tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38170556322083825102025-02-05T22:51:52.842-08:008th graders travel to Washington DCOne 8th graders class trip and how World Strides treats its customersJanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-15493864484694189242011-08-19T18:27:00.000-07:002011-08-19T18:27:08.339-07:00Watch out for People to People InternationalIt is now 2011 and my daughter is in high school. It has been quite a few years since the fiasco trip to Washington DC. I am prompted to write, yet again on this blog regarding travel scams aimed at children. Just today my daughter received a letter in the mail stating she has been "chosen" to be a student ambassador to Scotland, Wales and England.
The letter has on it a list of all the past Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-66456960847363967492010-09-12T09:49:00.000-07:002010-09-12T09:49:04.412-07:00Tips for fund raising that are easy and profitibleIf our little group had known which of our ventures was a waste of time, we would not have even tried them. Many indoor craft sales were a waste of our time and not worth the effort we put into them. Most of the "easier" ways I am going to list involve at least several members of a group and they should have some internet savvy.
First up, get a blog like this one and don't have it related to Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-24413303687521106882010-08-14T21:30:00.000-07:002010-08-14T21:30:13.338-07:00Washington DC travel videoI just stumbled on this interesting video on YouTube. It is a walking tour of Washington DC. Enjoy the music and the sights:
Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-51293269925978408562010-08-03T18:11:00.000-07:002010-08-03T18:14:33.209-07:00Parents have started early this year (2010) to fund raise for their trips to DCMy own daughter is now in high school and it has been 2 years since that Washington DC trip that this blog was all about. The next batch of 8th graders have started to do fund raising even before the school year has started. From what I have heard so far, the parents lost money instead of getting money. That is not a good start. I don't know if they are using World Strides again this year but I Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-16325101747283227812009-10-09T09:57:00.000-07:002009-10-09T10:01:39.858-07:00Post your 8th grader travel trip experienceIf you have an 8th grader that took or is planing on taking a trip with their classmates to places outside of your state and have had experiences with the trip, I urge you to post a comment here. The purpose is to help others decide on which travel agencies to take or avoid. You can post your good stories as well as your bad ones.Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-39453675858876699292009-06-10T04:00:00.000-07:002009-10-09T09:46:21.099-07:00The kids and parents had an interesting timeIf you plan on working with World Strides as your tour provider then I must warn you that you will be spending hours doing walking to and from your destinations. They don't believe in tour bus travel unless it is from city to city. In Washington DC the tour guide took a wrong turn and took our group on an extra mile or so hike which took more time for a trip that was on a schedule. Time that Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-77754963014076495692009-05-01T10:09:00.000-07:002009-10-09T09:45:57.113-07:00World Strides, a company full of controversyBecause of the very informative comments that this blog has gotten regarding the tour company, World Strides, I will try and keep the blog up beyond the date of the children's trip. Just visit some of the blog posts regarding World Strides and you will read the many people that have had both positive and negative results with the company. Former employees have also left not so nice comments aboutJanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-71359067678465842272009-03-21T15:26:00.000-07:002009-10-09T09:50:05.131-07:00Worldstrides the tour company your school should stay away fromIn my previous post about our problems with Worldstrides (you can read that post here) I mentioned the fact that Worldstrides had been involved with a bankruptcy. I had found that information via a private members only message board. It may or may not be in error but apparently the post got the attention of Worldstrides themselves. It is amazing to me that a blog that gets only 3 visitors a week Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-68999853193943126462009-03-19T17:52:00.000-07:002009-10-09T09:44:38.937-07:00A sad dayToday I had to call Worldstides and cancel my own daughter's trip. Try as we might we could not fund raise enough money to even come close to paying even 25% of the total amount due. My daughter took the action well. What upset me was the fact they would NOT refund any...and I do mean any, of my money, stating the amount is too SMALL!!!Worldstrides, if you are reading this, no amount of money is Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-3818407401069652072009-03-11T05:21:00.000-07:002009-10-09T09:44:08.260-07:00Fundraising updatesSince the chili feed in December the group has been very busy still trying to save up enough money to at least defer some of the payment for the trip to Washington DC and New York City. Here is a list of what we have been up to:Flea market and craft sale at the Elk's Lodge in Lebanon, Oregon. That was on the Valentines Day weekend. The results were 4 - 5 items sold over the course of 2 days. As aJanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-32421752267588618392009-03-11T05:06:00.000-07:002009-10-09T09:43:43.421-07:00Headaches with WorldstridesThe time is getting closer for the parents to come up with the money for trip. In a few weeks all the money is due. I will be calling Worldstrides myself to see if they offer any financing options for the