COVID Updates

Here is an updated list of how COVID will affect the November retreat. (Please understand that things could change at any time.)

Please use this information to plan accordingly. If you have already signed up for the retreat, but decide that you are no longer comfortable attending, that is ok and you will get a full refund. I also ask that if you start to feel ill, develop any symptoms, or if someone you know comes down with COVID in the two weeks prior to the retreat, that you not come for the safety of others. Again, you will get a refund.

Upon arrival at the retreat, you will need to fill out a health screening form. Information on the screening form will be sent to you via email.

My priority is to keep everyone safe and healthy, while still being able to gather together to share our passion for scrapbooking and other crafts. Here are some details about the weekend:

• The November retreat will be capped at 50, but split into two separate crop rooms of 25 people each, unless restrictions are lifted prior to the retreat.
• Due to hotel policy, everyone is required to wear a mask at all times unless you are in your hotel room or in your seat in the crop room/ballroom. You will need to wear a mask while moving around the ballroom.
• Social distancing of 6' will be practiced. As always, each person gets 6' of table space. Also, aisles will be wider to meet these requirements.
• No visitors will be permitted in the crop rooms. Visitors would put us over the 25 person limit per room. Additionally, I have to keep track of each person who enters the crop room and tracking visitors would be quite difficult.
• We will not be able to set up the die cut center, as I would not be able to adequately disinfect it between each person using the dies and die cut machines.
• I have decided that it would be best not to hold the page contest and charity raffle to avoid congregating in the hallway for those activities. I will be bringing those back to future retreats, though, just as soon as it is safe to do so.
• There will be lots of disinfecting happening in the hotel and in the ballroom. Hand sanitizing stations will be set up around the ballroom as well.

All of this good stuff will still be happening!

• Goodie bag items for each cropper
• Bingo prize for each cropper
• Door prize raffled off on Saturday
• Milestone gifts
• On site shopping with lots of new product lines
• A great group of friendly and helpful crafters
• Plenty of inspiration to go around
• Uninterrupted time to work on your crafts and chat with friends, new and old
• 24x7 access to the crop room
• Chair massages by Marissa (optional, you pay her directly)
• Collecting of new and used crafting supplies that will be donated to local organizations to use in community classes and programs

Food and Drinks
Breakfast at the hotel is currently served as "breakfast to go", which is a bagged or boxed breakfast that can be eaten in the lobby or taken back to your hotel room to eat. (It cannot be eaten in the crop room/ballroom.) Coffee is served from behind the front desk during breakfast hours and two other times throughout the day.

Due to Covid policies, the hotel is unable to have our usual setup of snacks and a coffee/beverage station in the ballroom. There is a coffee machine in every hotel room, though, so you will be able to have coffee whenever you would like. At this time, it looks like we will have bottled water available to us in the ballroom, as well as some prepackaged snacks. Ice will be available from ice machines on each floor in the hotel.

No outside food will be allowed in the ballroom at this time. What this means is that meals cannot be eaten in the ballroom. If you order out, or bring food, it will need to be eaten in the lobby, at outdoor seating or in your hotel room. Keep in mind that each hotel room has a refrigerator and microwave. The lobby will be set up with socially distanced tables for eating. Please do not move any of the tables or chairs around in the lobby.

When ordering food for delivery, please ask the delivery person to deliver to the main lobby and to call you to come meet them. No food deliveries will be permitted in the crop rooms/ballroom. Again, this has to do with me having to track everyone who enters the ballroom, as well as not exceeding our limit of how many people are in the room.

As far as snacks in the ballroom, if you have individual snacks or candy, you may eat that at your seat. However, there cannot be any shared snacks in the ballroom. Please do not eat while walking around the ballroom or around public areas of the hotel.

Housekeeping
By default, housekeeping services are not being provided. If you would like any services, you may request them at check in, or call the front desk at any time. You may request normal/daily housekeeping, no service, every other day, etc. It will be completely up to you to decide what you are comfortable with. You can get extra towels, more toilet paper, tissues, garbage bags, etc from the front desk at any time. If you opt for no housekeeping, you may put dirty towels and/or your garbage in the hallway and it will be collected by housekeeping.

Please know that the hotel is operating on a very limited staff. We were well taken care of at the September and October retreats, so I don’t anticipate this to be a problem. However, please have patience with them when needed. Everyone is doing their very best to make the retreats happen!

I will continue to monitor Covid guidelines and will continue to be in touch with the hotel. I will provide updates with any new developments or changes.