Colorado Springs - Air Force Academy - Another great location!

We really don't favor any one city over another!  Everywhere we've been has great things to offer a military reunion group.  But my purpose on here is to highlight some of the places you might not think about going, or some activities you might not have considered including in your itinerary!  We recently had the privilege of having the 34th Bomb Sqd meeting in Colorado Springs, CO.  Being an Air Force group, their trip to the Air Force Academy was one of the highlights, as well as attending the Academy Vs. Tennessee football game.  There are many other great activities in Colorado Springs, but since this group's itinerary was a little different than normal, I wanted to highlight the things that they did.  Below are pictures from the visit to the Academy on Friday, and then pictures from the football game on Saturday!  It's a little "iffy" to schedule a reunion around a football game - at the time we have to book the hotel, the football schedule has not been released, so we have no way of knowing whether the team will be playing at home or traveling to another school.  We got lucky this time and they played at home on the date we were there!  Check out their photos:

Diamond Lil, at the entrance to the Academy

34th Bomb Squadron group members 

The chapel on the grounds of the Air Force Academy

Watching the noon formation on the grounds of the Academy

Posing at the football stadium in front of the Screaming Eagle!

Now, there's not many military reunions where you get to see cheerleaders!

Opening ceremonies prior to the game

Fans watching the game!

Carrying in the US Flag!

The flag unfurled!

There are so many great places to have a reunion!

I wish I could write about every place we visit for a reunion!  There are so many really really interesting places in this great country of ours.  I'm going to try to highlight a few of this fall's locations on this blog.  Maybe you'll see one you'd like to visit for your next reunion!

The USS HALSEY POWELL (DD-686) went to Rapid City, SD.  If there is a more beautiful spot in the whole world, I couldn't tell you where it is!  I think these pictures say more than I could ever say with words, so just take a look:

The whole gang!

Bison at Custer State Park

The Shrine of Democracy Chorus sang at their banquet

Some brave souls hand feeding wild burros

WHAT A VIEW!!!!  

Mt Rushmore

The tour group in front of the entrance to the park

Crewmember learning how to play the washboard at the Flying T Ranch after dinner!

A beautiful location for their annual Memorial Service

Price Comparisons

I thought you might find it interesting to see how various cities we will be visiting this fall compare in price.  So I picked out some of the places we'll be holding reunions, and listed the option price for two people from Thursday - Sunday.  Some of these reunions actually start on Wednesday, so those who arrive on that day do pay more,  but this was the easiest way to compare "apples to apples".  None of these prices include the tours, those are always in addition to the option cost.  There are some good deals out there!  Some cities are more expensive than others, but there are great things to see and do in every one of them!  For more information on any of these, I would encourage you to check out our Where Next site at www.mlrsinc.com/wherenext

Quincy, MA (Boston)	Aug 25-28	$902
Buffalo, NY	Sept 8-11	$801
Rapid City, SD	Sept 8-11	$803
Branson, MO	Sept 8-11	$680
Northern Kentucky (Cincinnati)	Sept 15-18	$727
Nashville, TN	Sept 15-18	$841
Long Beach, CA	Sept 15-18	$761
Colorado Springs, CO	Sept 22-25	$655
Norfolk, VA	Sept 28 – Oct 2	$727
Charleston, SC	Oct 6-9	$792
New Orleans, LA	Oct 6-9	$789
Cocoa Beach, FL	Oct 13-16	$796

Doing Our Part to Keep the USPS in Business!

This is the beginning of a very busy couple of months for us!  Now is the time to get out all the registration packets for our fall reunions.  Although the planning has been in the works for months, the details have to be finalized, deposits sent, contracts reviewed and refined, and then all the pieces put together into a single registration packet.

The physical process of getting the packets out has changed so much since we started this business!  We used to have a small copier, that didn't even do two sided copies.  And looking back, I think it only printed 5 or 6 copies in a minute.  We had to run all of one side, flip the paper over, run it back through again for page two, then repeat for pages three and four, and then repeat again for pages 5 and 6!  Then collate by hand.  We used an ink stamp to stamp our return address on the envelopes - that's fun to do 600 times in one day.  Then we printed off labels on the pin fed, dot matrix printer, and pulled off 600 labels one at a time, and put them on 600 envelopes.  Then collated three stacks of 600 copies each, folded them, and put them in 600 envelopes, that had to be kept in the order they were printed to allow for the discounted postal rate.  And for mailings of more than 200 (I believe) we had another ink stamp that we marked the envelopes as "bulk mail".  Sealed the envelopes with a sponge (it only took a couple of mailings to learn licking them was NOT the way to go!).  Then we had forms to fill out, promising that all 600 pieces of mail contained exactly the same number sheets, and then we took the forms and the mail, and a check for postage downtown to the bulk mail window at the main post office,  They weighed ten pieces, and then weighed the whole tray, and we were charged postage based on the weight, not individual pieces.  They also did random checks to make sure all the envelopes weighed the same amount.  Finally, that days' work could be on it's way!  Whew!  I'm glad our equipment has improved.

