Dear Gerald,

A huge thank you to you and your staff for your excellent efforts on our behalf in making the UK Alumni Association Past Presidents Dinner a great success! 

There were over a dozen past presidents in attendance, plus two university vice presidents, two Trustees and the entire alumni association executive committee; so the club got great exposure.  The staff was extremely attentive and the food was delicious.  Eye-popping, actually.  The quality and creativity of the dinner selection, and its service, was beyond the expectations of many of our guests; and we (and the chef) received many compliments. 

Especially significant to Lois and me was the level of attention that your staff was able to provide us in the lead up to the dinner notwithstanding the fact that the club had been in stand down for the month immediately prior to our event; and notwithstanding the fact that you had two other events and a respectable Friday evening dinner crowd underway simultaneous with our event.  Those other two events (a teenage dance and a pre-teen sleep-over) were testaments to the vibrancy of the club and to your management – a fact that also was not lost on those in attendance. 

Our UK grad student musician confirmed all of the great things you had told us about the restoration of the 1925 Yount grand piano.  Having him there playing that magnificent instrument in the music room, with flowers and a candelabra, as our guests arrived added a touch that few clubs, and only the finest mansions, in the United States can match.

Finally, your willingness to move furniture into the Library for our pre-dinner reception added the icing on the cake.  It was Downton Abbey personified.  Nobody but you, UK, and Spindletop is going to make an accommodation like that for a one time party.  Please convey our thanks to your staff for their hard work and to your Board of Directors for their great good wisdom in engaging you as the club’s chief executive officer.