October 29, 2007

ALRONA Southern California
Oktoberfest Party
Saturday, October 20, 2007

13 ALRONA members, spouses/friends and some “active” LH staff from the Station and Cargo at LAX celebrated the Oktoberfest at the Alpine Village in Torrance.
We had reserved several tables, decorated them with white and blue tablecloths, ALRONA and Lufthansa signs and provided beer mugs to those in the group who did not bring their own. Also, a number of colleagues arrived wearing traditional Bavarian attire, which added to a colorful setting.

Select Image for Caption and to Enlarge

The Alpine Village Management provided 2 beer steins and LAXGS, Isabelle Hermann, donated a LH retro flight bag with some other goodies as door prizes for the ALRONA members.
The Master of Ceremonies of the evening recognized both ALRONA and Lufthansa in a speech from the Stage and our group received a big applause from the crowd. Paid advertising could not have topped the enthusiastic response.

A couple sitting at the next table recognized one of our Oktoberfest signs dating back to 1983, the year they honeymooned in Germany and visited the Munich Oktoberfest. It happened to be their 24th anniversary and I took the delighted couple, including the sign, up on Stage to have them introduced and celebrated. Again, Lufthansa received an ovation from a crowd of about 5,000.
The Alpine Village Management also sent a photographer over to our tables to take some photos. I forwarded a group photo to the California Staatszeitung, who printed the photo and an introductory paragraph in their October 25 issue, just ahead of the final Oktoberfest Saturday yesterday with LTU donating a big prize for a drawing.

It was a fun evening and we are looking forward to our next get-together for our annual Holiday luncheon at the Proud Bird on December 6.

Helga Barkhuis

October 10, 2007

Hello to all ALRONA members.

On October 8th.2007 the ALRONA board decided which hotel in SAN ANTONIO will host our 2008 Convention. Our Vice President John Kok with the exceptional help of Richard Blakey, presented a study and summary of 6 Hotels at San Antonio.

And the winner was :
El Tropicano Holiday Inn
(www.eltropicanohotel.com)

The Hotel lies on the Riverwalk, near all the attractions and charges $ 99.00 for single or double. Here are some details :

Tuesday afternoon is also open for tours and sightseeing. The San Antonio Visitors Bureau and the hotel is assisting in arranging interesting and local events.

To give you ideas, we will mail brochures at intervals and keep you informed as to the arrangements. Possibly during our ALRONA Dues Invoice mailing, we may ask you about preferences and others.

Take a look at the hotel's website. You'll love it.

September 22 , 2007

Hello, everyone: If the unforseeable happens and you get stuck in FRA here are some helpful (at least I hope so) suggestions:

offers Lufthanseaten with a yellow ID an outstanding stand-by rate of Euro 35 (without breakfast)
you can call from the airport to find out if they have space avl for that day (there is a free phone at their stop arrival level (turn right) all the way back at C this is however very noisy because of the car traffic so I would suggest to call from inside the airport. The Shuttle Bus says "Wings Hotel" on it, it is a regular sized bus and leaves once an hour normally around 5 minutes before the hour, Double-check when calling for availability. Due to Seeheim being closed at present, many course participants stay at the Wings, so it might not be so easy to find a room there.

has a LH rate for ground personnel of Euro 63 (without breakfast)
Their shuttle leaves also from arrival leval but from the opposite end (towards Tor 21). Theirs are smaller vans
and because there are several NH Hotels you have to be careful to catch the right one (the other NH Hotels are more expensive!)

I have not stayed at this hotel. The LH rate is Euro 59 but someone told me they charge extra for the shuttle.

To go to the city from the Airport, take the S Bahn (Euro 3.95) under the airport and get off either at Hauptwache with an entrace directly into the Kaufhof, or 1 stop further to the Konstablerwache which is near C&A.
Of course, if you are rich or too tired you can always try the Sheraton directly accessible from the airport.

By the way, have you ever gone shopping in the Supermarket underneath the airport near McDonalds
or in the Crew Shop (entrance only with airline ID)? You can always buy something to eat and take it to the hotel with you - much cheaper that way.

Here is hoping that you always get your flights and won't need to overnight in FRA the everchanging airport under permanent construction.

Best regards,

Helga Panthel