Dineen 2010 Reunion

Hello Dineen Family:

We are excited to tell all of you about the plans (in the making) for a fun and memorable reunion. We have some great ideas, and more to be considered.

The first night of the reunion is Thursday, July 15. We would like to plan a “Meet and Greet” event to get re-acquainted and meet some newcomers to the family. This will be a casual reception.

We have blocked rooms at the Holiday Inn Downtown/Airport to accommodate everyone. It is five minutes from the airport and five minutes from the Old Market. This hotel has an indoor waterpark, hot tub and swimming pool (towels provided). The Union Sports bar is located inside the hotel, and features a full service restaurant. All rooms have king sized beds, and in addition to the king bed, there is a pull-out sofa in the rooms or the other option is a king with a double. The room rate is $109/night.

Friday, July 16: a golf outing for anyone interested, and a trip to the zoo for others. (visit Omahazoo.com to get a sneak peak of what is featured)

Friday Evening: a trip to a Nebraska winery. A school bus will be provided to transport everyone to this event. If you opt out of the winery trip, we will have a hospitality room available throughout the reunion for your use. Don’t forget about the waterpark for the kids.

Saturday July 17: A family picnic is being organized. More on this as it evolves.

Saturday evening: A riverboat ride with entertainment, OR an evening at the Upstream in their party room – which is located in the Old Market.

Sunday July 18: Family heritage tour to revisit the neighborhoods where the Dineens lived, a trip to the Creighton University campus where Creighton Prep was located when Jack, Tom and Dick attended high school. More on this idea as it develops.

Sunday Evening: a catered dinner (location to be determined)

We hope to be using school buses to transport everyone to these events. There is a shuttle service from the Holiday Inn that will take anyone from the airport to the hotel. This shuttle service is also available for transportation to the Old Market.

First and foremost is keeping the cost down! The room rates are excellent – and can sleep 4-5 people. To make your reservations, call the Holiday Inn Downtown/Airport (402-341-0124) ask for the Dineen Reunion block. The room rate is for up to 4 guests, so if you have a fifth or more, just mention 4 guests.

–Tom and Barb

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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and children of all ages…

It appears we have a winner – Omaha, Nebraska for the next Family Reunion.

It’s been an interesting ride, I must say!  To actually have gotten 44 votes for ANY reunion site was nothing short of a miracle to me.  I really want to thank each and every one of you for voicing your opinions and ideas.  It was a real group effort and I’m really happy that so many participated.

I specifically want to thank Tom and Barb for offering to take the lead on an Omaha reunion and a special thanks to Marcy and Rita for their overnight research of Estes Park, Colorado.  I definitely think Estes Park holds promise for a future reunion!

I also know that for some, this wasn’t their first (or maybe even second or third) choice for a reunion site.  But before you become a naysayer or reject anything out of hand, let’s all give this an honest shot.

For folks looking to show their kids/grandkids the history of Fort Robinson, I can definitely recommend driving Highway 20 from Oregon all the way… It goes through Yellowstone, right in front of Fort Robinson (you can do an overnight there or spend a few hours) and also head up to Mt Rushmore.  The best steak I’ve ever had was at the Valentine Cafe in Valentine, Nebraska when I did my Highway 20 trip in 1993.  The sand hills are beautiful and not at all like I-80.  And air fares from SFO and OAK run from $116 web fares to $188.

Omaha has a lot to offer and here  are a few things borrowed from ehow.com:

1. Go around the world in but a few hours at the Henry Doorly Zoo on South 10th Street, where flawlessly re-created habitats—indoors and out—will make you feel like you’ve somehow wandered into a lush rainforest, bat cave or gator-infested swamp, among many other ecosystems.
2. For a moving and memorable outing, go to Boys Town on the city’s west side to see the sprawling campus village hosting hundreds of at-risk youth. The center was founded by the late Father Flanagan and famously depicted in the classic 1938 film starring Spencer Tracy.
3. To savor a taste of Europe in the heart of Nebraska, dine out at The French Café on Howard Street, a local favorite since its 1969 debut. The enticing menu departs from standard French fare to offer such creative creations as a tempura-fried lobster tail; and the ambience of casual elegance is perfect for a romantic evening.
4. An entertaining excursion that will enlighten you greatly on local history can be found on South 10th Street—where you’ll find the Durham Western Heritage Museum. Calling the renovated old Union Station home, the museum showcases pristinely maintained slices of the city’s past, from wonderful old train cars to a soda fountain right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
5. Spend an afternoon in the historic Old Market neighborhood downtown, where people-watching, window-shopping, bar-hopping and fine dining are the top activities. The Upstream Brewing Company, at 11th and Jackson, is a fine stop for recharging on some of the best pub food you’ll ever encounter—or unwinding with a beer after a long day of sightseeing.
6. For a dramatic evening out, see what’s slated on the two stages at the Omaha Community Playhouse, on Cass Street. Not many playhouses can offer the rich history of the OCP—where the first play starred Marlon Brando’s mother, a 20-year-old Henry Fonda made his dramatic debut, and Grant Wood once designed scenery for a play.
7. Shop to your heart’s content at Village Pointe at 168th Street and West Dodge Road. The handsomely designed shopping center has a Frank Lloyd Wrightian feel to it, and an impressive selection of retailers run the gamut from Ann Taylor to Z Gallerie.

