you found some of the information that I gave you above informative and interesting. We hope that you enjoy the weekend and all of next week in good health, and please don’t forget to do everything possible to stay safe. God Bless you all!
“PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS TO TRAVEL,
UNTIL THEY COME HOME AND REST THEIR HEADS
ON THEIR OLD, FAMILIAR PILLOW!”