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Two Ways to Register for Our Arizona Convention!

1. If you can open Microsoft Word documents, download the form to your computer, fill it out there, print it, and send it with your check to our Convention Treasurer (as listed on form). If you have entries only on the first page, that is all you need to print and send.

2. If you cannot open Word documents, print and complete the form found in the Bell Tower January-February issue between pages 26 and 27 or download the PDF document and send it with your check.

If you have questions, please contact Convention Chairman Nancy Kirk at 520-544-5707 or by email at 2012reg@americanbell.org.

Download Registration Form: .doc .pdf

Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas
6333 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Arizona 85250 [Map]
Tel. 480-948-7750 or 1-800-528-3119

(Our convention days this year are Wednesday through Saturday. Also, Arizona will NOT be on Daylight Savings Time.)

Hotel Reservations

The easiest way to make your hotel reservation is from our personalized group web page. You may also call the hotel at 1-800-528-3119. If you are not using the personalized group web page, you must give our group name, American Bell Association, when you make your reservation. You will be given a confirmation number, which you should record for future reference.

Choose your type of accommodation: double or king room at $89 plus tax per night or Villa (includes two master bedrooms—one king, one double double) at $198 plus tax per night, $99 each if two couples share. Guarantee your reservation with a major credit card. Notify the hotel if you have a special need such as an accessible room or a room close to our meeting space. NOTE: All the rooms in the hotel proper are close to meeting and events.

Your reservation must be placed by June 6, 2012 to receive our group rate. Our group rate will be available three days before and after our convention dates, based upon availability. You are urged to make your reservations early.

Check-in time is 4:00 pm. Check-out time is 12:00 pm. You may cancel your hotel reservation until 6:00 pm the day of arrival.

If you have any problem, please contact Gary Childress (CSC Hotel Coordinator) by phone at 816-392-0847 or by email at conventions@americanbell.org.

The Villas offer two master bedrooms (one king, one double double) with bathrooms separated by a large living room, an additional queen-size sleeper sofa, furnished kitchen, dining area, three flat-screen TV’s, washer and dryer, your own patio and grill, and a swimming pool and tiki bar in the (gated) villa complex. The villas are within walking distance of the hotel proper, and the hotel will transport villa guests using a minivan or a six-person golf cart. If you are staying extra days in Phoenix and/or bringing other family members along for an Arizona vacation, a villa might be the very thing for you. (They are part of the hotel complex and will count toward our credit for room nights sold.) If you are interested in a villa, please notify Gary Childress at 816-392-0847 or by email at conventions@americanbell.org at your earliest convenience. At this point we have only five villas still available. Gary is also keeping track of who is sharing villas, and he will try to match up anyone who is looking for someone with whom to share.

Hotel Facilities/Amenities

Smoke-free guestrooms including large work desk with ergonomic chair; complimentary wireless high-speed Internet access with remote printing capability; two dual-line telephones with voicemail; alarm clock radio with connectivity; cable television with pay-per-view movies, games, and complimentary HBO; iron and ironing board, hairdryer, refrigerated mini-bar, coffeemaker with complimentary coffee and tea service; individual climate control; electronic in-room safe; USA Today delivered each weekday morning and local paper on weekend days.

Concierge on duty 9:00am to 5:00pm daily. Business center open 24 hours. Gift shop. Laundry/valet service. ATM. Car rental desk. Complimentary parking. Complimentary shuttle within 2.5 miles for shopping.

Dining & Entertainment: BlueFire Grille—indoor & patio seating. (10% discount for ABA) BlueFire Lounge. Oasis Bar & Grille—featuring sandwiches, snacks, and poolside libations. Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. 24-hour In-Room Dining.

Recreation: Heated swimming pool with whirlpool spa. Wellness Center and Spa. Preferred tee times at nearby golf courses.

Located nearby: Old Town Scottsdale, Scottsdale Fashion Square, The Borgata, Hilton Village Shops, Camelback Mountain, Sonoran Desert, desert jeep tours, horseback riding, hiking, air tours, bike trails, art galleries, museums, antiques, and other shopping.

Tour of Cosanti

Many of us have Soleri windbells in our collections. Cosanti, where these bells are made, is less than ten minutes from our convention hotel. We will make arrangements for those who are interested to tour Cosanti on Tuesday, June 26—the morning of the day before the Convention begins. (Our convention days this year are Wednesday through Saturday. Also, Arizona will NOT be on Daylight Savings Time.)

The tour itself will take about an hour, plus whatever additional time we wish to spend just looking around, and it will include watching a bronze pour. We will carpool over and plan to arrive at 9:00 am; Cosanti is beautifully shady, but it will be cooler and more pleasant the earlier we get there. The cost will be $10 per person, with a minimum of eight for the tour.

Please contact Nancy Kirk at 520-544-5707 or cosantitour@americanbell.org  at your earliest convenience to take advantage of this opportunity.