price of the trip. As a group we have been highly disappointed with Worldstrides as a company to deal with. They are constantly adding $15 late fees and $6 processing fees to each monthly Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-91083858561580630352008-12-07T01:26:00.000-08:002009-10-09T09:43:04.158-07:00The Lacomb School craft sale and chilli feed was a great successFinally we had a successful day selling items. After those 2 disappointing craft sales earlier we are finally making some headway. The kids manned the Christmas tree sales, the craft tables, food sales and even managed to sell more candy cane grams. I know I am exhausted from yesterday's activities as I am sure that everyone else it too.We still have about 20 Christmas trees left to sell and we Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-59450333955732548372008-12-02T16:01:00.000-08:002009-10-09T09:42:39.229-07:00We have Christmas trees!!!Cindee managed to round up a donation of 25 Christmas trees for the group to sell at the Lacomb School chili[ feed and craft bazaar this coming weekend. All the girls helped with loading the trees on a flat bed trailer this morning after they were freshly cut. Everyone got soaking wet from handling the damp trees and the light rain that fell.If you happen to be in the Lacomb area this Saturday Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-45323145168323742932008-11-26T03:51:00.000-08:002009-10-09T09:42:15.390-07:00We are in the newspaper!!!The article about our efforts finally is in the Lebanon Express. You can see the article here. Larry did a good job but he did manage to misspell my last name twice, it's HINTERLANG not HINTERLAND. He must have been using automatic spell check. Also the photo lists Becky Bond and she is not in the photo at all.The article mentioned Becky's book and when she has it finished you can be sure that Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-52560389385216899722008-11-25T17:22:00.000-08:002009-10-09T09:41:27.665-07:00The craft fair at the Eagles lodge was a dudWhen I say "dud" I don't mean great. The craft fair that the group attended on Saturday, November 23, 2008 was the worst sales we have had yet. I think that after the $10 table fee we netted $2.00 for the whole day. The only sales made were to the reporter from the Lebanon Express.Did I mention that we are all going to be in the local newspaper? Well I am mentioning it now. Larry is the reporter Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-58219158212812432972008-11-16T12:04:00.000-08:002009-10-09T09:40:38.052-07:00Results of The Oaks craft fairOur group made $62.50 at The Oaks craft fair on Saturday. Colette and her daughter were there all day. Cindee was there for most of the day with her daughters and I was there for 4 hours with my daughter. Colette made a really cute pair of mister and misses turkeys. If she makes more for our next craft fair (which might be this coming Saturday) I'll get a photo of them and put it here on the blogJanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-55057914066615619482008-11-14T02:19:00.000-08:002009-10-09T09:39:58.052-07:00Our next craft fair will be at the OaksIf you happen to be in Lebanon, Oregon on Saturday November 15, 2008 drop on by The Oaks, a senior community living center on the west side of Lebanon we will be there. They are having their annual craft sale and we have a table at the event. Doors open around 8:30am and Collette will be setting up the table. I will be there around 9am with a few items I have made.Our last craft sale was dismal Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-84061149240913391532008-11-10T00:51:00.000-08:002009-10-09T09:39:00.684-07:00Our first craft fair saleOne of the moms managed to get a spot at the local Methodist Church's annual craft fair. The craft fair took place on Nov. 8, 2008 from 10am to 2pm. I took in several machine embroidered items and nice baby quilt. One of the girl's Grandmothers had made several beautiful necklaces and I also saw a few cell phone charms. Two of the moms also baked cookies and cakes.The quilt got sold as did a few Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-33924058825298783912008-11-03T13:17:00.000-08:002009-10-09T09:38:22.868-07:00Our second meetingTonight we had a brief meeting as a group and talked about several various ways we would be fund raising. Of course we will be participating in several local craft shows/sales. Hopefully they are not booked up by now and the cost of reserving a "spot" or table will not break the bank. After our short meeting we all went to the school district meeting where we all came away with more handouts and Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-70038045333366331322008-10-21T01:38:00.000-07:002009-10-09T09:36:53.001-07:00What we have accomplished so farSince we came together as a small group of parents last month to raise funds for our children, to take this fantastic trip to the east coast, we have raised just over $400. It was mostly due to the garage sale that Cindee offered to host at her home. All of the items were donated by either us (the parents) or by friends and neighbors. There was a huge abundance of items that did not sell at the Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817055632208382510.post-5522122401764941352008-10-20T08:04:00.000-07:002009-10-09T09:35:15.417-07:00Welcome to our new presence on the internetI have been elected (more or less, I volunteered) to be the internet "person" to handle all of the setting up and maintaining all of the technical internet aspects of fund raising for the group. At first I thought a nice website would do but after 2 hours of trying to tweak several photos to go with a pre-made layout I decided on a Wordpress type of blog. After all, blogs are found faster by the Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13701410718757937575noreply@blogger.com0