As I’m sure you know, we had a hiccup with the motel in Bangor. Things were on track for simply pushing back our Labor Day weekend 2020 plans to 2021, but then the state of Maine threw us a curveball. Due to COVID social distancing requirements, the homeless shelters in Bangor had to reduce their capacities. The state has been leasing the Ramada Inn on a month-by-month basis since then, and this arrangement is set to go on indefinitely.
I have secured another motel– the Hilton Garden Inn located just off I-95 at the north end of Bangor. The message from the motel is: “I did receive the signed contract and the rooms have been held. Guests can call the hotel directly at 207.262.0099 and mention the Northeast Hemi Association or they can book online at hilton.com/en/hotels/bgrbagi-hilton-garden-inn-bangor and use the group code NEHOA to see the available rooms in the block. They need to make their reservation by August 20th in order to receive the discounted group rate. At this date, any rooms that have not yet been reserved with be released back into our general reservation system and they will not be able to get the group rate once this happens.” If you book online you need to click the Special Rates box and type in NEHOA in the Group Code box. That should bring up the group rate of $109/night for a double queen room or king room.I made my reservation online in order to give their system a test run, and it worked just fine.
In addition, last week I met with the folks at the Moosehead Marine Museum in Greenville. These are the people who operate the Katahdin cruises on Moosehead Lake. The Katahdin (or “Kate,” as she is known) is a 1914 steamboat that was converted to diesel power in the 1950s. They have blocked out the entire boat for Sunday of that weekend for our group until the beginning of August. (Understandably, they would not block out Saturday for us unless we were prepared to buy all of the tickets now.) We will need a firm head count by August 1st. At that time, ticket sales will be opened to the general public. I will be working on the meet registration forms in the near future. I will also be working on securing parking for our group in Greenville at a nearby shopping center. Last year, we were able to accomplish this. I hope the owner agrees again this year.