Back then we didn't have a lot of groups that were 500+, just a few.  Now we have plenty of groups that are over a thousand, some are a couple of thousand.  But we have a great copier, that spits out two sided, collated, pretty as a picture copies in just minutes.  We have a specialized envelope printer that prints the return address and addressee info out almost faster than we can keep it loaded with envelopes.  And we have a folder/inserter - a nifty machine that we load with the printed envelopes, and the collated copies and it pulls in the copies, stacks them neatly, folds them in thirds, and inserts them in the envelopes.  Then we take that stack of mail to our postage meter, and run it through to seal the envelope and apply the postage.  Lynette has processed about 2000 pieces of mail today, start to finish.  

So now you know more about what goes on here at ML&RS, Inc in a day!  

2000 pieces of mail ready to go!

Lynette running the Folder/Inserter.  Papers go in on the right, and come out in envelopes where she is on the left.

Chattanooga Choo Choo!!!

Last week I had the privilege of visiting the beautiful city of Chattanooga, TN and staying at the Historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel.  What a great trip!  The hotel is a Perfect 10 when it comes to their enthusiasm and friendliness towards military reunions.  They host a lot of military reunions and are very familiar with what it takes to put on a great reunion.  All the staff members we encountered were thrilled to show off their property and eager to bring in more reunions.  And there is so much to see and do in Chattanooga!  Have you seen the barns with Rock City painted on the roof?  They're all over, and it's worth a trip just to go to Rock City.  There's the beautiful Ruby Falls, the Incline Railroad, the Tennessee Aquarium, river boat rides, and for the history buffs, there's the Chattanooga and Chickamauga Battlefield park.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and can't wait to go back again with my family.

The Choo Choo used to be a train depot.  You walk into the lobby, and you just have to stop and gawk at the beautiful domed ceiling.  The lobby area, banquet area, and lounge area are in what used to be the terminal.  When you go out the door the train passengers used to board the trains, you come into the garden/trains area.  Where the train tracks used to be, there are now hedges and rose gardens.  There are actual train cars that have been converted into sleeping rooms, dining areas, and a pizza place.  There are shops on either side that sell all sorts of neat things, including really pretty stained glass items.  At the end of the garden area, there are the hotel buildings, 3 of them, that are just as nice as you could hope for!  There is a trolley on the property that you can ride around, and learn all about the various hotel features.  It is quite a walk from the hotel buildings, through the gardens, back to the main terminal building, but the staff knows that, and they are prepared!  They have golf carts driven by the staff for anyone who may find that far of a walk to be difficult.   They really are excited to host military reunions and hope you will plan your next one with them!

Click here to see more pictures on my Facebook page!

Another Visitor!

I think maybe we should call this a "who's come to see MLRS" blog!  We got another visitor today!  Last week Michelle and her cohort from the Greenville, SC CVB dropped by to say hello, and then today, Lindsey from the Sheraton in Charleston, SC came by!  Both visits were very nice, but I have to tell you what Lindsey brought!  We (as in my family) have recently become fans of the eastern NC style bbq sauce (it's vinegar based instead of the more ketchupy based kind I've always bought in the grocery store).  I made a couple recipes of it myself, and was going to try another one this evening, so I have a pork loin in the crock pot at home, and it should just be ready for supper by the time I get home.  Did you know this is National BBQ Sauce month?  In honor of that, Lindsey from the Sheraton, brought us a bottle of Fiery Ron's Pepper Vinegar BBQ sauce!  That will be a perfect fit for my supper tonight!  Here's Lindsey, the bottle of sauce, and Karen, our newsletter editor!

If you're in our part of NC, feel free to come by for a visit!  We in the office, who don't go very often to the reunions, would love to meet you in person!

USS CAMBRIA IN PENSACOLA, FL!

What a fine looking bunch of sailors!!!  

