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		Holiday Travel At It’s Best Reprinted from December 2005 Issue -by SONDRA WILSON When you think about the holiday season, mixed in with all the tinsel and mistletoe are thoughts of family, reunions near and far, and precious time spent with those you care about. At Carlson Wagonlit Travel this is our favorite time of year because we enjoy being the elves that help to make these memories happen. Arranging travel for friends and family is our specialty. Our agents have handled all types of family events and destination weddings have to be our favorite. A destination wedding includes it all, from the minister to the cake and everything else in between. It can take place on a cruise ship, on a beach in Hawaii or the Caribbean, at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico or anywhere else you might desire. We can book the hotel packages for the wedding guests and of course the honeymoon for the wedding couple is also part of the destination planning. A destination wedding is a unique way to celebrate a new beginning, relieves the burden of too many details off the wedding couple and is often more cost effective then a traditional wedding. Plus Carlson has a honeymoon registry which can help pay for it all. Another favorite family opportunity is a family reunion onboard a cruise ship. On my recent fall foliage cruise, which I will tell you about in a future article, I enjoyed observing a large family of all ages sporting matching sweatshirts that said, “Cruising with Art and Betty”, their golden anniversary dates, and their pictures. Art and Betty loved it. They were the celebrities of the ship. And they all looked like they were having a great time being together. The classic family gathering has to be Disneyland or Disneyworld. If you have grandchildren, think of what wonderful memories you could make with them in the Magic Kingdom. I have already shared with you my special moments with my granddaughter Paige as we visited all the Disney princesses where they live at Disneyland. I just visited Paige for Halloween where we once again relived our time at Disneyland. Of course her costume for Halloween this year was Belle, one of the Disney princesses. As part of our year end promotion we are contributing to your celebration of family during the holidays by gifting you a family portrait, compliments of Real Life Photography on the Parkway in Richland. Just purchase a vacation package with Pleasant Holidays to Hawaii, Mexico, Asia or the South Pacific, any Princess Cruise, or any Disney package and the family photo is all yours. I would be remiss if I didn’t wish Happy Holiday’s to some very special people in my life, the staff of Carlson Wagonlit Travel. To Richland manager Cindy and her vacation experts Jaime and Lori and our very hard working Corporate Travel arrangers Elizabeth, Teri, Lori, and Mary. A special thanks to Teresa, our CFO and Julie, our Chief of Operations who both keep the place humming. Thanks Nancy in accounting and Liz in marketing. A biggie hello to Susan H, our director of Sales and all around Customer Service guru. A shout out to our Mall manager Tina along with her elves Judy, Sarah and Ellen. A special holiday hello to Susan R, our Clearwater Manager and her awesome staff Karen, Barb, Pam, Susie and Tammy. Most of us appear in our own Carlson “family photo” which appears in our ad in this issue. All the awards we continue to win from our company, Carlson Leisure Group, and from our suppliers are because of the excellent job these people do every day. Last but not least a huge Happy Holiday and Best Wishes to you and yours because without the support of the Tri-Cities community we would not be here. Here’s to a great 2006. As we start our 24th year it is always with you in mind. Thanks for your support and have a wonderful holiday with your friends and family. Sondra Wilson is president of Carlson Wagonlit Travel in the Tri-Cities.