If you've attended recent OSU Alumni club events in San Diego, you will not be too surprised that our very own club has been awarded the 1996 Oval Award for Excellence! Jeff Gleim, Director of Field Operations for the Ohio State Alumni Association, traveled from Columbus a month ago to personally present the award to our club at "Moondoggies" in Pacific Beach where we all watched another exciting Buckeye victory over Purdue. The award is presented to a club for having outstanding communications and community relations, securing top students to attend OSU, and by providing fellowship, social and networking opportunities. Under the leadership of Gary Rectenwald, our club has excelled in all of these areas. Did you know that we currently have 22 students attending Ohio State from San Diego County?? This award was presented to only three alumni clubs in the world. The "gold star" on our flag designates us as the best. Congratulations, members, for making our club the best. And thanks, Club Officers and Chairpersons, for all that you do!
Join us for a Holiday for our first annual "get together" while viewing the PARADE OF LIGHTS. It's happening at the Holiday Inn on the Bay, 1355 North Harbor Drive on Sunday 12/22/96 from 5:30 pm-8:30 pm. Our Alumni Club will host beer, wine and reception food items for the $15 per person charge. Parking is available at the hotel or in the surrounding area. Come join us as we share some Buckeye seasonal cheer while overlooking beautiful San Diego Bay and the spectacular boats and ships cruising by with their spectacular holiday decorations.
The Ohio State men's basketball team is tentatively scheduled to join us for this unique event. It'll certainly give them a unique perspective of how the west coast celebrates Christmas and to show our club support for the team who'll be playing the next evening at the Sports Arena.
PS. Michael Wiley (#5), a San Diego native and current member of the football team has also been invited.
At long last, our Ohio State Buckeyes will be playing in the Rose Bowl!! It's been 12 years since the Scarlet and Gray have played in Pasadena and our local club will be heading north to join in the celebration!!
Enclosed in this newsletter is everything we've been able to learn about Rose Bowl ticket (and package) options. Please read this newsletter carefully so that you are able to make the choices best for you and your family.
I'll try to "highlight" your options as best I can. Details can be found in the individual articles.
You have three basic options for putting a Rose Bowl trip together. The best options available to you if you are a member of the national Ohio State Alumni Association in Columbus. There are 3 "land only packages" available to you: "Scarlet Tour": 7 days/6 nights (12/28/96-1/3/97), Gray Tour: 5 days/4 nights (12/29/96-1/2/97) and the "Buckeye Tour": 3 days/2 night (12/31/96-1/2/97). The prices are $1,138, $997 and $395 respectively. All rates are based on double occupancy. Single, triple and quad rates are also available. Each reservation only requires that one member of the room be an OSU Alumni Association member. Therefore, you can add three other local club members or family members to your room. Each will recieve a garanteed game ticker and parade ticket. The key advantage to these packages is that you're guaranteed a game ticket and parade ticket. Association members will be receiving flyers in the mail this week from Columbus. It is anticipated that these tours will "sell out" very quickly this week so please call (614) 292-4200 to make your reservations today if possible.
For those who are not member of the national association or who are unsuccessful in confirming reservations, our local club put together 2 tour options for you. It is important to note that neither option
includes a guaranteed game ticket. However, we are pursuing a number of sources of game tickets and will offer them FIRST to people who sign up for our bus tour options by Friday, November 22, 1996. Our overnight accommodations will be at a hotel adjacent to where the national association's 3 day/2 night tour will be staying and we will combine forces for a great New Year's Eve party on December 31st.
Our top priority locally is to FILL UP THE 4 BUSSES!! We need to commit to the bus tour operators and the hotel by the end of this week as all busses in San Diego are already sold out on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. This is why we've decided to give preferential treatment to local Buckeyes for all game tickets we are able to purchase through various sources.
We are also providing information for those of you who wish to pursue game tickets through Ticketmaster, Ticket Brokers and Sharp Seating (Parade Tickets only).
If you sign up for and are confirmed for the "Buckeye Tour" (3 days/2 nights), please tell us on the Buckeye Hotline (695-2056) so that we can invite you to our San Diego New Year's Eve party!!
I hope you find this information helpful in your Rose Bowl planning efforts.
We should all be very proud of our club being voted one of three OUTSTANDING ALUMNI CLUB(s) in the world by our peers last September. This vote is certainly a true reflection of all the great Buckeye fans we have living in San Diego!! Congratulations!!
For those who are unable to confirm game tickets through the national alumni association via the "packages", you still have several options for game tickets:
OPTION I. National Alumni Association
If you are a member of the national association in Columbus and you have a zip code west of the Rockies, you will be mailed a ticket application for up to 2 game tickets this week. All applications will be entered in a "lottery" in mid-December. I would suggest that EVERYONE getting one of these applications should apply for the tickets. If, for some reason, you are able to get tickets from the "tours" and the "lottery", our Alumni Club will purchase the tickets from you for the benefit of other club members who were unable to get tickets.
