OSTIEN FAMILY NEWSLETTER
Roolf, Spinelli, Larko, Atkinson, Pursley, Sinz, Cardova, Furgas, Cushing, Shifflet, Surbella, Wilson, Morris, Albrecht, Coster, Dominick, Morales, Rothwell, McKnight, Gruemken, Schaller, Mathewson, Biblis, Smialkowski, Jacobs, Kaplan, Wrabel, Zipay, Bornes, Henderson, Bichsel, Myers, Marshall, McDade, McKinney, McClusky, Koch, Hughes, Miller, Mackey, Kersey, Moore, Brown, Stuard, Murphy, McFarland, Bizon, Snyder, Pepper, Kearns, Ruble, Durstine, Moyer, Waltz, Frankenberry, Bash, Tangora, Hammersmith, Norge, Curry, VanArtsdalen, Markelwith, Hoffman, Borowy, Reith, Dos Ramos, Deaton, Petrosky, Sopira, Botti, Bridges, George, Masengill, Gardner, Divens, Barrett, Hamm, Moore, Leto, Glass, Snyder, Ragan, Ott, Boden, Bulger, Boyer, Gutshall, Clark, Hamilton, Walker, Mitchell, Mowery, Brown, Lamont, Weaver, Trust, Trout, Davis, Glunt, Smeltz, Lehnhardt, Pirl, Guezman, Hannen, Bangs, Chara, Eberle, Schjeldahl, Marroquin, Topp, Currey, Ward, Restagno, Meier, Otten, Shy, Rhoads, Gardner, Meyers, Byrd, Pinkerton, Stanley, Ortendahl, Banker, Smith, Marlow, Pesnell, Overman, Longpre, Spencer, Skellenger, Chew, Arnold, Tetlow, Whitney, Sanderbeck, Moose, Carroll, Hall, Coven, Henderson, Jackson, Popovich, Hrabak, Young, Forcucci, Wilson, Urban, Kuehn, Fiorenzo, Stahlsmith, Lewis, Thomas, Porter, Delo, Dickerson, Luffy, McDermott, Davis, Heron, Merrey, Speckhals, Hall, Thomas, Lopez, Divens, Wheeler, McMunn, Houth, Lowes, Green, Benning, Treser, Smith, Budinger, Thesen, Tanamachi, Cota
April 27,
2007
Hi, everyone!
Our family
reunion now is only 4 months away! The
reunion will be in Washington, D.C. over this coming Labor Day Weekend. The reunion will begin on Friday, August 31,
2007 and run through Monday, September 3, 2007. It is time to get your reservations
made! Many people already have made
their reservations, and I appreciate that.
But! Everyone needs to act fairly
soon, because I’m holding a block of rooms, and part of my deal with the hotel
is that I will eat the cost of unused rooms if
held past a certain date. That
does not sound good to me, so please help by getting your rooms reserved. If something comes up later in the summer
that requires you to cancel, you’ll be able to do that without penalty. The hotel is holding the block of rooms
until June 1st. After
that, they will release the block. They
won’t be able to guarantee the price after June 1st, although they
will honor it if rooms remain available.
The reunion
will be held at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, VA. It is just across the river from the heart of
the Capitol, and directly on the Metro Line.
In fact, the Metro runs underneath the hotel. The Crystal Gateway Hotel is part of the
Crystal City area near Reagan International Airport, with many restaurants,
shops, and activities. The Crystal
Gateway Hotel is offering us a group rate of $119.00 a night per
room. The standard room rates at the
Crystal Gateway run from $195.00 to $295.00 per night. We have been unable to get the reduced rate
for days earlier in the week, before the reunion starts. However, if you stay past Monday, they are
giving the reduced rate for those days.
I’m still working on this issue with the hotel folks. Our plan (Helen and myself) right now is to
go to D.C. earlier in the week, but stay at a Holiday Inn a little outside the
city, and then move to our room at the Crystal Gateway Hotel on Friday.
