OUR 53RD WEEKLY UPDATE REGARDING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC – AND WE ONCE AGAIN WILL BE POINTING OUT SO MUCH OF THE POSITIVE RESULTS THAT WE ARE SEEING ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IN THIS ISSUE WE WILL ALSO FEATURE THE FOUNDER OF OUR COMPANY AND A LITTLE HISTORY ABOUT HIM. AS ALWAYS, WE WILL CLOSE WITH SOME WONDERFUL HUMAN INTEREST MATERIAL AND SOME GOOD OLD-FASHIONED HUMOR FOR YOU TO ENJOY.
FRIDAY, April 09
FROM CHRIS KRARAS
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
“TRAVEL MAKES ONE MODEST. YOU SEE
WHAT A TINY PLACE ONE OCCUPIES IN THE WORLD!” – Gustave Flaubert
My Dear Friends:
First of all, on behalf of all our Family and Staff here at White Star Tours, we sincerely hope that you and all your extended families have had a beautiful Easter Season and a meaningful Passover Experience. In most parts of our country, the weather was beautiful and very cooperative, and it gave everybody a chance to go out and enjoy Family and Friends much the same as they had prior to Covid.
As for the Covid Pandemic, the news continues to be very exciting and mostly very positive. There are now over three million people getting vaccinations nationwide per day, which is astounding when we think about it. It was just a little over three short months ago when the whole process started, and now we have a very large percentage of the population in our country already protected against the fear of the Coronavirus. There is some concern of rate of rising positive cases, but the CDC and most of the major hospitals and doctors have reported that there are very sound explanations as to why some of the numbers are surging at different places. The most logical reasoning that we have read in most of the publications and have heard on television is that people are now intermingling a lot more than they ever had, and too many people who have not gotten their vaccinations yet are feeling freedom that they really should not be experiencing until they get their vaccinations. The prediction from most of the experts that deal with Covid is that as the number of people being vaccinated continues to go up at such a fast pace, then the positivity numbers will once again decline and people will go back to being a lot more careful of interacting until they have this vaccination protection. But, as a whole, the news is only good out there and it is so exciting to see this tremendous weight being lifted off the minds of millions of people across our country.
We here at White Star Tours are particularly thrilled because we get to see so many more people and Groups now traveling on our many tours. It is amazing to us how many Group Leaders are reporting to us that their buses are filling so quickly now that their people have gotten the protection of a vaccination. Many more bus trips are now on the road and going than we ever thought would be possible at this time of the year, and we are just thrilled about it. Everybody is coming back with such wonderful reports of the many places they have seen and have experienced, and they are telling us how they felt that they were completely safe and protected on their trips. I can only encourage you as Group Leaders to take that message to your Group Members and tell them that your trips are definitely going to continue to be a reality and they should sign up as soon as possible so they don’t lose another year of exploring this beautiful country that we call the United States.
Some more exciting news came out this week from the Sight & Sound Productions which is housed, of course, in the Amishlands of Lancaster, PA. As you know, this year they have been featuring the spectacular show entitled “Queen Esther”. Everyone who has seen this production is just totally in awe of the beauty and the spectacularness of what they see in this theater. There is still plenty of time and many shows still available for you and your Group to think about booking to see “Queen Esther” yet this year, because by the end of the year it will be concluding. What you might think about doing during the holiday season is having your Group not only experience the “Queen Esther” production, but also adding to it some Christmas Experiences at the beautiful American Music Theatre or the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre. That makes for a great trip, so maybe you want to give it some thought. Click here to see a very brief description of “Queen Esther” at the Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA.
However, the big news out of Sight & Sound is that this week they have announced the show for 2022. The show that they are going to be producing next year is called “DAVID”. They have been working on this show for almost two years, and they are absolutely so proud of the production that they feel it is going to be every bit as good or better than any production that they have ever had at Sight & Sound. If you are planning early, it would be a good idea to give us a call and let us know if you would like us to get you some space for the new show, “DAVID”, next year. Click here to see a very brief description of “DAVID” at the Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA.
Our Founding Father
Gus Kraras
Now it is time for me to tell you about the Founder of this company that we call White Star Tours. That person that I am going to describe is my beloved Father, Gus C. Kraras, who passed away just about three years ago. It was way back in 1970 when my Father and I discussed the possibility of doing some bus trips into some of the seashore points like Wildwood, NJ; Ocean City, MD and Myrtle Beach, SC. Together we worked on all the details of bringing those first buses to these locations and my Father’s very sage leadership guided our company’s philosophy of treating each and every customer as a friend, and that no request is too much in order to please each and every person. My Father had a very strong faith and he often taught all of us how to add prayer into the workplace in order to have God’s hands involved in every decision that we make. His leadership in our Company was always present through most of our fifty years. He would always travel with me and our Company as we would go city to city at our Group Leader Luncheons. I know many of you Group Leaders grew to know and love my Father as we visited your cities every year for many years. Although it has been three years since his passing, his spirit is felt so intensely by not only my Family, but by all the people that we have been blessed with that work along with us for so many of these years. May my Father’s memory be eternal!
For a little bit of humor, I thought you would enjoy this very short clip of a famous comedian by the name of Tim Hawkins. This little piece is entitled, “Things you Should Never Say To Your Wife”. I happened to have shown it to my wife to ask her what she thought of it, and she said, “You better believe it, Chris, these are things you should never, ever say to me”. But, she still thought it was pretty funny and thought it would be a good idea to include it. So, I did, and you can enjoy it by clicking here. And I’m sure you all remember Buddy Hackett. In this clip, Buddy is on the Johnny Carson show and tells a duck joke that has everybody rolling with laughter. Click here to enjoy this funny clip. And last, we have an inspirational clip of US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven delivering a speech about the importance of doing the little things like making your bed, embracing the fears of life, and changing the world for generations to come. To view this clip, click here.
This concludes another week of my communicating with you. I hope you have a beautiful weekend! Please keep those calls coming, as we look forward to hearing from you and getting your trips all set up for you and your Group for the rest of this year. Stay safe and healthy and God Bless You All!
“WORK, TRAVEL, SAVE, REPEAT!”