April 7, 2016
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 35th GOTC - JUNE 23-26, 2016!
We will start off the CMC Alumni Reunion weekend on Thursday June 23rd with a welcome reception and dinner with a "back to the 60's/70's" theme and dress code. There will be entertainment (a concert by Dr. Don Roberts and his boys) followed by an informal "chit-chat" session with the CMC Director, Dr. Sunil Chandy. This will be followed by DJ music and dance till midnight. The DJ for all three nights, Mr. Davinder Jhaj has been in the DJ business for over 25 years! CME sessions on Friday will be highlighted by a Guest Lecture by Dr. Leonard Bailey, the world famous Pediatric Cardiac transplant surgeon from Loma Linda University. Afternoon outing on Friday will be to one of two beautiful museums, either to the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar or to the Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Following Friday night's sumptuous Indian dinner, the entertainment will be highlighted by the Bollywood flutist/instrumentalist Anis Chandani, and the melodious voice of Dr. Mahesh Vyas and his troupe singing old Bollywood classics. We will end the evening with the DJ and his dance music till midnight. Saturday night's banquet will be followed by entertainment and will show case the talent of our alumni and children. This evening will take us on a journey through the decades of the 50's, 60's 70's and 80's with performances by CMC musician legends such as Don Roberts and his orchestra, Anand Chellappa and his Piano Accordion, vocals by Keith Gammon, Kalyani Premkumar and many other talented artists who have performed on stage at CMC. The entertainment will be followed by DJ music and dance and we will end the festivities for the night with our usual sing-song/baila session. Sunday morning service will be led by Dr. Mani M. Mani and the GOTC choir will be conducted by Dr. Bob Carman.
As a side note, we have now 155 families/units registered for the GOTC!!
See you here in S. California in June.
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UPDATE SENT IN FEBRUARY
February 18, 2016
Dear all,
This is an important GOTC update. 130 rooms have been booked by the attendees
at the Doubletree by Hilton Ontario Airport Hotel, CA (909
937 0900), which as you know is the
venue for this year’s GOTC. We have secured
5 additional rooms at the contracted rates of
$119 plus tax per night (the rate also includes two full hot breakfasts, free WiFi,
free parking, free shuttle service from the airport etc.). These rooms will go on a first come first
served basis. In case the contracted rooms
are all taken/unavailable by the time you call in to make the reservations, these are the other
options:
A)
Book
at the Doubletree Hotel itself at the prevailing/non contracted rates or
B)
Look
for alternative accommodation at any one of the following nearby hotels, all of
which are within a short walking distance:
Residence Inn, 2025
Convention Center Way, Ontario, CA (909-937-6788)
Best Western Plus, 209
North Vineyard Avenue, Ontario, CA (800-568-8520)
Sheraton Hotel, 429 North
Vineyard Avenue, Ontario, CA (909-937-8000)
Comfort Suites, 1811 East
Holt Boulevard, Ontario, CA (855-849-1513)
A
special request to those among you who have booked the rooms at the
hotel and for some reason are unable to attend the GOTC - please inform
me before canceling your rooms so that I can ensure that the rooms go back
into the GOTC pool.
Those who have already booked the rooms at the hotel and have not sent in the
registration - please print out the attached registration form, and send the
completed form with your check to Dr. Sarla Gnanmuthu.
Those coming from abroad can pay the fees
in US$ on arrival, but please scan and send by email the completed registration
form. Since the number of participants is
quite large, early registration on your part would help us in finalizing
the arrangements for organizational purposes, such as the buses, meals,
banquet/conference facilities, welcome package etc. PLEASE OBLIGE.
WE HAVE REDUCED THE REGISTRATION FEE
FOR SINGLES TO $100. THE FEE FOR COUPLES AND FAMILIES REMAIN AT $150.
This is the final mail to the entire address list. We will send another letter with
last minute instructions if any, to just the registered guests.
