Volume 11, Number 3, Sept 1989, p.1

President's Letter

Planning is in full swing for the October meeting in Honolulu. For example, conservators at PRCC have been reviewing traditional hula "halaus" in order to select the best performers for our evening event at Bishop Museum. We figure this will go down in history as the most fun conservators have ever had at a conference. If this does not lure you, check the preliminary list of presentations below. Our program is by no means complete at this date, but already we have a strong showing in the area of objects conservation and expect to round out the program with other papers tentatively proposed at this stage. We look forward to an exciting meeting and especially to welcoming conservators from Mexico to our group for the first time, thanks to the Friends of Mexico Foundation.

Please refer to the enclosed colored sheet which contains additional information to enable you to make plans for the conference. We will be sending another mailing to registrants in September. Meanwhile, please call me if you have any questions. One question I keep hearing is "Which hotel is closest to the meeting place?" Our conference location, The Honolulu Academy of Art, is a beautiful museum located across from a park; it is in a residential/business area where there are no hotels. Most hotels are in Waikiki, which is a short and direct bus ride from the Academy.

I have also been asked for hotel recommendations or where other WAAC members are staying. Apparently conservators prefer togetherness! Regarding hotels, if price is not an issue, here are a few special places: The Colony Surf (at a very quiet and pretty end of Waikiki, across from the big park) and the Moana, Royal Hawaiian, and Halekulani (the oldest hotels on the beach and very nice). In the budget range, the hotels are considerably more anonymous. A hotel used in United Airlines' "dollarwise" air/hotel package (and by other agents listed on the colored sheet) is The Outrigger Hobrun, which is at one end of Waikiki, near the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I personally prefer this area and it is a few minutes closer to the meeting site.

The most important point I can convey is that it is very important to get your reservations early, particularly if you plan to save money by using an air/hotel package. Regardless, October is an especially popular month in Honolulu; there are many conventions and airlines are booked far in advance.

Please make a point of voting for Vice-President and Members-at-Large. I would like to thank Mark Watters, WAAC Vice-President, and the nominating committee members, Leslie Kruth, Rosamond Westmoreland, and Tatyana Thompson for gathering such an impressive slate of candidates.

It has been a pleasure to serve as your president. I look forward to hearing from the membership in my last two months of tenure and I definitely look forward to seeing many of you in Honolulu in October!