Hi All,
While Ellen is on vacation (why did she go somewhere even warmer than it's been in Boston??) we just want to make sure that you save the 8th of September for a very different kind of meeting at the Improv Asylum on Hanover St. in the North End.
Best,
The Greater Boston Concierge Association Board
 Ellen with Antonio Reyes of Unofficial Tours and Joe Donlavey of Arts Boston at The Liberty Hotel
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| Special Notice -- Jim McCabe |
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Our dear friend and long-time affiliate member of the GBCA, Jim McCabe, died Sunday night. As the treatments he had been receiving did not provide the desired results, they were stopped last week and Jim and Carol initiated Hospice Care.
Jim we will miss you.
Calling Hours: George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home
477 Washington St. (Rte. 16) in Wellesley
Thursday, 8/27 from 4 to 8 PM
Funeral Services: St. Paul Church
502 Washington Street (Rte. 16) Wellesley
Friday, 8/28 at 10:00 AM
Burial: Woodlawn Cemetery, Wellesley
Jim McCabe Carol McCabe
(Jonathan Pride background)
Setting up for GBCA Fun Day at Castle Island, So. Boston |
August 17th GBCA Members Meeting at The Liberty Hotel
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| The exciting Liberty Hotel played host and provided an intriguing venue for our August meeting. In spite of a last minute change of date, a large turn-out of members was present.
Following a cocktail reception on the fifth floor catwalk, Ellen Silverman presented some future dates to keep in mind, including the Game On! invitation from Tricia DeWolf of our new affiliate Ace Ticket for the following evening.
Betty Salemme then gave us information about the Fur Ball which is the major annual fund raiser for the Animal Rescue League of Boston. It will be held at the Bank of America Pavilion on Sept. 24th with a 1970-80s disco theme. $100 VIP tickets or $40 floor tickets will be available. Special thanks was mentioned to Chris Elias and Melissa Farrington of Live nation for their sponsorship of this event. Boston Veterinary Care at the Animal Rescue League of Boston is open to the public and offers compassionate, state-of-the-art veterinary care. Services include preventive care, geriatric medicine, outpatient surgery, nutrition counseling, wellness and dentistry. www.arlboston.org The GBCA membership was very impressed by the presence for our meeting of Mr. Patrick Lyons. He, of course, is the founder 29 years ago of The Lyons Group of restaurants, clubs and entertainment venues all around Boston, now numbering 28 and with more to come. Both Alibi and Scampo in The Liberty Hotel are operated by his Lyons Group and he is particularly happy to have lured Lydia Shire back from Maine to run Scampo. The next venture will be a 13,000 sq. ft. new restaurant concept to open within the Hynes Auditorium. Mr. Lyons particularly emphasized the importance of the concierges to his ventures. Concierge reservations should always be given priority at all his restaurants. This is so important to him, that his marketing department developed a stylish bracelet for the concierges which is also a travel drive you can plug into a USB port in your computer to have access to all the info for each of his restaurants, including names and phone numbers of the managers for any requests that a concierge might need. For those who did not get one at the meeting and those who weren't able to attend, we will try to let you know in a separate email how to obtain one.
David Sargent, chef concierge, had assisted Ellen in arranging this meeting, and he brought forward Mr. Jim Treadway, managing director of The Liberty Hotel, who enthusiastically welcomed us. As a member of the development/management company for The Liberty Hotel (also The Charles Hotel), Mr. Treadway spoke of the desire to bring together a luxury hotel and food destination with something that truly reflected Boston. Thus it was that the old Charles Street Jail became The Liberty Hotel. The hotel offers a range of events every week including cooking/tasting demonstrations (we were treated to one after the meeting), Art and fashion nights and a "yappy hour" every Wednesday from 5 to 7pm when Beacon Hill canine neighbors can enjoy a social time and mingle with hotel guests pets in the Scampo courtyard; it is open to everyone. www.libertyhotel.com Katalin Mitchell of our own A.R.T. then spoke enthusiastically about The Donkey Show, the new "show" at the Oberon (formerly Zero Arrow Street Theatre) which is now a "disco/theatre/club." Patrons mingle and dance with characters from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as their story is told in all those Disco numbers that you can't resist (even if you aren't old enough to remember them). Kati hopes that all GBCA members will come and enjoy the fun on Friday, Aug. 28. www.americanrepertorytheatre.org.
Dan Smith of Charles River Canoe and Kayak spoke to us about what his company has to offer. We are familiar with their locations in Newton, Natick and off Soldiers Field Road in Brighton, but none are easily accessible to guest by public transportation. That has now been taken care of with the new location in Kendall Square, 3 blocks from the Red Line station. Guests can rent canoes or kayaks for the river, or even to go into the harbor if they are skilled enough. The company also offers Skyline Tours and harbor Tours. See their website, www.paddleboston.com, for details.
