77th Annual Meeting
June 11 - 13, 2009Our annual meeting committee (Len Panaggio and Alan Hoffman) has arranged a program around Lafayette’s presence in the area as well as the forces of General Count de Rochambeau during the French occupation of Newport 1780-81. Our headquarters will be the Howard Johnson Inn in Middletown, Rhode Island.
June 11 (Thursday) - Dinner on your own; restaurant suggestions will be available at the hotel desk. At 9:00 p.m., in room 242 at the hotel, President Robert Crout will give a presentation of his recent visits to Chavaniac and La Grange. At 9:30 p.m. Carmino Ravosa, AFL’s own “King of the Keyboard,” will entertain us with his vocal histories of Generals Lafayette and Nathanael Greene. You won’t want to miss it.
June 12 (Friday) - Our motor coach tour begins promptly at 9:30 a.m. with Professor James Garman as our guide to historic attractions in Newport, Bristol, and Portsmouth. We will enjoy a sumptuous luncheon at The Lobster Pot in Bristol, RI. The motor coach returns to the Inn around 4:30 p.m.
June 12 (Friday) - Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. at the (1652) White Horse Tavern, 26 Marlborough St., second floor via a strictly 17th century steep and short flight of steps. Parking in the adjoining Methodist Church lot. Inform the guard that you are attending the AFL dinner.
AFL’s president, Professor Robert Crout, has announced that the Consul-General of Boston, M. Francois Gauthier and his wife will be our honored guests this evening. Gerald Carbone, former staffer with the Providence Journal, is the guest speaker with his subject, “Rhode Island’s General Greene and His Relationship With Lafayette.”
June 13 (Saturday) - 9:30 a.m. Business meeting, Room 242, with adjournment by noon.
Registration of $135 per person pays for the tour bus and associated tour and visit expenses, etc. and the tour day lunch and dinner. Checks should be made payable to The American Friends of Lafayette and sent to “Treasurer, The American Friends of Lafayette, P.O. Box 9463 Farinon College Center, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042-1798.” Please register by May 30.
Accommodations: Howard Johnson Inn, 351 West Main Road, Middletown, Rhode Island 02842, 401-849-2000,
Travel: Arrivals at T.F.Green Airport (“TFG Airport”), Warwick/Providence RI, will find the Cozy Cab Newport Shuttle at $25 per person. It runs on even hours from the airport from 6 a.m. to midnight; when returning from Newport to T.F.G., the shuttle runs on odd hours from 5 a.m. through 9 p.m. (401-846-2500, or 800-846-1502).
Further details for travel by auto, air, and train are enclosed, and are available on Newport’s excellent web site.
Questions may be directed to: Len Panaggio 401-847-6997 (no email) Alan Hoffman 603-432-3440 (h), 617-951-1817 (w), ARHoffman@lynchbrewer.com Phil Schroeder 610-759-0551 schroedp@lafayette.edu