RENDEZVOUS

Hi friends. I’m John Parker.

Several years ago, I envisioned RENDEZVOUS to celebrate the men and women who worked with MRA. They inspired the creation and provided the framework for PACE, Mackinac College, Sing-Out and Up with People. These entities had a major impact on each of us personally, and – in ways we will never fully know – cumulatively around the world. They gave us tools to make positive contributions with our lives.

During RENDEZVOUS we saw a video of our historic past…and heard what is planned for the future. On Friday and Saturday evenings, we celebrated the music and songwriters who inspired Sing Out and Up with People.

After much planning in 2020 and early 2021, RENDEZVOUS was scheduled for September 2021 in Chicago. But by then, COVID had raised its ugly head. After lengthy discussions about the risk of travel, for our age group in particular, RENDEZVOUS was cancelled. Unfortunately, because there was no state or city ban on travel and activities, we were not released from the hotel contract. I had to pay the hotel $33,222.75. We were able to apply $15,222.75 toward the rescheduled September 2022 RENDEZVOUS, but $18,000 was a non-refundable cancellation fee.

COVID remains a concern, and many who would have liked to attend in person in 2022 simply didn’t feel comfortable in large group gatherings. THANK YOU to DON KAGIN who made a generous donation to livestream RENDEZVOUS, and created on-demand viewing of the three main events. And thank you to all those who’ve spent two years creating and rehearsing the RENDEZVOUS entertainment.

I’m very grateful to those who were in Chicago. Knowing that many of us are on a fixed income, I kept the registration fee low (perhaps a little too low), which added to the deficit. No matter what, it was an amazing time! We joined together with friends from a lifetime, either in person or on-line!

The bottom line is…the bottom line is bleak. The cost of RENDEZVOUS is in the hole $35,000. In anticipation of this fact, several friends offered to help offset this cost, and recommended and assisted in creating this GO FUND ME account. THANK YOU to them and to you - any contribution will be very much appreciated!

Many thanks - John

(The fund will be discontinued when we reach the ‘break-even’ point.)