OUR 47TH WEEKLY UPDATE REGARDING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, INCLUDING SOME MORE VERY ENCOURAGING INFORMATION ABOUT THE VACCINE AND ABOUT THE REDUCED NUMBERS OF POSITIVITY CASES. WE WILL ALSO FEATURE ANOTHER ONE OF OUR STAFF MEMBERS AND CONCLUDE WITH SOME MORE GREAT ENTERTAINMENT VIDEOS FOR YOU TO ENJOY
FRIDAY, February 19
FROM CHRIS KRARAS
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
“LIFE IS EITHER AN EXCITING ADVENTURE
OR NOTHING AT ALL!” – HELEN KELLER
My Dear Friends:
The quote that I cited above comes from a very famous lady in our history. But, the meaning of the quote is something that we must always think about and, perhaps, live by. Throughout her life, Helen Keller faced many challenges, not the least of which was that she was deaf and blind. However, she knew how important it was to fill her life with excitement. I guess each and every one of us could certainly learn from that and live by her words. It is important that we fill our lives with positive and good “excitement” rather than to waste precious time doing “nothing at all”. You, as Group Leaders, are in many ways the Ring Leaders of getting your Group Members to realize how important it is to add “excitement” to their lives by traveling and exploring the world. Many of your Group Members would otherwise be just staying at home all the time like they were forced to do during this past year of the Coronavirus Pandemic, which certainly was not exciting at all for your folks. Now that it appears we are coming out of the terrible crisis that we have lived with for a year, it would be a great idea to remind all of your Group Members that they should, in fact, enjoy life’s great adventures by getting out and exploring our country and the world by traveling.
The news continues to be very encouraging regarding this terrible pandemic. Once again, there has been a dramatic drop in the number of positive cases of the virus for those being tested to where now there are less than half of the people receiving positive reports in the last few weeks. Every day those numbers are dropping, which brings just wonderful hope to all of us. Even more exciting, just as we have been reporting over the last few weeks, is the fact that the vaccine is now being made available to almost everybody from 60-65 years of age and older. It is important for you as Group Leaders to let your Group Members know that they have to search a little bit and make some calls, but, eventually, all across the country, they will be able to get their shots. Nationwide, we are now up to almost 2 million people per day getting vaccinated. What that means is we are all moving closer and closer to what they call “Herd Immunity”, which will lead to the time that we are free to go about enjoying our lives as we always knew it. With this increase in the number of vaccinations being available, it looks like we could be getting to that immunity within the next month or two and, certainly, no later than May 1st. So, go out there and give that encouragement and advice to all your Group Members, and get them feeling that positive vibe of how exciting it is going to be for them to leave their homes and get on the buses with you and go out and enjoy this world.
As I reported to you in past messages, every week we have more and more Groups reporting to us that they are filling their buses and are anxiously awaiting the dates of their trips. Most of the trips are starting to go by the middle of next month, and we see that the months of April and May are full of Groups from all over the country traveling to wonderful destinations throughout these United States. So, get that word out to your people!
Again, I want to remind and encourage each one of you as Group Leaders to take advantage of our “Special Bonus” that we have been offering over the last two months of booking any new trip of 3 or more nights and receiving that extra Bonus of $300. This Bonus Offering concludes at the end of next week, so give some serious thought to calling our office and getting a trip or two booked in that time frame.
Some more encouraging news that came out this week is that one of the last modes of travel that will be moving back into full operations are the Cruise Lines. As you know, the Cruise Lines have been shut down for well over a year. However, almost every one of them have announced that by the month of May, they, too, will be functioning and will be cruising, not only around the United States and the Caribbean, but all over the world. So, if you and your group have any interest in getting into cruising, and have not booked as of yet, please call our office at your earliest convenience and get those dates in place. There are tremendous discounted opportunities that the Cruise Lines are offering in order to get their business back up and going again.
This Week’s Staff Profile
Andrew Cammarano
It is now time to feature another member of our White Star Staff. This week, I am happy to feature Andrew Cammarano, who happens to be my nephew. Andrew’s mother is Angel, who is my sister, and his father is Mauro Cammarano, who has been by my side over almost all of these fifty years as the Vice President of White Star Tours. About four years ago, I was able to name Andrew as the new Vice President serving along side of my son, Dean Kraras, who we featured last week and who is the current President of the Company. Just like Dean, Andrew has worked in and around our Company for most of his life and has been a full-time Member of our Staff since 2003. In addition to so many other duties in the Company, Andrew has a very important responsibility of dealing with all the Bus Companies that we work with throughout the Country. He also does a wonderful job with some fabulous trips to places like South Dakota, Yellowstone National Park and he is a true specialist in the area of Washington, DC. Most of all, Andrew gives me and all the Staff comfort in knowing that he has the same level of care and concern that has been a trademark of our Family for all these 50 years. I am so grateful for all the love and devotion that Andrew brings to our Company and I offer my sincere thanks to him.
Now, for some entertainment before I sign off this week. I found one piece that I think you will really enjoy. This comedy bit appeared on the Johnny Carson Show many years ago and features the lead character from the old detective television show by the name of Dragnet. I think you will find it incredibly amusing. So, enjoy it by clicking here.
Also, I am sure you remember a very funny show called I Love Lucy. We found some famous clips from that show featuring its star, Lucille Ball, that we wanted to share. Click here to see when Lucy was shooting a commercial for a cough syrup company and she gets herself a little tongue-tied, and here to see when she works at a candy factory and things don’t go exactly as planned. We hope you enjoy these funny moments from the past.
Again, we hope that you have a wonderful week, and that the inclement weather we are experiencing all over the United States recently, is somehow missing you and yours and that you are all staying healthy and safe. For those of you who have not gotten your vaccine yet, we hope that you are able to get it real soon, so you can feel the freedom that comes along with it. God Bless You All and have a wonderful week!
“AND THEN THERE IS THE MOST DANGEROUS RISK OF ALL –
THE RISK OF SPENDING YOUR LIFE NOT DOING WHAT YOU WANT ON THE HOPE THAT YOU CAN DO IT LATER!” – RANDY KOMISAR