OUR 38TH WEEKLY UPDATE REGARDING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC FILLED WITH SOME HOPE AND ALSO FILLED WITH SOME WONDERFUL HOLIDAY ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOU TO ENJOY
FRIDAY, December 04
FROM CHRIS KRARAS
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
“BETTER TO SEE SOMETHING ONCE, THAN TO HEAR ABOUT IT A THOUSAND TIMES!”
Dear Friends:
First of all, we hope that you enjoyed the beautiful Thanksgiving Weekend last week with your family and friends, along with the beautiful weather that accompanied the weekend. I know for many of us, we may not have been able to gather in the same large numbers as we had in the past, but at least we could take a moment to give thanks for all the many blessings that we all have in our lives. That is what buoyed all of our Family as we gathered in much smaller numbers, as we all took the time to remember the whole reason for Thanksgiving.
So, this week I want to begin by discussing the good news that has come about in the last couple weeks and how, just recently, the news has gotten even better. I am sure many of you as Group Leaders are wondering how we can be talking about good news when the Coronavirus numbers of positive testing have gone up so dramatically over the last few weeks. We certainly know that, so I hope we are all taking the precautions that we need to take in order to minimize the effect of this terrible surge. It is up to each and every one of us to do what we can – such as wearing our masks, washing our hands, practicing appropriate social distancing, and doing all the many other logical things to slow the surge. But, the hope and the positive news is the fact that there are now three Pharmaceutical Companies that have created an acceptable vaccine which all the medical experts are telling us is almost certain to eliminate this terrible virus that has just terrified us all over the last nine months. The three companies, as we have spoken about before, are PFIZER/BIONTECH, MODERNA, and ASTRAZENECA. All three of them had incredibly good results through all the testing phases and all of them have produced success rates well above the 90% threshold. What is even more encouraging is that recently the Federal Government, and all necessary Medical Agencies, have given the stamp of approval for these vaccines to be put into action and distributed to the people of the United States. As a matter of fact, the vaccines are already being administered to people in the United Kingdom, and initial information tells us that it is going smoothly and successfully. Here in the United States of America, they are hoping that several million people will get the first dose of the vaccine even before the end of this month. As we all know, most of the vaccines require two doses that will be two weeks apart, but it is highly likely that within the first three months of 2021, most of the people who are most vulnerable will have gotten the vaccine and will be free of contracting this terrible disease. So, even though the numbers are dour at this point with positive testing, the future looks extremely bright. For that, I think, we should celebrate!
In other travel news, we are enjoying this beautiful Holiday Season, with many of our Groups on the road at various White Star Tours destinations all across the United States. Everybody is reporting back to us that they are having just wonderful experiences. I want to emphasize once again that we have had virtually no reports of anyone having issues with the virus as a result of traveling on these tours over the last several months.
This Week’s Staff Profile is Nick Krallis
So, now it is time to feature another one of our wonderfully loyal co-workers who has been with us for so many years. Nick has been with us at White Star Tours for well over 35 years and has become many of the Group Leaders’ favorite co-worker in our company. Nick is always very upbeat and enjoys joking with all the Group Leaders he deals with. Yet he still is very attentive and caring for each and every one of the people that talk to him. Nick handles destinations such as Maine, Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, Lake George, NY, Chicago, IL, Casinos of Connecticut and Atlantic City, Boston, MA and several Christmas destinations such as Bethlehem, PA. I know that many of you have had the pleasure of working with Nick, and he welcomes your phone calls. We just want to take the opportunity to thank him once again for his many years of loyalty, concern, and certainly his uplifting personality.
While I am talking about Nick and our Staff, I would like to tell you about an initiative we started in our Company for this Holiday Season. I mentioned in my last message to you that I was so proud that everyone in our Company has continued to support the United Way during their Annual Campaign. In addition, this year we are having a Food Drive, whereby all our Staff Members bring in canned goods and other nonperishables. We are gathering them in large quantity in our office. During the last week of December, we will be taking these boxes and boxes of food items to our local Food Bank to be distributed amongst the needy in the Greater Reading, PA area. This outpouring of caring really makes me proud of every single one of them. Thank you Staff Members!
So, in order to get you into the Holiday Spirit, I am including some really upbeat entertainment from the very famous American Music Theatre in Lancaster, PA. As many of you know, this is one of the most popular theaters in the country for spectacular, professional and accomplished Christmas Shows. They, too, had to close their doors this year due to the virus. However, they did produce a series of episodes for all of us to enjoy that they have labeled “Home For Christmas”. So sit back and click below and enjoy these videos for some or all, of the seven episodes that they produced for the Holiday Season.
I wish you all another beautiful week of good health and happiness and hope you continue to get into the Holiday Spirit that is sure to bring smiles to all our faces. I know our Family and Staff here at White Star are looking forward to the holidays and looking forward even more to ringing in the New Year of 2021, which we all know will be much brighter for all of us. God Bless you all and stay healthy and stay safe!
“DON’T LISTEN TO WHAT THEY SAY. GO SEE IT!”