Join us in San Antonio, Texas for the 2014 Strong Family Reunion, August 1 to 3, 2014
Accommodations at the Historic Crockett Hotel, Providing Texas Hospitality since 1909.
Located at 320 Bonham, San Antonio, Texas 78205, Reservation line 800–992-2694
For true Texan cultures, few locations are better than being across the street from the Alamo and near other great San Antonio area attractions. The gateway to the RiverWalk is just down and across the street, along with an upscale shopping mall. The property was built in 1909 by the I.O.O.F. fraternal organization as a lodge and hotel, and carefully renovated in 1982, earning it a place on the National Register of Historic Structures. In 2007 it was made to sparkle again with a multi-million-dollar complete renovation.
Room pricing at the Crockett Hotel, for this event, is being offered at a special group guestroom rate $99.99 per room, double occupancy. 35 rooms are available at this rate. The group rate for triple or quad per room is $109. These room rates include a complimentary hot buffet breakfast, and free Wi-Fi. All rooms are subject to local occupancy taxes, currently 16.75%, and daily parking rates are $20, plus 8.25% for valet, which includes overnight and in and out privileges. Parking fees are subject to change. If you chose to fly to the event, typical cab fare from the San Antonio Airport would be about $30. This is a NON SMOKING hotel, but pet friendly, and up to two small pets are allowed for a $60 non refundable fee. There is an outdoor pool. Guests are also allowed to use the pool and fitness center at the neighboring Menger Hotel, a sister to the Crockett. Check in time 3 pm, check out time at Noon. Call 800–992-2694 or 210–225-6500 for your reservations ON OR PRIOR TO TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2014 for these special rates. Reservations after that date will be accepted only on the basis of availability. It is agreed that the attendees will be responsible for providing prepayment or Credit Card Guarantees for their first night of arrival. There is a $75 charge for early departures.
Registration
Covers hospitality room, speaker’s fees and entertainment
# of adults _____ at $20/each = ___________
Member Name: ____________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip: ____________________________________________________
Phone:____________________________ Email: __________________
*Family members attending with you: ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
*Names as they should appear to name badges
Send your registration form and checks to: Tom Strong, 311 Northridge Drive, San Antonio, TX 78209. Questions? Call or email at 210–821-5891 or stxstrong@gmail.com
Schedule of events
Friday, August 1
3 to 5 pm, Check in and Meet and Greet in the Alamo Room
5 to 7 pm, Board meeting in the Hotel Board
Dinner, on your own. The Crockett is convenient to the broad spectrum of Downtown San Antonio restaurants, on and off the RiverWalk. Please feel free to email hosts Tom and Melinda Strong at stxstrong@gmail.com for suggestions, or if you would like to arrange a small group “meet-up.”
Saturday, August 2
Morning
We will tour the Mission San Antonio de Valero, a 4.2 acre complex known worldwide as “The Alamo.” For over 300 years, the Alamo has been a crossroads for Texas history. Here the Spanish colonization first took hold, Mexico armed for its own independence, and even the Confederacy stood its ground. Yet most come to see the place where a small band of Texans held out for thirteen days against General Antonio López de Santa Anna. You might enjoy reading the superbly researched work of historical fiction, about the siege and fall, “The Gates of the Alamo” by Stephen Harrigan, before you come. Available on Amazon.
Admission to the Alamo is free. Operation of the Alamo and its educational programming are funded by private donations and sales at the Alamo Gift Shop. Of note, The Alamo has a monthly history event on every first Saturday of the month — An interactive day full of Texas Living History that is designed to give visitors a glimpse of life in early Texas. Full of Texas Living History, Firing Demonstrations and much more. Scheduled times are usually between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. More detail on our specific group time will be announced in future newsletters, or in your registration packet.
Afternoon
1 pm to 5 pm: The Alamo Room of the Crockett will be open for hospitality, our General Meeting and Family Photos (exact time of meeting and photos to be determined)
Evening:
Banquet site is to be determined. Please look for banquet location and costs in upcoming SFAA newsletters. The Keynote speaker of the 2014 banquet will be Texas Historian Kameron Searle, Esq. Mr. Searle is married and a father of four, a seventh generation Texan, and a practicing attorney in Houston, Texas. His ancestor, Martin Parmer signed the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico. He is president of the Texas Heritage Society, as well as editor of the Texas History Page blog. He serves as the Historian for the Anson Jones Texas State Historical Marker in the Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, and Anson Jones will be his topic of discussion. Anson Jones, was a doctor (serving as surgeon to the Texas Army during the Texas Revolution), businessman, and fourth and last President of the Republic of Texas. He is also a descendant of Elder John Strong (see Dwight’s HISTORY OF THE STRONG FAMILY, Vol. 1, Page 159). Kameron likely shares ancestors with many of our reunion attendees, as his Searle and Pomeroy families were also early settlers in Windsor, Connecticut, and Northampton and Southampton, Massachusetts.
Sunday, August 3
A list of Downtown Churches and service will be available in the hospitality room, including the Cathedral of San Fernando, the oldest cathedral in the United States
Remember that Check Out time is Noon.
Other San Antonio attractions
Although the Alamo is the best-known of San Antonio’s Spanish missions, it is just one of five built along the San Antonio River from 1718 to 1749. The other four – Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan and Mission Espada – make up the San Antonio Missions National Park. You can drive, hike or bike among them, or take a public bus. Mission San Jose houses a visitors’ center, and all four offer cell phone tours in English and in Spanish. In addition, all four are active Catholic parishes that hold church services.
Back downtown, the San Fernando Cathedral, right off the Main Plaza, is an active church and a historic site. A marble coffin near the door holds the remains of the defenders of the Alamo, including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. The Spanish Governor’s Palace is a few blocks away. The structure had its beginnings as a one-room captain’s home in 1722. Befitting the times, the doorways are low, although the ceilings are high. Admission is $4.
La Villita, the city’s first neighborhood, is nearby on the south bank of the San Antonio River. Most of the neighborhood’s historic homes now hold shops and art galleries. The River Art Group, operated by a cooperative, displayed several small, inexpensive paintings of San Antonio that would make good souvenirs.
The Museum Branch of the River includes The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) which houses five millennia of art in a complex of buildings that was once the Lone Star Brewery. The museum is renowned for its collections of Latin American, Asian, and Ancient Mediterranean Art, as well as a growing and notable contemporary collection, including Texas and regional art. SAMA is on the Museum Reach of the River Walk, an enjoyable 30-minute walk from central downtown hotels with public art along the way.
Also set among restored 19th century buildings, once part of the Pearl Brewery, the CIA San Antonio campus is as diverse as the culinary world itself. — The CIA, as the Culinary Institute is known, conducts free public tours on Thursday afternoons. The campus is small and my tour lasted only 15 minutes; those who’d like to spend more time can take one-day cooking classes or multiday cooking boot camps. Those who’d like to sample the fare of CIA grads have their pick of several restaurant. This includes La Gloria, a Mexican restaurant, with food that is delicious, hearty and inexpensive. Professional bakers work at night in the school’s pastry kitchen, the CIA Bakery Cafe, turning out masterful creations. Other restaurants and shops abound.
For even more shopping and dining experiences, check out Market Square, also called El Mercado. Shops and vendors offer any knickknack you might be looking for – and a few you never knew existed.