RICHARD COOK
ESTHER PORTER
BOB ZURIK
GARY WHITE
LYNN GAINES
Director-at-Large
MIKE KEES
MEETING NOTICE
Thursday
November 18,
2004
thanksgiving Pot luck dinner
6:30 p.m.
See
details on page 3
Meetings are held the 3rd
Thursday of every month.
GUIDEPOSTS
The Quarterly Newsletter of the
Professional Tour Guide Association of Houston, Texas
Volume 4 OCTOBER 2004 Number 4
President’s
Message
Again, I ask the question,
where does the time go? The PTGAH has
had another busy third quarter of 2004 and many things have happened during
this time that should be noted.
For our July meeting, Mike Kees was able to get our membership on one of the
inaugural tours of the new Toyota Center. The membership turned out for
this fantastic tour where we were shown one of the most “State of the Art”
arenas in the country. We can all be
proud that we have such a facility in Houston and we can thank the PTGAH for getting a great
tour.
In August, we were given a
tour of the “Old Humble Building” on Main Street that has now been converted into two hotels for
Courtyard/Residence Inn Marriott. Sandra
Lord arranged the tour of the hotel as well as an instructional tour of the new
MetroRail system. We were shown the old
boardroom of the Humble Oil Company.
After a ride on MetroRail, dinner was served in the Museum of Fine Arts Café Express. All had
fun and we all walked away with a great understanding of the new MetroRail and
how to conduct a tour on the train.
Our September meeting was
planned for Education but due to the fact that Esther had already conducted a
certification training session, we were able to change the meeting to a venue
visit of the new Downtown Aquarium Restaurant.
It was short notice but we were able to get a
(Continued on pg. 2)
(President’s Message Continued)
fantastic tour and had
great attendance from the membership. We
had a marine biologist show and explain the elaborate aquarium, enjoyed a train
ride through the shark tank, and ended the evening with a tour of the Aquarium
ballroom. I don’t know about you, but I
came away with a different understanding of the venue. I had originally thought it was just a
restaurant, but afterwards, I have a great new place to show our tourists.
The next few months look
great. We have several items on our
agenda and the Executive Committee is working on new items. The committee has published a “white paper”
concerning ethics. We have updated our
certification process and by November 6,
we should have several new Certified Members.
During this Quarter we also welcomed three new associate members, Jerry
Bye, Marge Calvert, and Stephanie Prebula.
We plan to have a
Thanksgiving pot luck dinner (meeting) at the Rieger’s as we did last
year. We are currently working on the
Christmas Party arrangements so stay tuned and most of all, attend.
Mark your calendars! Our Annual Business Session is scheduled for Thursday,
January 20, 2005. We will review our past year’s
accomplishments, elect officers to two positions coming up for re-election, and
plan for the coming year. Remember, the PTGAH can only be great with
participation of the membership.
Richard Cook
President
Take a look at the new Guide
Postings, the official newsletter of
the National Federation of Tourist Guide Associations. Go to www.nftga.com
then click on the newsletter. There are
some great articles in
there,
you’ll get to see what’s going on in other
associations across the
nation and besides, our own Mike Kees is a co-editor. Remember we are members and should take every
opportunity to benefit from services such as this one.
October Trivia
1. Did Houston have a Super Bowl before the last one in
January? If so, where was it played and who were the teams?
2. Did you know that many of Houston's Downtown streets are named after Texas
heroes. Can you give the full names of the
following and tell who they were, what they are famous for and what fate
they finally met?
Lamar
Milam
Fannin
Travis
3. Has there ever been a wild rouge Elephant on a killing rampage on Houston's Main Street?
Look for answers in the January newsletter
THE
PROFESSIONAL PTGAH NEEDS YOU!
There are two
Executive Board positions that are coming up for re-election in January. Those are Vice-President and Membership
Secretary. The two positions carry a
two- year term. Meetings take place the
1st Thursday of each month.
Please consider stepping up and making a contribution to YOUR
association. If you are interested
please contact Mike
Kees who is
chairing the Nominating Committee. He
can be reached at 281-474-1225 or mrk1807@houston.rr.com
MEMBERS AND SPOUSES OR A
GUEST
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO
THE PTGAH ANNUAL THANKSGIVING
POT LUCK DINNER
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18
LUCETTE & RICHARD
RIEGER’S HOME
5402 LAMPASAS
713-960-1239
A PINNING CEREMONY FOR THE MEMBERS WHO
BECOME CERTIFIED TOUR GUIDES
(AT THE NOVEMBER 6 CERTIFICATION EXAM) WILL
ALSO TAKE PLACE
AT THIS TIME
Please RSVP to
Bettye Bruno who is coordinating this event.
She can be reached at
713-631-4454 or by
email at Bthombru@aol.com
The turkey will be
purchased by the PTGAH and prepared by the Riegers.
The Riegers will
also provide the ham, beer and wine, plates, cups, utensils, and napkins.
Please sign up
with Bettye to bring one of the following pot luck items:
Lettuce/tomato
salad and two salad dressings
Stuffing/Dressing
Sweet Potato
Green Vegetables
Family size Cokes,
Diet Coke/Sprite
Cheeses
Appetizers
Pickles/relishes
Rolls
Fruit
Pumpkin Pie/Peach
Cobbler/Pecan Pie
Cake
Other
ANSWERS TO JULY PTGAH TRIVIA
1. What
famous movie star that was in the cast of “Gone With
the Wind” lived in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood?
Clark
Gable. He was reported to have lived in the Montrose area with his
new wife. She was reported to be older than him and she had money.
It was
reported that his "teeth" were fixed during his time in Houston.
2. What apartment building
in downtown Houston did young Howard Hughes
live in during the famous “Camp Logan Riots”?
The Beaconsfield Luxury Apartments, which opened in 1911, are
located at 1700
Main Street.
Howard and his mother spent several days locked in their bathroom in their
second floor apartment (Nw corner). Howard's
mother was scared of many things and she passed this fear to Howard. They
cowered in the locked bathroom, fully expecting the soldiers to break in and
kill them. Houston had Marshal Law for several days until the riot
was over.
3. Is Buffalo Bayou named
after the Buffalo?
No....it
is named for the Buffalo Fish ( a type of Garr) that lived in the
bayou.