The USS CAMBRIA reunion group met in April in Pensacola, FL for their annual reunion.  And they had a great time!  We heard so many good comments from the group members.  There were a couple of things that happened that made this reunion even more memorable than normal.  Their memorial service was held at Memorial Park in Pensacola, on Saturday.  Participating in the service were members of NATTC Performing Unit from Pensacola Naval Air Station.  They did a superb job, and even better, they came by the banquet Saturday night, just to visit with the attendees!  What an honor it was to have them participate in the reunion!

Also on Saturday, during the tour, the group ate at McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola.  There were plenty of off-duty active-duty sailors there for lunch, and the "old" sailors and the "young" sailors had a good time sharing lunch together.  As our group got ready to leave, the young sailors formed a line outside the pub, and shook hands with each of our attendees as they boarded the trolley for the rest of their tour.  Just makes you proud to be an American!!

Let the games begin!

Today is the first day of the first reunion of the year!!!!  Boss Larry and Boss Brenda are down in Jacksonville, FL, but not for the typical Navy group that goes to Jax, but for an Army group - these guys served with the Army Security Agency at Helemano, Hawaii.  They've been to lots of great cities over the years, and thought this would be a good time to check out what those Navy dudes do!

It's been a very unusual year so far.  We've lost a lot of good friends since the beginning of the year.  Some of the groups we've worked with the longest, guys who were in their 60s when we started this business, and who are still in their 60s in my mind, are now in their 80s!  It's sad that losing friends is a part of working with this age group, but it sure seems like we've lost an extra-ordinary number since January.  'Course, they're all extra-ordinary people!

But we seem to be balancing it out by picking up some new, younger groups.  We've added more new groups in the last few months than we have in years.  It's really a lot of fun to call up someone we've found, and ask them if they were in the Navy, and if so, on the USS - whatever - or in an Army unit, and tell them someone gave us their name and asked us to see if we could find them and add them to the mailing list for a brand new reunion.  That is one of my favorite "tasks" involved in setting up a reunion.

Well, as I was writing this, we got another really nice treat!  Someone in Colorado Springs just sent us flowers.  I'll have to track down our CS contacts, because the card just says Colorado Springs loves military reunions, but there's no  name!  We appreciate it, and we love Colorado Springs!  It's a fabulous place for a reunion!

Well, that's what's going on this week at ML&RS, Inc!  I hope you have a good rest of the week!

Annual Staff Meeting

I guess if we were a big fancy company, we'd have this meeting at the beach or at a lovely cabin in the mountains and call it our annual retreat.  However, we work with a pretty tight budget, and our office works just fine for our annual meeting.  All the folks who travel to our reunion sites and make sure that the reunions happen as they should meet with us once a year so we can discuss the upcoming year, who's going where, what's worked well in the past, what we should change for the future, etc.  Since everyone is off going in different directions once the reunion seasons start, this is the only time all  our travel staff get to see each other more than just "in passing".    So this is kind of like our reunion company's annual reunion!

This week at Military Locator & Reunion Service, Inc!

Today should be a fun day, a little out of the ordinary!  One of our friends from the Northern Kentucky CVB will be traveling from Georgia (where her daughter lives) back to Kentucky, and is stopping in Hickory for a visit!  We love visitors!  Since we go TO the reunions, we don't have very much "traffic" here in the office.  It's really nice to have the chance to entertain someone here at home.  Since this is my very first blog, if I can figure out how, I'll take a picture of our visitor and post it on here later today!

Lynette, Laura Jackson from the Northern Kentucky CVB, Brenda and Larry!

This week we've been finalizing the details for the first few reunions of the year.  The 8605th AAU (ASA Helemano) in Jacksonville, FL, the USS PURDY in Chattanooga, TN and the USS CAMBRIA in Pensacola, FL are all meeting in early to mid April.  If you are reading this and haven't signed up yet, there's still time!  You can get to the web sites for these groups using this link:  www.mlrsinc.com/current_reunions.htm .

One of our pre-reunion season projects is to work on cleaning up some of our older reunion group mailing lists.  There are a lot of addresses that we have listed as INCORRECT ADDRESS.  This means mail that has been sent to these folks has been returned to us by the post office as undeliverable.  Please be sure to let us know if you move, so we can keep you up to date on your reunion group's happenings!  We've been sending out post cards to potential matches we've found on these "lost souls" and have already gotten quite a few responses.  That's really encouraging!

Another project we have taken on this week is issuing Association Membership cards for the Combat Infantrymen's Association.  This is a large group that meets in the fall, and we've spent a lot of time in the last few months cleaning up and organizing their database.  It's been a lot of fun to work with these guys and we look forward to helping them with this card project!

Well, this is it for my first blog entry.  We'll see how this goes!  Y'all have a great rest of the week, and I'll update again soon!