The
full program, updated list of participants, speakers and topics for the
CME, local attractions etc. are posted on the GOTC web site. www.gotc2016.blogspot.com. Please let us know if there are any omissions or corrections.
Do feel free to
contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
With best wishes,
Alex and Valsa Kuruvila, (951 780 0500,
alexkuruvi@gmail.com), Sarla and Dan Gnanamuthu
(805 495 6753 drsarla@gmail.com) Ajit
and Nissi Varki (858 361 4851 nissi@san.rr.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SECOND MAILER SENT IN JANUARY 2016
January 2016
New Year
Greetings from California!!
Happy New Year! The 35th Annual
GOTC (Thursday June 23rd
to Sunday June 26th, 2016) in Ontario, sunny Southern California is in its final stages of preparation.
For this special weekend, we have assembled an engaging group of speakers
for the Scientific Program gilded by a matching social program. You, the Alumni and families constitute the
crucial ingredient for this enchanted weekend of nostalgia and
camaraderie. Please finalize your plans
to attend this joyful event and send in the completed registration forms early.
The response to our first mailer has been tremendous and more
than 105 rooms at the hotel have already been booked. As
more bookings come in, the hotel has been increasing the allocation. However,
the attractive contracted daily rates of $119 plus taxes that also include 2
full hot breakfasts, free parking, free internet and free shuttle service from
the Ontario (ONT) Airport cannot be guaranteed for much longer. So please book your rooms ASAP by calling Doubletree by Hilton, Ontario, CA at 1-909
937 0900 or their central reservations at 1-800 222 8733. The group code is CMC. Please note that the Ontario Airport is
serviced by all national and a few International Airlines.
This year’s scholarly CME program includes a key note speech
by Distinguished Professor of Surgery Dr. Leonard Bailey, Surgeon in Chief of
Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Bailey pioneered pediatric heart transplants nearly 30 years ago when
he transplanted a baboon heart in “Baby Fae”.
The complete list of speakers and topics are available on the GOTC
website: www.gotc2016.blogspot.com. Dr.
Sunil Chandy, the Director of CMC, Vellore will be attending this year’s event
along with his wife Gigi. Dr. Jacob John
(Retd. Professor of Microbiology and Virology) and Mrs. Jacob John will be at
the GOTC and so also, Dr. Mary Jacob (Retd. Professor of Dermatology). A
complete list of the attendees is available at the GOTC web site.
For Friday afternoon’s off site activity, we are offering
several world renown attractions as choices.
Please see details of the three options at our website: www.gotc2016.blogspot.com. Hard as it seems, we urge you to make your
choice on the registration form and send in the completed registration form
along with the payments soon to Dr. Sarla. Download and print the registration form here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hRHtKIanWOp_l54vaEJ28i-E1Zr1F4dH9c579ginu7c/pub. Please note that we may
opt for one or the other of these options depending on the interest. The registration fee for early registration
is $150 per unit (family or single).
The theme for this year’s GOTC is “Down Memory Lane”. There will be DJ music and dancing along with entertainment
programs on each of the three nights.
Thursday the 23rd night is the “60’s/70’s retro night”. Please fish out your old bell bottoms and ‘Bleeding
Madras’/Batik tops/shirts from your closets and come dressed for the occasion. For Friday night’s Indian fare, there will be
Desi performers and music. And of course
Saturday night is the Banquet night, and will show case the talents of our own alumni
and those of the alumni children. Please note that some of the legendary
musicians who have walked the corridors of CMC are attending this year’s
GOTC: Drs. Don Roberts (1957), Anand Chellappa
(1959/60), Keith Gammon (1964), Bob Carman and Kalyani Premkumar (1976) to
name just a few.
For those of you who are golf enthusiasts, the beautiful Empire
Lakes Golf Course designed by Arnold Palmer is nearby and you may book your
Tee-time online: http://empirelakes.com/.
We as organizers would like to make a special request to
those of you belonging to the younger batches, especially the 1980’s and later.
Please come with your families and experience the fabulous CMC spirit and kinship during this special weekend.