Fun stuff.

I honestly and truly believe we can pull this off, folks!

Tom and his  child-bride, Barb, will be heading the planning committee.  I’ll work in an ancillary position wherever needed, but this is going to take place in Omaha, so it needs an Omahan (or twelve) to get it going.

I would hope to see family t-shirts, a new family cookbook (heaven knows I don’t have enough recipes on my recipe website!) a family questionnaire letting everyone know what you and your family has been up to… Everything we have done in the past – and more!

Start thinking of where you would like to help – what committee you would like to be on or help lead.  Get in contact with Tom and Barb directly at: tbdin@cox.net.

I can create specific web pages as committees are formed to gather information and have it sent off to specific individuals.

Tom and Barb will also have access to the web site to post information, updates, whatever.  I’ll be in contact with them to pass the baton and get the ball rolling.

There has been a ton of enthusiasm about a reunion and I really want to keep the enthusiasm level high.

This is about family.  It’s about making some time to head back to our roots – to see where our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents lived and worked and played.  Family.

So ‘com, folks!  Let’s rally ’round and get this started!

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Hi All!

I’m sure you received or have seen Marcy’s email about Estes Park, Colorado for the family reunion.

After doing a bit more research (thank you, Rita!!!) it seems that Elkhorn Lodge is a bit down on its luck and probably a bit more “rustic” than we’re looking for…  YMCA of the Rockies is extremely kid-friendly and has tons and tons of stuff to do.

Below is Marcy’s email with a bit more of my editorializing after!

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Hi Family,

As an alternative to the places proposed for the family reunion 2010, I would like to propose two additional locations.  They are in Estes Park, Colorado, available in July 2010 (at this time) and have sufficient space for a large family reunion.  They are:

1.  Elkhorn Lodge and Guest Ranch, Estes Park, Colorado.   http://www.elkhornlodge.org/groups.html

2.  YMCA-Rockies at Estes Park, Colorado.   http://ymcarockies.org/home/what-we-offer/reunions-Colorado/family-reunion-university

Why am I proposing these options?  I thought if we could find a place that could accommodate the amount of people in our extended family, easier to get to for those traveling great distances, a location that allows us to visit like we did at Ft. Robinson, has plenty of activities, then this might work.  If you look at the websites you can see what each facility has to offer and the cost of staying there.  It is really hard to do a cost estimate without having all the data on the number of people, ages, etc., but roughly, the Ekhorn Lodge would be $500-600 (excluding meals) for each family unit. They charge by buildings like Ft. Robinson.  The YMCA-Rockies would be about $800 for a family unit of four (includes 3 meals a day).  They charge by individual so harder to estimate.  Take a look at their rate sheets posted on their sites.  They are both located in the Rockies so altitude is approx. 8,000 ft.

If you think either of these places might be a viable alternative, please post your responses/comments on Tim Dineen’s website: http://dineen2010.com.  Deadline is August 2 – this Sunday.  Thank you.

Marcy (Dineen) Medeiros

Vacaville, CA

Travel Times (Google Maps):

It takes 8 hours and 24 minutes to drive from Omaha to Ft. Robinson.

It takes 8 hours and 17 minutes to drive from Omaha to Estes Park.

It takes 4 hours and 47 minutes to drive from Denver Airport to Ft. Robinson.

It takes 1 hour and 18 minutes to drive from Denver Airport to Estes Park.

It takes 17 hours and 57 minutes to drive from San Francisco to Estes Park.

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Current Poll

From looking at the poll numbers, it appears that there’s not as universal desire to head back to Nebraska for a fourth time as I first thought – the poll right now is:

Fort Robinson/FR prefer:  22 votes

Lake Tahoe/ LT prefer:  21 votes

There’s still another 36 or so hours to vote.

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Travel Time

Travel time is going to be an issue for almost everyone regardless of where a reunion is held.  In her email, Marcy lists some very real travel times for westerner’s heading east, as well as from Omaha to FR and Estes Park.  Victor and I have the option of either flying for 5 hours, renting a car and then driving for another 5 hours or flying into Denver, getting a hotel room for the night, and then renting the car and driving 5 hours.  Neither option sounds really pleasant, right now…

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Omaha Reunion

Okay…  I have to admit that when I first heard Tom mention Omaha, my initial response was thinking everyone outside of Nebraska would just stay with everyone in Omaha and there would be no hotels to deal with (If someone wanted to stay at a hotel, that, of course, would be their personal choice).  That would be incentive for the west coast folks to make it all the way back there.  However, after reading a few more posts, I think I may have been wrong in that assumption.