There are two
ways to make your reservations…
1.) Call 1 (800) 228-9290. Follow
the prompts, and when you get a live person on the phone give them the dates of
the reunion - August 31 to September 3, 2007 - and the following code… “ostosta.” They will then be able to take your
reservation.
2.) Go to www.crystalgatewaymarriott.com.
On the right side of the screen type in the check-in date as August 31, 2007
and check-out date as September 3, 2007.
Indicate the number of rooms you want and the number of people in your
room(s). In the “Group Code” type in ostosta. That will take you to a screen where you then
can reserve your room(s).
That’s all
there is to it!! Please come spend time
with all your aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews,
grandchildren, and other assorted relatives.
We’ll tell tall tales, boast about our kids and grandkids, remember our
loved ones who have died, and see how much none of us has aged or
changed!! It’ll be a grand old time!!
Please pass this newsletter on to any of
your immediate relatives who you think might not have received it in the
mail. Often times I get newsletters
returned to me because people move and the mail is not forwarded.
The family
website is:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/o/s/t/Keith--Ostien/index.html
We will have
a large room at the hotel for the weekend where we can display any and all
family photos, documents, videos, etc.
Please bring whatever you can, so everyone can see your families. This room will be a gathering place for us
during the weekend, so if you don’t want to go sightseeing, you can visit with
relatives during the day. I know some
family members are actively doing genealogical research (Mary and Brian
Mathewson), so if you have old photos, recently discovered information, or
anything about the larger family, please bring it so we all can share it.
We would like
to have a fairly open structure to the reunion this year. We’d like to leave the days available for
family members to do whatever they want in the DC area, and then have reunion
activities in the late afternoons/evenings.
The Crystal Gateway Hotel will provide us with information about
activities, times, costs, Metro schedules, etc.
We also will have areas at the hotel where family members can spend time
together during the days, in the event you choose not to go into the city. We plan to have an opening gathering on
Friday evening for the family, a big get together of some kind (still to be determined)
on Saturday afternoon/evening, and the closing banquet/celebration on Sunday
evening. The events planner at the hotel
suggested we have the closing banquet on Sunday evening because the next day is
Labor Day, and many people will need to get back home that day.
The cost of
the Friday evening dessert buffet will be $20.00 per person (this price
includes a 20% gratuity and taxes). This
will be a post-dinner gathering.
There also will be a cash bar Friday evening.
The cost of
the Sunday evening banquet will be $50.00 per adult, and $30.00 per child
between the ages of 3 and 11 (these prices include a 20% gratuity and
taxes). The hotel will serve a full,
multi-course dinner. The entrée will be
chicken. There also will be a cash bar
at the banquet. Enclosed is a
Registration Form for the reunion.
Please let me know how many people will be attending, figure up your
totals, and send me a check at:
Keith Ostien
13482
Speckledwood Dr.
DeWitt, MI
48820
Joe and
Stephanie (Ostien) Meier designed the logo for this year’s reunion. Both Stephanie and Joe are graphic artists,
and came up with a wonderful logo. We
are putting the logo on tee-shirts. We
also want to put on the back of the tee-shirt the list of all family surnames I
always include at the top of the newsletters.
Please check that list, and if any last names are missing, let me know
and I will get them entered. Steph and
Joe will bring the shirts to the reunion.
They are “Hanes Beefy T” shirts, very good quality. We need to know how many shirts, in what
sizes, to order. Please use the enclosed
order form for the tee-shirts and send your payment to Steph and Joe. Their address is…
Stephanie and
Joe Meier
8342 Vincent
Ave. South
Bloomington,
MN 55431
We would like
to have some fun Sunday evening at the dinner, and we also want to make time
available for anyone who would like to honor their loved ones. It would be wonderful if you would like to
speak about a loved one. Please just let
me know when we all meet in D.C. and we’ll put together the program for the
evening at that time. If you want to get
fancy and do a photo collage or a video up on a screen, that also would be
wonderful.
Let’s all get
together and celebrate this great big family!
Love, Keith Ostien
(517)
881-7367 (cell)
(517)
669-1235
13482
Speckledwood Dr.
DeWitt, MI
48820