ROAD-DINER UPDATE

updated 6/15/99

by Steve Wolownik

We'll use this space to keep you posted on developments concerning the "best musical event of the decade." If you have any questions, please feel free to write or email us (addresses below). And here's the latest since the posting of May 15:

• REGISTRATION.    Today, June 15, is the deadline for registering for Road-Diner at the regular rate. After today there is a $25 service charge added on to your total bill. Those of you who have made special arrangements aren't affected.
  
  
• EVENTS.     Did you see our a la carte pricing, for people who just cannot attend the whole camp? Here it is:
  
  
  • Each evening party is $15
  • Wednesday night Welcome BBQ, including evening party, is $20 (reserve by June 25)
  • Friday Banquet is $20 reserve by June 25)
  • Saturday concert is $10 - see note below
  
  
  
• LUNCH.     Seems that a lot of people want to have lunch at ROVA on Thursday. ROVA's Russian Restaurant will prepare us a short menu for each of us to choose from, with different items than the Banquet on Friday. (Rick and I went to ROVA last Sunday for their 65th Anniversary celebration; the food was absolutely scrumptious!) Remember that each diner will choose from the menu and pay for his/her own meal - this is not part of the registration fee.
  
  
• CONCERT.    According to Nellie Zarestky, who is handling advertising and ticket sales, the Saturday night concert is almost sold out. If you know of anyone who needs tickets, contact me immediately, or write directly to Nellie: Mrs. Nellie Zarestky, Pleasant Garden Apts., 108-D Garden St., Jackson NJ 08527.
  
  
• And speaking of the concert, watch this space for the concert program, to be posted by the end of June.
  
  
• ARRIVAL.     If you're flying in to Newark, be sure to reserve a space on the airport shuttle in advance. There will be a vehicle transfer in Wall Township (the driver will tell you what to do), and you will be brought directly to Georgian Court College. If you're taking the New Jersey Transit bus from the airport to Lakewood, be sure to let us know which bus you will be taking, and we'll have someone pick you up at the bus station. Otherwise you can take a taxi.
  
  

• Rick, Ricci, and I went to visit Georgian Court College last Saturday. We think you all will be very impressed with the facility. The campus is beautiful! It's right on the lake in the center of Lakewood. Statues, fountains, sculpture gardens, formal gardens, Victorian buildings, all the lavishness of a turn-of-the-century multimillionaire's estate. But with modern residence buildings and classrooms!
  
  

  The residence hall has dorm-type rooms, with 2 beds each, closets, desks, etc. Bathrooms are down the hall (all common areas will be cleaned daily), with none available in the rooms. Each floor has a large and comfortable lounge, and there's even a cappuccino machine in one! The basement has a large room which will be ours for the dance program instruction and for the evening parties. And there is an adjoining kitchen, for our exclusive use; this will make it very easy for us to serve the food and refreshments at the evening parties. The whole building is air conditioned, plus each dorm room has an separate window air conditioner, so you can adjust the temp to your liking.
  
  

  The college is just a short walk from Rte. 9, which has many motels, restaurants, and shops. And ROVA Farm, the famous Russian resort, is only 10 miles away.



Visit Georgian Court's Web site, www.georgian.edu, for some photos of the campus.


• Note the room rates, which are different from the amounts originally sent out:
  
  
  • SINGLE (one person in a room) $30 per day
  • DOUBLE (two people sharing a room) $20 per person per day

  ************** Plus 6% tax (not 10%!) *****************
  
  

  Unless you tell us otherwise, we assume that you are staying at the college for the four nights, Wed-Thur-Fri-Sat, and will bill you accordingly.
  
  

  A form where you can indicate your exact preference will accompany the housing bill, in our next mailing to you (to be sent mid-May.)

• Let me further clarify the food arrangements:

1. The Welcome BBQ, the Banquet, all the food at the evening parties, the continental breakfasts, and the late-night Zakuski Event are all included in your registration fee. This is the only food included in that fee - you are responsible for all other food. (There are small refrigerators on each floor, so you may bring in a small amount of perishables.)



2. The college cafeteria offers breakfast, lunch, and supper each day, but they need a head count from us, which is why this was included on the reg. form. There is lots of good food at each of these meals, and you can go through the line again and again. A salad bar is set up for each meal. A nice variety of hot & cold, meat & veggie, dairy dishes, desserts, etc. are available at each meal.



3. TWO SPECIAL MEALS. ROVA's Russian Restaurant is usually closed Thursdays, but they will open for us if enough of us want to eat lunch there. They have a wonderful menu, and the food is absolutely scrumptious and very reasonably priced. (The lunch menu will be different from what we have at the Banquet.) So we need to know how many of you would like to have lunch at ROVA on Thursday - this would be instead of the college's cafeteria or a local eatery.



4. The BANQUET is at ROVA on Friday night. Some of you have indicated Friday dinner at the college, but we know that you're really going to the Banquet!

That's enough with the food for now - let's move on ...

• The CONCERT will be Saturday night. We are still working on a location for it - have several possibilities, ROVA being one.




• Two more instructors:

Robin LaPasha will demonstrate and discuss some non-balalaika Russian instruments, such as bagpipes, flutes and whistles

Mike Willmorth will lead the Troyista Muzyka, which Rick likes to call the "Ukrainian Hillbilly" ensemble. Bring your kazoo, recorder, violin, volynka, sopilka, lion's roar, boghran, sytko, hurdy-gurdy, etc. and join in!

• Your INSTRUMENT and your MUSIC. You noted which instrument(s) you will bring, and also indicated which instrument you will play in the Orchestra (if you do). Some of your responses were ambiguous, so we'll try to figure it out. We will send music for the Orchestra and for any workshops that have advance music available (mainly the ensemble workshops).




• DANCE PROGRAM. There will be plenty of dance instruction at Road-Diner, at all levels. Kathy and Mike Protenic are very excited about our camp, and are preparing a program that they guarantee will not only please the beginners but will satisfy and surprise even the veteran folk dancer. We'll dance while the instrumentalists are rehearsing, and dancing will be a major part of each evening's party.




• THE NEXT MAILING will be sometime toward the middle of May. It will contain a receipt for your deposit, a bill for registration fee still owed, a form for room and meals preferences, any music you might need, and futher information, including directions to Georgian Court College.

Well, that's it for this update. I'll add more info as it becomes available.

Steve Wolownik PO Box 203 Mt. Laurel NJ 08054 email: wolownik@looksmart.com

Rick Heald 409 E. 74th St. #4-C New York NY 10021 email: rickheald @juno.com