"Three Bells in One"   THE 2012 CONVENTION BELL
[Click images to enlarge]	The first items that ABA President Rona Kesselman ever collected were DeGrazia plates. Now she will have a companion piece for those plates—the Convention Bell of the ABA Convention at which she is presiding in Phoenix. The ivory pottery windbell casting is five inches high and three and three-fourths inches diameter at the bottom. The wind-catcher is two and a half inches long. On the front of the bell is a full-color Ted DeGrazia picture called “Bell of Hope,” a Native-American girl ringing a bell. The wind-catcher features a relief picture of a small bird perched on a bell hanging from a tree branch. Three bells in one. Lettering on the reverse says “ABA Arizona 2012” and “DeGrazia Foundation, Sandstone Creations.” Ettore “Ted” DeGrazia was born in 1909 in the Morenci mining camp in Arizona Territory. He moved back to Italy for five years with his immigrant parents as a child and then returned to Morenci. He attended the University of Arizona while working as a trumpeter and leader of a big band and began painting while managing a theater in Bisbee. His passion was to create art depicting the lives and lore of the native cultures in the Sonoran Desert. By the mid 1950’s, his artwork was steadily attracting media attention, and the town of Tucson had grown near his first studio on Campbell and Prince, so he and his wife bought 10 acres far out in the desert in the Santa Catalina foothills and built what became their Gallery in the Sun. (Tucson has now also grown up around it.) By the time he died in 1982, DeGrazia had established his DeGrazia Foundation to ensure the permanent preservation of his art and architecture. Our bell was made by the Sandstone Creations Company in Phoenix for the DeGrazia Foundation at the Gallery in the Sun.
Please order early; quantities are limited. $25 picked up at Convention – $35 mailed.

Car Rentals, Transportation & Directions

We have made arrangements to have a discount program available for car rentals during Convention 2012 with Avis, Dollar and Hertz (listed alphabetically—no recommendation implied).

Avis. Use the AWD discount number D256936. Click here for discount or you may call Ray Walker at 1-800-525-7537 ex 31303.

Dollar Rent A Car. “Guests will receive a 10% discount off our already low internet rates from our Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and Scottsdale, AZ locations.” The discount code is CM0645. Click here for discount or you may call 1-800-800-4000 and mention corporate discount code CM0645 to receive the 10% off offer.

Hertz. Use the discount code CV# 022Q5173. Click here [link coming soon]for full discount pricing details or you may call 1-800-654-2240 (US & Canada) or 1-405-749-4434 (local).

Other transportation between Sky Harbor Airport and the Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas (17 miles, about 25 minutes):

Taxi. Average price $40. Can be shared, probably by no more than three, depending on luggage. Always available at the airport. Would have to be called from the resort for return.

Resort car service company. $38 per car, can be shared, up to three people with luggage. The company also has SUV’s available that would hold four or five people, depending on luggage, and cost $58. Notify the resort concierge ahead of time with your airline, flight number, and time of arrival from what city, and arrangements will be made to meet you at the airport and take you directly to the resort. The same will be the case for returning home.

Super Shuttle. Price $18 per person. Available at the airport; may make other stops on the way to the resort. For return, they require notification 24 hours in advance, and they must get you to the airport two hours before your flight time. Depending on how many other stops they are making, you might have to leave three hours or more before your flight time.

DIRECTIONS FROM SKY HARBOR AIRPORT TO HILTON SCOTTSDALE RESORT & VILLAS: Take Highway 51 north to the Lincoln Drive exit. Turn right (east) on Lincoln. Take Lincoln to Scottsdale Road. The resort is located on the southeast corner of Lincoln and Scottsdale.

Other Phoenix-Area Attractions

Sites featured on two of our programs:

• ASU Campus (Tempe) & Carillon, 21 minutes
• Old Adobe Mission, 9 minutes

Many fine museums and attractions:

• Heard Museum, 27 minutes
• Heard Museum North, 36 minutes
• Musical Instrument Museum, 23 minutes
• Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, 21 minutes
• Desert Botanical Garden, 17 minutes
• Phoenix Zoo, 18 minutes
• Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball, Chase Field Tours, Major League Baseball Game, 29 minutes
• Chuckwagon Dinner and Show
• Big Surf Wave Pool/Water Park, 17 minutes

Other Arizona attractions:

National Parks and Monuments

Twenty-one American Indian reservations including Navajo, Hopi, Havasupai, Hualapai, Fort Apache and San Carlos Apache, Tohono O’Odham

Many fine state parks including Kartchner Caverns

A few suggestions from other cities:

• Tucson: Biosphere 2, San Xavier del Bac Mission, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, Pima Air and Space Museum, University of Arizona
• Sedona - Oak Creek Canyon - Red Rock Country
• Prescott: Territorial History
• Flagstaff: Museum of Northern Arizona, Lowell Observatory, Northern Arizona University

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