Don McNeill memorial trip to French Open
Donation protected
My name is Mike Martin. I am hoping to raise funds to send my partner, Margaret McNeill-Law, to Paris this year for the French Open Tennis tournament. This year, 2019, will mark the 80th anniversary of Margaret's father, Don McNeill, winning both the Men's Singles and Doubles titles in 1939, in what was then called the French National Championships.
Always a staunch supporter of her father's tennis career, in the late 70's Margaret worked for Tennis magazine and produced a "Follow-Through" article in the April, 1979 issue. To view the article please go to my blog Sports Car Racing Through Time: http://grimeheel.blogspot.com/ (I know, it's not a tennis blog, but at least it's a place to post the article. I also posted a two-page letter with photos that Don wrote from India on his 1939 round-the-world trip and sent to his fraternity brothers at Kenyon College.
Margaret was not able to go to Paris with her parents in 1979 to take part in the 50th anniversary of the Stade Roland Garros. So I would very much like for her to take in this year's Semi-Finals and Finals matches to feel the raw, uplifting excitement on the red clay courts where her father reigned triumphant 80 long years ago.
Fast-forward to December, 2018. Margaret sent a letter to the President of the French Tennis Federation, Bernard Giudicelli, offering to be one of the two preview presenters of the trophies at the beginning of the Men's Finals. So far, she has not received a reply...
I am doing this Go Fund Me campaign because both Margaret and I receive modest incomes from Social Security, and we both work part-time to make ends meet. Margaret is a chef at our local community senior center, while I do caregiving and gardening jobs for other seniors. Simply put: we get by, but a trip to Paris is not within our means. So that's why I am asking for your help to send Margaret to Paris to honor her Dad.
Margaret and I have spent the better part of the past year gathering as much information as possible about her father's round-the-world tennis trip leading up to his wins at the French Tennis Championships. Together we have sourced old tennis yearbooks, magazines, match programs and photographs to get the details of his trip. To honor her late father, Don McNeill, this trip would mean the world to Margaret!
We have re-figured Margaret's expenses to total $2,450 as follows:
Airfare taken care of
Hotel 1,100 5 nights (3 star hotel)
French Open Tickets 500 (could possibly be provided)
Meals 500 half have been taken care of
Transportation 30 2 days on Paris Metro
Souvenirs 200
Go Fund Me Fees 220
These funds will be needed by March 31 to get reservations at the above prices.
Here is Margaret's revised itinerary:
June 4 Flight from Seattle to Paris
June 5 Arrive in Paris, go to hotel and rest
June 6 French Open Semi-Finals
June 7 French Open Semi-Finals
June 8 French Open Women's Finals
June 9 French Open Men's Finals
June 10 Flight home Paris to Seattle
In case any of you are wondering what it would take to get me to go with Margaret the answer is a total of $8,000.
2/28 UPDATE
Although we have raised $700, and have had airfare and tickets to the French Open taken care of, Maggie still needs $4,000
to cover hotels, some food, transportation and souvenirs. The chart above has been modified with the changes.
3/11 UPDATE
Margaret has cut back on the number of days she will be in Paris and we have re-figured her budget to $2,450.
3/25 UPDATE
Plans are to fly from Seattle on Monday, June 3rd, to Heathrow in London. Then we get on the tube to the Eurostar station and take the train to Paris. That saves about 5 hours and gets us to Paris a bit before 8:30pm on Tuesday the 4th. Hotel reservations have been made at Hotel Princesse Isabelle. It's a bit funky on the outside, but warm, charming and clean on the inside. Plus it's only 3 miles from the tennis stadium. We are working on nailing down the flight reservations and tickets to the Men's final tennis match.
Always a staunch supporter of her father's tennis career, in the late 70's Margaret worked for Tennis magazine and produced a "Follow-Through" article in the April, 1979 issue. To view the article please go to my blog Sports Car Racing Through Time: http://grimeheel.blogspot.com/ (I know, it's not a tennis blog, but at least it's a place to post the article. I also posted a two-page letter with photos that Don wrote from India on his 1939 round-the-world trip and sent to his fraternity brothers at Kenyon College.
Margaret was not able to go to Paris with her parents in 1979 to take part in the 50th anniversary of the Stade Roland Garros. So I would very much like for her to take in this year's Semi-Finals and Finals matches to feel the raw, uplifting excitement on the red clay courts where her father reigned triumphant 80 long years ago.
Fast-forward to December, 2018. Margaret sent a letter to the President of the French Tennis Federation, Bernard Giudicelli, offering to be one of the two preview presenters of the trophies at the beginning of the Men's Finals. So far, she has not received a reply...
I am doing this Go Fund Me campaign because both Margaret and I receive modest incomes from Social Security, and we both work part-time to make ends meet. Margaret is a chef at our local community senior center, while I do caregiving and gardening jobs for other seniors. Simply put: we get by, but a trip to Paris is not within our means. So that's why I am asking for your help to send Margaret to Paris to honor her Dad.
Margaret and I have spent the better part of the past year gathering as much information as possible about her father's round-the-world tennis trip leading up to his wins at the French Tennis Championships. Together we have sourced old tennis yearbooks, magazines, match programs and photographs to get the details of his trip. To honor her late father, Don McNeill, this trip would mean the world to Margaret!
We have re-figured Margaret's expenses to total $2,450 as follows:
Airfare taken care of
Hotel 1,100 5 nights (3 star hotel)
French Open Tickets 500 (could possibly be provided)
Meals 500 half have been taken care of
Transportation 30 2 days on Paris Metro
Souvenirs 200
Go Fund Me Fees 220
These funds will be needed by March 31 to get reservations at the above prices.
Here is Margaret's revised itinerary:
June 4 Flight from Seattle to Paris
June 5 Arrive in Paris, go to hotel and rest
June 6 French Open Semi-Finals
June 7 French Open Semi-Finals
June 8 French Open Women's Finals
June 9 French Open Men's Finals
June 10 Flight home Paris to Seattle
In case any of you are wondering what it would take to get me to go with Margaret the answer is a total of $8,000.
2/28 UPDATE
Although we have raised $700, and have had airfare and tickets to the French Open taken care of, Maggie still needs $4,000
to cover hotels, some food, transportation and souvenirs. The chart above has been modified with the changes.
3/11 UPDATE
Margaret has cut back on the number of days she will be in Paris and we have re-figured her budget to $2,450.
3/25 UPDATE
Plans are to fly from Seattle on Monday, June 3rd, to Heathrow in London. Then we get on the tube to the Eurostar station and take the train to Paris. That saves about 5 hours and gets us to Paris a bit before 8:30pm on Tuesday the 4th. Hotel reservations have been made at Hotel Princesse Isabelle. It's a bit funky on the outside, but warm, charming and clean on the inside. Plus it's only 3 miles from the tennis stadium. We are working on nailing down the flight reservations and tickets to the Men's final tennis match.
Organizer
Mike Martin
Organizer
Camano, WA
