Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Discover Alaska! August 26, 2012-September 8, 2012

Nearly 70 Commander Club and Crawford Club members have reserved their passage on our Alaskan Tour/Cruise August 26-September 28, 2012.

The first six days of our trip will be on land, and the last seven days of our trip will be spent cruising aboard the Sapphire Princess. We will begin our Alaska trip in Fairbanks where we will visit the El Dorado Gold Mine, pan for gold, the...n continue on an authentic Sternwheeler Riverboat Cruise, which will take us to an Athabascan fishing village.

The next three days will be spent in Denali/Mt. McKinley where we will enjoy the "music of Denali" dinner theater, take a Tundra Wilderness tour, eat at the King Salmon Restaurant and enjoy the natural beauty of Denali National Park.

From McKinley, we will travel by rain to Whittier where we will board the cruise ship. We will be traveling the inside passage with many stops along the way. At Glacier Bay, a naturalist will board the ship. We will stop at Skagway, an artsy community, where a walking tour is available, or you can choose to take a train ride. Travelers will have the opportunity to visit the museum at Skagway, or stop by the Red Onion and take a brothel tour.

Our ship will port in Alaska's Capital, Juneau (you can only travel to Juneau by sea or air), where we can walk to the state capital, ride a tramway up the mountain or stop by the Red Dog Saloon.

From Juneau, we will take a coach to Mendenhall Glacier. Ketchikan is a great place for fishing, and when our ship ports there, you will have plenty of time. You could also tour the totem poles or take a draft horse carriage tour. We encourage everyone to drop by Miss Molly's in Ketchikan.

The trip is all-inclusive and ranges in price per person from an inside cabin ($3998) to a Mini Suite with Balcony ($5198). If a trip to Alaska is on your "bucket list" you'll want to reserve your spot today. Initial reservations were due on November 1, 2011, but we can take additional passengers, as long as air space is available.


From Salt Mines to the Yellow Brick Road -- April 2012

From Salt Mines to the Yellow Brick Road.  Let us show you some hidden gems in Kansas to discover.  Step back into the golden era of vaudeville when you tour the Historic Fox theater in Hutchinson.  Travel 650 feet under the Kansas Prairie to tour the Kansas Underground Salt Mine (Museum) which you have to experience to believe.  This extraordinary attraction is one you won't want to miss.  Visit the village of Yoder, Kansas to take an authentic buggy ride and get a real taste of Amish life.  Another world class attraction awaits at the Kansas Cosmosphere where space travel meets you up close.  Relive the space race with Russia and see artifacts from America's three space programs: Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, the only facility in the US to house all three.  And finally travel the Yellow Brick Road at the Oz Museum where you will relive the movie that made history and after your visit you can honestly say "We're not in Kansas anymore."  Don't miss out on this fun three day motor coach tour in April, 2012.  Dates and registration fees will be posted soon.

Mackinac Island Lilac Festival

It's the perfect time to visit when the lilacs are in full bloom, June 9-16, 2012, for our coach tour to Michigan. The trip includes accommodations at the Grand Hotel, horsedrawn carriage tour, leisure time on Mackinac Island, a trip to Frederik Meijer Gardens, Michigan's Little Bavaria-Frankenmuth, Bonner's Christmas World, Ford's F-150 Truck Factory, the Henry Ford Museum and a Mississippi River Dinner Cruise on our ride home. A few details are still in the planning stage, but we anticipate this trip to cost around $1560 per person. The deadline to register is April 9, 2012.

The Fab Four are Coming to Ames

Since its founding in 1997, the Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band, has played at Disneyland, the United Kingdom and just about everywhere around the globe. The popular group will be a Stephen's Auditorium, Iowa State University, on Friday, March 23, as part of the Performing Arts series.

The Fab Four is noted for its excellent renditions of hits like, "Can't Buy Me Love," "Yesterday" and "Hey Jud...e." Its reperoire covers nearly the entire Beatles catalog, as well as some of the players' solo material. The band adds to the realism of its shows with three costume changes charting the evolution of their honorees over the years of their career.

We have 50 tickets to the hottest show in town. We'll start our evening with a bar-b-q feast at Hickory Park Restaurant in Ames. If you are interest, call the bank 755-5112 and add your name to the list. The cost is $100 per person.

Join Us for Movie Day, Tuesday December 20, 2011

Join us the Commanders for Movie Day, Tuesday, December 20, at the Harlan Theater. 
Coffee & Rolls at 8:30 am, the movie will play at 9:00 am.

Our feature film will be New Year's Eve, rated PG 13.

New Year’s Eve celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in the intertwining stories told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year. 

Directed by Gary Marshall, this show is filled with a star-studded cast:  Michele Pfeifer, Zac Efron, Robert DeNiro, Halle Berry, Alyssa Milano, Jessica Beil, Seth Myers, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michelle, James Belushi, Sarah Jessica Parker, Penny Marshall, Ryan Seacrest and many others.