We promise you a memorable time. And, if anyone who is under
training requires financial assistance in attending this event, please
contact Alex Kuruvila.
Please
visit the website for all details: www.gotc2016.blogspot.com.
See you all in June.
Alex and Valsa Kuruvila (951) 780
0500 alexkuruvi@gmail.com
Sarla
and Dan Gnanamuthu (805) 495
6753 drsarla@gmail.com Ajit and Nissi Varki (858) 361 4851 nissi@san.rr.com
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FIRST MAILER: SENT IN AUGUST 2016
FIRST MAILER: SENT IN AUGUST 2016
Dear friends,
The 35th Annual GOTC will be hosted at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Ontario, Southern California, from Thursday June 23, 2016 to Sunday June 26, 2016. The beautiful City of Ontario is at the center of most of Southern California attractions, located just 45 minutes from Los Angeles, Santa Monica Beach, Hollywood, Disneyland, Palm Springs, Mt. Baldy and Big Bear Lake & Mountain. Immediate surrounding landmarks include the Ontario International Airport (ONT), Ontario Mills Mall, Empire Lakes Golf Course, Victoria Gardens Shopping Complex and the Auto Club Speedway, all within 10 miles of the hotel. The ONT Airport is serviced by most US carriers including Southwest Airlines and will be the most convenient airport to fly into from anywhere in the US. As an added bonus, there is complimentary Airport shuttle service between ONT airport and the Hotel. You will not have to fight the S. CA traffic on your own!
The theme for the GOTC 2016 is "Down Memory Lane - Celebrating 35 Years of GOTC." In addition to the morning medical lectures (we will keep them to a bare minimum) and the exciting evening entertainment programs, we will have several interesting choices on offer for the outdoor event for Friday. We will list them in detail soon. The Sunday morning Chapel service will be led by Dr. Mani M. Mani and the choir by the one and only Dr. Bob Carman. For the three evenings of entertainment, we are hoping to showcase legendary musician alumni from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's era, creating a most nostalgic evening faire. We have excellent response from many of these wonderful artists. Look out for more details soon under the entertainment tab. We also hope to honor the hosts of the previous GOTCs, who have been instrumental in keeping alive this wonderful tradition for the past 35 years.
Please mark your calendar for these dates, attend this important event, and also invite your classmates and friends from College, both here in the US and abroad. We have secured room rates of $119 plus tax per night (for up to 4 adults in the room), that includes two hot buffet breakfasts. These contracted rates are also good for three days before and three days after the GOTC dates. The Hotel has over 450 rooms, but we are contracted for only 75 rooms at present, which I suspect will get filled fast. The hotel has promised to honor the special rates (even if we exceed the allocated quota), provided rooms are still available. It is very important that you make early bookings to secure accommodation at these discounted rates. You may book your rooms by calling DoubleTree by Hilton at 1-800-222-8733 (this number can be called at anytime to make reservations) or call the Ontario Hotel directly at 909-418-4873 (Mon-Fri 9:00am-5:00pm PST) and use the GROUP CODE: CMC.
You may also book your rooms online by going to the personalized group link below. Please apply the Group code CMC if/where applicable. Please ignore the terms and conditions which may differ (Hotel's usual verbiage does not apply to our group/rates).
http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/O/ONTO-DT-CMC-20160620/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG
There is so much to see and enjoy in S. California and we do hope that you will make use of this fantastic opportunity to visit the South land. We are expecting a big turnout. Those of you who have not attended a GOTC before, and hope to attend one, this is your chance! You will get to meet many of your friends and contemporaries from college, all under one roof for a weekend of unforgettable fun and experience. Please call or drop us a mail, letting us know if you plan to attend/will be attending GOTC 2016.http://doubletree.hilton.com/
Thank you.
Alex Kuruvila
On behalf of the organizers & the CMC alumni in S. CA
PLEASE BOOKMARK THIS WEB SITE! http://gotc2016.blogspot.com/
