First of all, best wishes to our friend Rich Mermer who had a successful heart transplant a month or so ago down in Florida!  Hurray Rich & Sue!

ALSO

IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND AND HAVEN’T ALREADY DONE SO, IT’S TIME TO REGISTER AND MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATION FOR HGG19! 

October 29-31, 2021 in Milford, Connecticut

Our group rate at the hotel is good if you make your reservation by September 30th. Our group code is HARP so be sure to mention that when you book. We have a mix of rooms with one king size or two queen size beds in them. Our group rate (which is $124 plus applicable taxes per night which is slightly lower than last time) includes a hot breakfast for up to two guests per room. The Hilton Garden Inn is located at 291 Old Gate Lane in Milford, CT 06460 and their phone number is 203-783-9988.

COVID-19 is still with us and therefore:

The HGG Board has determined that The Gathering will follow the guidelines put forth by Tommy Emmanuel’s Guitar Camp USA: Nashville where I will be teaching in a few weeks. They are as follows:

The Gathering will be following all protocols and safety measures set by the CDC, the state of Connecticut, and any additional regulations set at local and business levels. This will include regular use of hand sanitizer (which we will have available in all our meeting rooms), as well as social distancing in all group settings. There are usually lots of hugs at Gatherings; not this time.

We respectfully ask that everyone attending HGG19 be fully vaccinated. We ask that you email us (theharpguitargathering@gmail.com) with your vaccination status before arriving. If you choose not to be vaccinated, we ask that you get a Covid test 3 days before arrival and email the results to us at the address above.

Lastly, regardless of the test results, if you are coming to HGG unvaccinated you’ll need to wear a mask at all times indoors.

If any of this feels like an intrusion to you, well, getting (or inadvertently giving) Covid would be much more of one.

The HGG Executive Board (Joe Morgan, Randall Sprinkle and myself) look forward to seeing you. We fully expect this HGG to be a little different, probably a bit smaller than our usual events. But it will be real this time rather than virtual and that’s good!

Stay safe and well, Stephen M. Bennett

P.S. Why did I include my middle initial this time but never previously? Hmm….

TO REGISTER FOR HGG19:

The Advance Registration fee for 1 person is $175. That includes all event activities and the Friday dinner. See below for the Sunday dinner. And you’re on your own for Saturday’s dinner!

The Advance Registration fee for 1 person from outside the US is $75. Note: this is a change and is made possible by the generosity of the Harp Guitar Gathering’s supporters in recognition of the extra effort made by our international friends to get here.

The Advance Registration fee for each additional person (family member or significant other) is $80. This includes all event activities and Friday’s dinner, but not Sunday’s.

The Advance Registration Fee for each additional person from outside the US is $50 each. This includes all event activities and Friday’s dinner, but not Sunday’s.

Sunday dinner at the hotel is $35 per person.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CUTOFF DATE FOR ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS THE SAME AS THE CUTOFF FOR THE HOTEL GROUP RESERVATIONS: SEPTEMBER 30th

If you don’t register in advance, you will still be able to register at the door beginning Friday at 4 PM.  The at-the-door prices are $200 for the weekend and $90 for additional persons ($100 and $50 for international attendees).

Please note that if you are planning on registering at the door on Friday, we can’t guarantee that there’ll be food available as we have to submit a count of attendees several days in advance. We always pad the numbers a bit but if we unexpectedly get a bunch of folks registering at the door, it could be an issue.

To register, please send payment via either of the two methods below. Please include the names of all those you are registering. Thanks and see you at HGG19! Please send any questions you might have regarding registration to Joe Morgan. His email address is jmm55@verizon.net

If you are old school and don’t want to use the PayPal buttons to register, you could also send a check made out to the Harp Guitar Gathering for the applicable amount (along with the relevant info – names and contact info, etc) to 26 High Street, Milford CT 06460.