Without the Omaha relatives literally hosting the rest of the  family in Omaha, I don’t see an Omaha reunion as being feasible.

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Square One?!?

So…  it appears we may be back at square one – but with the two options now being Estes Park and Fort Robinson – or the third option of just saying we tried.

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WOW!  This is the most response I’ve gotten since first proposing this thing!  Way to go!!!   I’m really enjoying the stories and posts. Remember that the vacation time and such are all valid reasons but they work both ways – California has to make it to the Midwest if the Midwest doesn’t make it to California.

Okay…  The Omaha Ballot-Box-Stuffers are in the lead!  A big lead.  I’m thinking that it would be difficult to top it at this point.

So…

Time to throw another wrench into the works.

Tom and Barb have offered to work on a reunion in…  OMAHA! Yes, Omaha…  where it all began.

Personally, I *really* like this idea!  I haven’t been to Omaha in years – and years – and it would be a lot of fun to see the family on their home turf.  Omaha hosts the reunion for the rest of the family.  Kids can get pawned off on their cousins, we can picnic and BBQ and really have a fun time.   We do Costco runs and split the tab.  I’d love to revisit the place and maybe Victor and I could slip over to Council Bluffs and get married. (Always thinking ahead…)  Omaha is doable.  Really doable.

The payback would be that in 2013, the reunion would be in San Francisco –  with the California branch hosting the Omahans! All of you Midwesterners would get to see the Big City.  Same deal.  Farm out the kids and take over Golden Gate Park or The Presidio for massive picnics.

So what say you folk?

It’s already too late to get Fort Robinson in July.

Again, post responses on the website!  This has been GREAT hearing from you!!!

I’m really psyched, because I now really feel this is going to happen!  YEAH!!!

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Hi Gang!

Just got off the phone with my brother and I thought we’d give this another shot.  My niece Jessica found a great vacation rental site that has a pretty comprehensive listing of the types of places available.  It will give you a pretty good idea of the types of places available as well as the costs.  http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/california/lake-tahoe-ca/north-shore#a2052.

And here is a listing for Fort Robinson:  http://nebraskastateparks.reserveamerica.com/webCampingFacilityFees.do?contractCode=NE&parkId=230077.

There is a poll posted on the right column of the website that I would like absolutely every one of you to take this week.  The poll will be open from right now until August 2nd and is completely anonymous!!!

It is basically asking if we should hold the reunion at Tahoe or Fort Robinson.  Where YOU would most likely be able to attend…  I know that there are some strong feelings about both sites, but it doesn’t make any sense to do this if nobody can make it.  It also doesn’t make sense to do this if enough people aren’t interested.

Even if you have emailed or spoken with me in the past, please take a moment to click the little button.  I really need to know where we ALL stand on this.

And please, please, please direct your comments to the website.  I want all communication to be open and let everyone have a free and equal voice in what is decided.

Just hit the comments button at the bottom of the post!

Thanks!

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I hate to say it, but the response to another reunion has been a bit underwhelming… Dealing with real estate agents at Tahoe has not been exactly productive, either.  They tend to deal in higher-end properties and condos.  NOT what we’re looking for.

It’s still a year away, but I’m not as optimistic as I once was.

It seems everyone wants a reunion – in theory – but when it actually comes down to planning or going, there’s something else that gets in the way.

The concept behind a Tahoe Reunion came about because we rented a house from a friend of my brother-in-law, Mike, over my 50th birthday.  (I’m going to be 57 in a few weeks, so you can see it’s been a while.)  Anyway – our whole extended family was there, the house slept a bazillion people, and was cheap.

There just wasn’t enough support to return to Fort Robinson for a 4th time.  The battle cry was “we can get three or four houses like the one we rented” and have the reunion at Tahoe.

Works for me…  I love Tahoe.  I lived there for almost 5 years (May 1976 – October 1980).  I have a lot of really good (and a lot of really vague) memories of the place spanning most of my life.  My email address is TahoeT, my business website is TahoeT.com.  Tahoe?!?  I’m there.

Except…..

Over a year after announcing a Tahoe Reunion, we still don’t have any information.

No one has been able to get a hold of the guy we originally rented from. No idea of where, no idea of costs, no idea of who really wants to go.  We’ve been in contact with a couple of real estate agents, but, as stated above, $400-$500/night condo’s at Northstar that sleep 8 people each (3 br with a sofa bed) aren’t really conducive to the type of gathering we’re looking for.

I totally and completely understand that it’s nigh-on impossible to give a solid yeah or nay without better information about dates and actual costs, but the vast (and I do mean vast) majority of folks on this email list have not responded in any way, shape, or form.

I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel, but if folks are serious about having a Family Reunion, we need to start working a bit harder at getting information.  The last blast email I sent out asking for feedback netted exactly one response.

So…

I’m thinking a September 1st deadline to have something more-or-less concrete in place.  If we can’t get it together by then, we probably aren’t going to get it together, at all.

Comments?!?

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