Bringing reunions and locations together since 1991 magazineVOL 17 | MARCH/APRIL 2017 IN THIS ISSUE: THE NEW FACE AT MILITARY REUNIONS CELEBRATING THE REUNION UNSUNG HEROES REUNION FRIENDLY NETWORK | MARCH/APRIL 2017 FROM THE situationDESK Reunion Season is just about here. It is almost time to hit the road for site inspections, final planning and of course the reunion. We will be traveling as well. The first stop is Seattle for the West Coast Regional Roundtable April 30 – May 4. After that we are back to Louisville Kentucky for the second annual Educational Summit. There are some exciting guests joining us. The RFN Educational Summit is for all of us regardless of experience, level of knowledge and talent. It is a place for us to not only learn more but to make connections. When I created the Summit last year, I committed financially to do whatever was necessary for the supplier and planner members of Reunion Friendly Network. It was worth the thousands of dollars of investment. We look forward to seeing you again June 25-27 in Louisville! Need additional information? Visit www.reunionfriendly.com click on upcoming events. Sharon Sharon Danitschek, President [email protected] Bringing reunions and locations together since 1991 Published by: Reunion Friendly Network, Inc. President: Sharon Danitschek - [email protected] - www.reunionfriendly.com Subscriptions to Reunion Friendly Network Magazine are free of charge to qualified reunion planners. Copyright ©2017 by The Reunion Group, all rights reserved. Reunion Friendly Network Magazine is not responsible for opinions expressed in editorial material. The opinions are exclusively those of the authors and do not express the opinions of Reunion Friendly Network, its staff, its members, its advertisers, or its readership. All editorial material is for information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The Reunion Friendly Network assumes no liability or responsibility for errors, mistakes, misprints, missing information, or content of advertising. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without permission from the publisher. 2 REUNION FRIENDLY NETWORK | MARCH/APRIL 2017 contentsTABLE OF From The Situation Desk ........................................... 2 Thank you The New Face at Military Reunions ...................... 5 to our advertisers Upcoming Reunions ................................................... 8 PAGE SPONSOR 4 Branson CVB Step by Step .................................................................10 11 Colorado Springs CO CVB Salute to the Chicks in Charge .............................12 3 SeaMist Oceanfront Resort Upcoming RFN Events .............................................14 43 Sound Business Forms RFN Member Listing .................................................22 3 REUNION FRIENDLY NETWORK | MARCH/APRIL 2017 BRANSON HONORS VETERANS EVERY DAY. VETERANS DAY PARADE 13th Annual Military Reunion Planners Conference August 14-17, 2017 For the MRPC Application or a Reunion Planner Sales Kit: Julie Peters, CTIS, CEP at [email protected] 417-243-2117 4 REUNION FRIENDLY NETWORK | MARCH/APRIL 2017 The New Face at Military Reunions There is a new face attending military Suffering from depression, post-traumatic stress reunions. They don’t share stories or stay disorder, and anxiety, he found the help and up late. They are the silent “plus one” if you relief he desperately needed in a three year old will. They go where their partner goes, always Rottweiler named, “Kilo”. “He calms me down when watching, always working. They are service I get anxious.” Kilo is trained to watch for specific animals and they play a large role in the lives behaviors and respond by leaning or laying on of many in the veteran community. Anthony. “I do notice a difference, even though we Anthony Anderson retired from the Army in have only been together for a short time.” December of 2016. Among the memories of his Jeffrey Rodriguez was a career soldier whose 32 service days are haunting images of combat. years in the U.S. Army included service in Operation 5 REUNION FRIENDLY NETWORK | MARCH/APRIL 2017 veterans. While training costs can run an estimated $20,000 per animal, the healing and freedom veterans receive is priceless. Living with a service dog is not easy as Anthony discovered when he volunteered as a parent chaperone for a field trip with his son’s elementary school class. He was required to attend a meeting with the school board in an effort to dispel any misinformation or concern about Kilo. Providing credentials and sharing his story did change some minds but not enough to all him to participate. On another occasion, while attending a presentation in the school cafeteria, he was asked to sit in the back, away from the other attendees because of his dog. Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, and OEF/ It was a tough day to say the least. OIF. Among his dozens of awards during those years were an Expert Field Medical Badge, a Jungle Expert Reunion Friendly Network has been involved in Patch, six Good Conduct Medals and three Army situations where a front desk clerk inappropriately Achievement Medals, just to name a few. commented to an arriving veteran, “Are you sure that is a service dog? You don’t look sick.” It is not And then, in one traumatic moment, the course the place of a front desk clerk to question the dogs of his life was changed forever. In September roll. In fact, according to the United States Justice 2013, while he was working in an INTEL and Department staff may ask two questions: OPS Mobilized Medical Unit, a severe accident left Jeffrey with broken bones all over his body, 1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a including his face and back. It also caused serious disability, memory issues and short-term memory loss. The 2. What work or task has the dog been trained to physical disability caused by the accident was rated perform. permanent, and his military career was brought abruptly to an end. The Department of Justice website states: Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical Back home at a trauma clinic in his native Puerto documentation, require a special identification card or Rico, he began slowly healing, as well as re- training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog learning to walk and perform other basic physical demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task. functions. It was during his time at the clinic that The United States Justice Department defines a Jeffrey, determined to continue improving both his service animal as dogs that are individually trained to physical and mental health, heard about the K9s do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. For Warriors program and decided to explore it as Examples of such work or tasks include guiding another treatment option. He was partnered with people who are blind, alerting Zulu, a Golden Labrador people who are deaf, pulling Retriever. (Zulu was a wheelchair, alerting and named and sponsored “Are you sure protecting a person who is by Intercontinental Hotel having a seizure, reminding a Group Army Hotels person with mental illness to division. IHG AH partnered that is a service take prescribed medications, with K9s For Warriors calming a person with Post to sponsor and train a dog? You don’t Traumatic Stress Disorder companion dog for a (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, soldier who needed a little look sick.” or performing other duties. extra help.) Service animals are working Kilo and Zulu are among animals, not pets. The work the thousands of service dogs across the country or task a dog has been trained to provide must be specifically trained to support the unique needs of directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose 6 REUNION FRIENDLY NETWORK | MARCH/APRIL 2017 sole function is to provide comfort or emotional In addition, Reunion Friendly Network recommends support do not qualify as service animals under the the following: ADA.” The USJD website goes on to say, “Under the When interacting with service animals: ADA, State and local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that serve the public generally 1. Ignore the service animal if possible. They are must allow service animals to accompany people with working. Any attention from you takes them away disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public from their job. is normally allowed to go. For example, in a hospital 2. If you are an animal lover and can’t resist the urge it would be inappropriate to exclude a service animal to pet them, ask the veteran for permission. They from areas such as patient rooms, clinics, cafeterias, or may give the dog a command or place them in a examination rooms. However, it may be appropriate to exclude a service animal from operating rooms or burn down position signaling to the animal that it is ok. units where the animal’s presence may compromise a 3. Keep your attention on the animal brief. sterile environment.” Veterans with service animals: The hospitality industry needs to be aware of and follow the rules established by the 1. Communicate upfront that you are traveling Federal Government: (From the Department with a service dog when making hotel or airline of Justice website:) reservations. 1. Staff are only allowed to inquire if the dog a 2. Use a special collar or vest to identify the dog as service animal required because of a disability, a service animal if it does not limit the animals and what work or task has the dog been trained comfort or their ability to do their job. to perform. In addition to the recommendations above, military 2. A person with a disability cannot be asked to reunion planners have a responsibility to alert their remove his service animal from the premises destination, hotel, and transportation partners if a unless: (1) the dog is out of control and the service animal is accompanying a reunion attendee.