Dan Benoit, Captain, Mike Donahue, first mate, and Ann Flannery, hostess, gave us info about the "Come Sail Away Now" introduced us to this beautiful 31 foot sloop which offers daily sailings and a sunset cruise from Pier 6 in Charlestown. The ship carries 12 passengers and can be chartered. They also provide sailing lessons and a rental vessel. www.comesailawaynow.com
Aaron Turkel of CTM Media, familiar to us for their lobby racks of brochures and information, particularly wished to share with us their visitor based website, www.ettractions.com and the concierge feature. by creating a profile, concierges can subscribe to alerts from their favorite attractions, get updates, print directions and info for guests and get local CTM news and order brochures online. www.ctmmedia.com
Friends of the Fort Point Channel was represented by Danielle Pillion, exec. director, and Danielle McNally, marketing director. The Friends organization offers a guide to the Fort Point neighborhood with a map of businesses and listing many free events. The Fort Point Channel area offers history (Boston Tea Party, Fire Museum), activities and culture (Childrens Museum, ICA and its concerts, and the largest artists' community in Boston which has now opened a store on Farnsworth St. next to Flour Bakery), and also the restored channel itself with beautiful sections of the South Bay trail and Harborwalk to explore. www.bostonharborwalk.com www.friendsoffortpointchannel.org
Jonathan Nicholson, formerly of XV Beacon and now chef concierge at Baltimore Hilton Convention Center Hotel, dropped in for our meeting and encouraged everyone to visit and see the many things Baltimore has to offer.
Michael Southwick with Meredith and Jeff Clavin
Jonathan Nicholson
Another special guest at our meeting was Jeff Clavin, concierge at the InterContinental Hotel in San Francisco. He was a guest of Meredith Reid of the Marriott Newport.
Other members at the meeting:
Susan Withrow and Rebecca Paul Duffy, Betty Salemme,
Backstrom of the Parker House Yasmin McCarthy, Gabriel
Toussaint
Following the meeting, Lydia Shire entertained us at a lamb BBQ in the terrace and garden of Scampo restaurant. Wonderful hors d'oeuvres and drinks were served.
  Maureen Howlett Julie Hennebury, Midge Bertrand, of Where Magazine Jessica Terk
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| GBCA Outreach Events
Pride in Service |
The Greater Boston Concierge Association returned to volunteer at the Greater Boston Food Bank on Monday August 10th. A great time was had by all as we sorted and boxed food donations at their brand new facility! Special thanks to Paul Duffy, Ann Heimlicher, Charles Currier, and Robert Morrissette, and Adam Castiglioni for volunteering their time. Together with several other groups we were sorted 6275 pounds of food, salvaging 5020 pounds of it (80%). This was enough to provide meals for 3871 meals! A future date for the GBCA to return to volunteer at the Greater Boston Food Bank will be announced shortly.
- Adam Castiglioni
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| Special Offer for GBCA |
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In addition to our scheduled day August 25th,
Bay State Cruise Company announces complimentary fast ferry round trip transport from Boston to Provincetown for any concierge or affiliate with guest through the rest of August. Travel is restricted to Monday-Thursday only.
GBCA members enjoying P-Town Carnival Parade on 8/20 celebrating "Summer of Love - peace, love and go-go boots" for 40th anniversary of Woodstock, Stonewall and moon landing.
  Michelle Haynes of Robert Morrissette & street band Cape Air with Randy Price
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Member News |
Condolences: to Carol McCabe -- Jim died Sunday night after a long and courageous struggle with cancer. Jim and Carol and their New England Ghost Tours have been long time members of the GBCA and have always been cheerful supporters of our organization. They were always ready to pitch in and help, especially with the Trade Show.
Please submit any news of awards, changes, updates of GBCA members to gbca@hotmail.com to be included in this section each month. If I have overlooked mentioning any new members in 2009 in the April or May newsletters, please let me know so that we can introduce you in the next one.
Robert
Vice President of Membership
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| GBCA Web Site -- www.gbcaonline.com |
GBCA members can now access an archive of current and past newsletters for 2009, as well as the President's messages and notices by going to our website: www.gbcaonline.com and clicking on the "newsletter" tab. This will give you a link to the web based archive. Once at the archive, you can click on a title and open up the newsletter to keep up on all GBCA information.
Affiliate members will find a listing of their businesses with links to their websites under the tab for "Affiliates" |
| Financial Report |
Betty Salemme, Chief Financial Officer, provided a financial statement for the July meeting. We repeat it here.
In summary for the first 6 months of 2009:
Jan. 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009 -- the year began with $3,400
from the previous year. We took in $13,000 from member dues
Total $16,400.
Expenses: $3,397 (broken down by categories at the meeting)
Balance; $13,003
Anyone who would like a detailed breakdown of the report can request by email to gbca@hotmail.com
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To submit information and pictures for future newsletters please email Adam Castiglioni, Vice President of Public Relations or Robert Morrissette, Vice President of Membership at gbca@hotmail.com Thank you!
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Save the Date
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DATES TO REMEMBER
August 25th - Bay State Cruises Provincetown Trip
September 1st - Super Tours Familiarization Night
(concierges only)
September 2nd - Summer Sendoff Party at Anthony's Pier 4
September 8th GBCA All Member Meeting at the Improv Asylum
September 14th - Dorfmann's Jewelers event with Ann H.
September 15th - Where Magazine's South End Stroll
September 21st - ArtsBoston Fall Preview October 13th - GBCA All Member Meeting at Symphony Hall
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