Dear Members,

I first want to wish you all the very best of Health for the New Year in which we trust things will return to some sense of normalcy fairly soon.

• Because of the difficult economic situation, the maintenance fees are coming in but a bit more slowly than in past years. We thank those who have already paid but if you have not yet done so as yet, we request that you contact the Resort urgently to rectify this and also to avoid any more late penalties.  Because of this overall uncertainty, we will carefully watch our finances and only undertake projects on a priority basis until the situation improves.

• We are still awaiting word from the Government with regard to the placement of new chickees on the beach.  We lost some chickees closest to the ocean during Hurricane Omar last November and we are just awaiting a ruling with regard to the location, use and availability of such shade on the public beaches before we replace them. Meanwhile the beach that was lost during Hurricane Omar is returning slowly.

• We will begin a more aggressive room care programme with more of a preventative maintenance idea in mind. While we will try to take care of any small issues when the room is vacant so as not to inconvenience the occupants, there may be times when this is not possible and depending on the nature of the work to be completed, during the course of your stay, we may have to enter your unit.  In these cases you will be notified and we are sure we have your cooperation as we endeavour to maintain the property in the best possible condition. 

• The island is currently gearing up for the Carnival Season and following is a schedule of the main activities for the month of February.

  February 06 - Aruba’s 55th Carnival Queen Election and Coronation
  February 07 - Grand Final Calypso and Road March Contest
  February 08 - Transfer of Command by the Prime Minister
  February 08 - Children’s Parade in San Nicolas
  February 14  - Children’s Parade in Noord
  February 14 - Aruba Tivoli Lighting Parade
  February 15 - Grand Children’s Parade in Oranjestad
  February 18 - Tourist Night - Steelband and Costume Show
  February 19 - Lighting Parade in San Nicolas
  February 21 - Jouvert Morning in San Nicolas
  February 21 - Grand Carnival Parade
  February 22 - Aruba’s Famous 55th Grand Carnival Parade
  February 23 - Old Mask Parade and burning of Momo in San Niccolas
  February 24 - Grand Evening Closing Parade and burning of Momo in Oranjestad

We encourage you to get a taste of this popular cultural activity while your are here in Aruba.
 
• Reminder that this year we celebrate our 15-year anniversary at the Resort and will have commemorative logo’d items for sale at reasonable prices.  The celebratory activities will be held during the week of July 4th to 11th which coincides with the official opening which was July 4th 1994. We thank those loyal members who have been with us from the inception and encourage you all to purchase these items on your next visit.
• If you are planning not to come to the Resort, please advise us so we can schedule maintenance or repairs to the suite.

It was a pleasure to update you on the most recent developments.  Stay healthy until next update or until we see you at the Resort.

Andy