Chicago Bound
Updated
04/16/2013
Dates: September 27,
28, 29 Friday – Sunday
(3 Nights)
Place: Avenue Crowne
Plaza Magnificent Mile, 160 E. Huron,
Chicago, IL 60611, 877-283-5110. Reservation are to be made directly by you
with the Hotel. state Brent Reunion when making reservations and your
choice of room (King or two Queens). Contract negotiations have been completed
pending signature.
Rates: Three nights rates negotiated – All rooms are double occupancy.
King bed at $159.00/night, or two queen beds at $179.00 plus taxes & fees.
Rates for shorter/longer stay may vary but by making your reservations early
you may get the same rate. Normal rates start from $231.00/night plus tax & Fees.
Events: Friday 27 – Registration & Cocktail Reception 5:00 PM –
7:00 PM (Cash Bar).
Saturday 28 – Late
Registration 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM; Breakfast & Lunch on your own with lists
of restaurants close by and group sign-up sheets made available at
Registration; Dinner (buffet-see Dinner Menu on website) at Hotel private
dining room 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM; Dance (DJ) at Hotel Ballroom with American
School Manila (ASM) group 8:00 PM – 12:00 AM
- Cash Bar.
Sunday 29 – Dinner Cruise on Mystic Blue (optional sign-up) on
board by 5:30 PM , Dinner/Cruise 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM, cost $69.90/pp + tax &
gratuities = $80.00; or Dinner & Play performance “Let Them Eat
Chaos” at The Second City (optional sign-up) 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM, Cost TBD.
Monday 30 – Homeward bound
Note – A menu of Chicago attractions, activities and events
you can enjoy on your own, or with fellow Brentonians,
will be available to entice you to explore the city during unscheduled times.
Help: Commitments – In order to make this event (our Last Hurrah)
successful, we will need your help early in organizing this event. Please send
a short simple e-mail to brentkids@sesi.com as early as you can with one of four notifications:
(1) “Will Attend (n)”, (2) “Planning to Attend (n)”, (3) “Not Sure (n)”, or (4)
“Sorry” – where n is the number attending. Make your hotel reservations early
and let us know (same e-mail address) that you have made them. We will update
and post a list of attendees continuously on the website www.brentkids.com. If you wish not to be on the mailing list, please
let us know.
Details: ASM - By chance we were made aware (by Eric Harrington)
that the American School Manila was having their Reunion
in Chicago in September. After coordinating with Richard Olson, Reunion
Committee President, we thought it would be nice to combine our resources for
the Dance portion of their/our activity at the same hotel. They are expecting
100-120 alumni, some of whom we may know (ex. Manila Sponsors for Brent
boarding students).
Arrival – If you are flying to Chicago, you have the choice of Chicago O’Hare or Midway airports. Each
have their pluses and minuses in terms of getting to the Avenue Crowne Plaza. See Transportation.
Registration – At your arrival, please follow signs for “Brent
School Reunion 2013 Registration 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM” or 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM on
Saturday for late Friday arrivals. You will receive a packet containing your
Registration Badge (needed for access to all attendee organized events), list
of attendees, list of Restaurants, list of scheduled activities and options,
sign-up sheets for sub-group tours, restaurants, plays, etc., City Maps, and
other useful information.
Registration Fees
– In order to meet our commitments
to the Hotel’s block of booked rooms and Dinner/Dance costs, we need for your
commitment funds (non-refundable) to be made by August 15th, 2013
for $95.00 per person and $125.00 if received after August 15th. This
pre-registration fee will cover your Friday Registration Reception Hors d’Oeuvres plus tax & gratuity and related costs,
Saturday Buffet Dinner (See website Reunions tab links for Dinner Menu) and
shared Dance (DJ) post dinner with the ASM folks. All other costs for any sub-group events
(sign-ups) will be pay-as-you-go unless stated differently on the sign-up
sheets. We cannot guarantee your room availability or rates or the
activities/events for any walk-ins or late payments not received and
acknowledged by September 5th, 2013. We will acknowledge receipt and
keep track and publish attendee status on the 15th of August and
monthly thereafter on the www.brentkids.com website.. Please allow 5 weekdays for
snail-mail and send your check to:
Brent 2013 Reunion
c/o
David Martin
5546
Creek Pointe Road
New
Bern, NC 28560
Make
checks payable to Brent 2013 Reunion
Attire – Chicago weather in late September is projected to be
their best, however, plan for nippy occasions. Casual attire for most of the
events, however a more formal wear for the Saturday Dinner & Dance
(minimum: Jacket/Dress/Business suit).
Costs Savings – Some of you who are attending single may want to
consider doubling up in the rooms and sharing half the costs for the Queen
rooms. We will publish and update a list of attendees continuously on the
website with their status and e-mail addresses (if available/provided) for you
to contact.
Projected Costs –
This is a sample of what you
might expect as a minimum for a single occupancy and a shared double
occupancy and scheduled events (less airline/transportation costs) for a 3
nights Hotel stay plus Friday Reception Hors d’Oeuvres
and Saturday Dinner & Dance. Either room (King or 2 Queens) are double
occupancy:
Hotel
(Single Occupancy) – (((159.00 Rate +9.95 Fee + 26.08 Tax) x 3 nights)) + 95.00
Event = $680.09. City & State
Taxes are combined as 16.4%
Hotel
(shared Double/pp) – ((((179.00 Rate + 9.95 Fee + 29.36 Tax) x 3 nights) /
2) +
$95.00 Event) = $422.47. City & State Taxes are
combined as 16.4%
Transportation – Public/Private
transportation information (Via Marcia Mau) - Chicago parking tips: Street parking
rates in Chicago are the highest in the US @ $8.50 per hour in the Loop and $4 an
hour near downtown. One option is to park your car at Park-n-Fly in
a guarded fenced lot near Midway Airport. Take their shuttle to Midway
and ask the driver to drop you off at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
station. The rate was about $12 a day - their web site today says
reserved spaces start at $7.38 per day. Garage parking downtown is expensive,
ranging from mid-$30 to about $50 per day at the hotels. When returning
take the CTA to Midway, go to the
terminal, and take the shuttle from the airport back to the parking lot to get your
car.
Another option is to take the Loop. Midway is about 1/2 hour by CTA from the
Loop. The Orange Line is very convenient. You can buy your pass w/
a credit card. Take the Orange line from Midway to the Loop's Library/Van
Buren station. There are 2 elevators to the street level. Cross
State St. and get one of the many buses to N. Michigan Ave. The hotel is a
block east of Michigan.
Parking
at the Avenue Crowne Plaza Hotel is $50.00/day,
$49.00 for Hotel guests.
From O'Hare the Blue Line goes to the
Loop. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour. O'Hare is farther from the
Loop than Midway and is also farther West. Get off at Chicago Ave and take the
Chicago Ave bus to Michigan. If you do leave the train there, look for
the up escalator.
Or
… splurge and take a cab for convenience.
Links – The following links to external websites are
provided with many more for Restaurant, Attendee status, Menus, events & attractions on the BrentKids website. www.brentkids.com, Reunions tab (if you came here through the
website, click on the return arrow or close just this page/window and you can
select the other links listed):
Crowne
Plaza Hotel – http://www.avenuehotelchicago.com/
Mystic
Blue – http://www.mysticbluecruises.com/
The
Second City - https://www.secondcity.com/performances/chicago/calendarandtickets/