OPTION II. Local Alumni Club
In addition to purchasing tickets from excess tickets in Option I above, we are aggressively pursuing other game ticket sources. We will be holding our own lottery for any tickets we are able to purchase. Club members who sign up for our club's bus tours will be given first priority for these tickets. If we have additional tickets available after fulfilling the needs of all "local tour" participants, we will take "verbal applications" via the Buckeye Hotline in mid-December so keep checking the Buckeye Hotline throughout December for additional details.
OPTION III. Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster will have 1,000 game tickets available to the general public on Monday evening, December 9, 1996 at 5 p.m. PST. These tickets will be sold NATIONALLY and will go very fast. The phone number is: (213) 480-3232. We would like to form a committee to "man phones" and purchase as many tickets for the benefit of club members as possible. If you're interested in serving on this committee, please leave a message on the Buckeye Hotline (696-2056) and we will contact you.
continued See Game Ticket Options on page 3
Game Ticket Options (continued from page 2)
OPTION IV. Ticket Brokers
We have 2 ticket brokers who are willing to work with us to supply game tickets to the 1997 Rose Bowl Game. Feel free to call any of them to get their "daily rate". The key thing you need to know is that the prices are likely to get more expensive each day between now and the Rose Bowl game. The only thing that could have a "negative" impact on the price would be if Ohio State should lose to Michigan (NO!!!!!) or Arizona State lose to Arizona on November 23, 1996.
ENCORE TICKETS: (800) 730-7373 (Atlanta) Contact: Sam
CLASSIC TICKETS: (800) 428-3620 (Chicago) Contact: Tony
A-1 TICKETS: (800) 938-9929 (Los Angeles) Contact: Bill
NOTE: (from the national alumni association) "If you purchase an Alumni Association tour package, you are not eligible to purchase additional Rose Bowl tickets through university sources."
Rose Bowl Parade Ticket Availability
Sharp Seating provides all tickets for the 1997 Rose Bowl parade. You may contact them directly at (818) 795-4171. Prices range depending on location. Hours are 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday thru Friday and 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Saturday. The best seats are already gone. Your best bet for great parade seats are the national association tours or our local alumni club tours. We both have premier seats reserved for the parade. It is preferable to purchase tickets toward the beginning of the parade so that you have enough time to get to the game (the parade is about 7 miles long) and floats tend to break down and not make it to the end of the parade.
Our club is not only searching for Rose Bowl tickets but also a "feelgood" project that members can contribute some of their time toward to helping make San Diego a nicer community. Previously we wrapped toys at Christmas but that program has changed so now we are seeking something new.
The criteria are 1) A group project for 10 -15 people 2) a donation of members' time not money 3) a central location (if possible). All ideas are welcomed. Call Jera at 689-9577
We now have in place two ways you can purchase quality OSU-related merchandise and benefit the local scholarship fund at the same time. We are very excited about these opportunities and hope you will take full advantage of these terrific offers.
The Buckeye Sports Bulletin provides the hottest sports information year-round with 30 issues including weekly publications during the football season. The price you pay is the normal subscription rate of $45/year for 2nd-class delivery or $74/year for first-class mail. However, $15 of either subscription fee will be returned to our club and deposited in our Scholarship Endowment fund.
Call 1-800-760-2862 (24 hours/7 days) to order. PLEASE tell them you are a member of the Ohio State Alumni Club of San Diego. Those of you who already subscribe, please remember to state your affiliation to our club when you renew your subscription each year!
College Traditions (located next to the Varsity Club on Lane Avenue) has generously offered to donate 15% from all sales to San Diego club members back to the club. Catalogs are available by leaving your name and address on the Buckeye Hotline (685-2056). Current members should be receiving their catalogs soon.
To order, you must call 1-800-628-4678. Please use our group account #AL9524 which will also be located on your catalog. If you already have a catalog, please substitute the above number so our club can benefit from your purchases.
CALL FOR ROSE BOWL GAME TICKETS
For those local Buckeye fans who are fortunate enough to be "set" with game tickets, either through the "land only" Buckeye Tour package or another source, we would like to ask you to consider helping other club members who are not as fortunate.
a) If you are a member of the national association and live west of the Rockies, you will be sent a ticket application for 2 game tickets. Please send in the application. If you win the lottery, please consider selling the tickets back to the club for the benefit of other club members.
b) On December 9th, 1,000 Rose Bowl game tickets will go on sale to the general public (see article in this newsletter). For every club member who receives an application and who already has a ticket, we would like to ask your help in joining the lottery for 2 tickets and, if you win, selling them back to the club for the benefit of club members.
In this way, we're increasing our odds that every club member who wants a game ticket, will have one. Buckeyes have always been known for GREAT TEAMWORK !! .. we have the BEST Buckeye team right here in San Diego. Please help ensure that every local club member has a game ticket to this great event on January 1, 1997. Thank you!
The Ohio State men's basketball team will be playing San Diego State University at the Sports Arena on Monday evening, December 23rd at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 per person. An order form is enclosed in this newsletter.
Two World Wide Web addresses you need to know about:
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
http://www.osu.edu/
COLUMBUS DISPATCH
WWW. DISPATCH.COM
Other Web Sites of Interest
Tournament of Roses
http://www.citycent.com/tournamentroses
/index.html
Arizona State University
http://www.asu.edu/sparky/pages/football/
releases/rosetickets.html