Posted on 04/12/2006 5:41:50 PM PDT by radar101
Hello all,
This past Friday night I was privileged to visit Fran O'Brien's steakhouse in the Capitol Hilton, Washington, DC. Every Friday night, Hal Koster, the restaurant manager and Vietnam Vet, invites our wounded soldiers convalescing at nearby Walter Reed Army Center to a free steak dinner and drinks. It was supposedly a "slow" night for our heroes as many were on a ski trip in Colorado. But I walked into an absolutely packed room of wounded soldiers and their families enjoying a minor but well-deserved recognition for their service to our country.
I've also discovered since then that the Hilton Corporation will not be renewing the lease. Apparently, there are too many "liability issues" in accommodating American heroes in wheelchairs. In fact , the lease (and therefore the dinners) will expire in a few short weeks. If America had responded as we would in the past, this would be inconsequential really. Obviously we have not and it is a tragic commentary on today's PC-ness.
Please read the attached e-mail with more of the details.
Best, Buzz
Buzz Patterson Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Retired)
You didn't say which side you were on...and if there is a a scotch committee I want to be on that one too.
From the link:
I would like to ask you to call and/or email the following two officials at the Hilton and voice your support for Hal and Marty and express your concern for the reasoning behind this seemingly arbitrary decision. Please call them tomorrow or Friday and feel free to share this with anyone else who might be willing to call.
Here are the people to call:
Dan Boyle (212) 838-1558
daniel_a_boyle@hilton.com
Brian Kellaher (202) 393-1000
If that were the case, why wouldn't the Hilton just come right out and give that reason to the owners of Fran O'Brien's, rahter than string them along for months? That way the owners could have made arrangements to relocate their business. Now they have two weeks to do something.
Regarding everyone making phone calls to the restaurant tomorrow to get verification from the owners... they have a business to run; at least for another two weeks. And the folks who sent out the emails that led to this thread (Buzz Patterson and Jim McDaniel) already did that. And another Milblogger (who I know and trust) in this area is awaiting a return phone call from one of the owners. When I hear from her, I will pass the word along to everyone here.
Patterson is a reliable type, plus I've received email on the same topic. I'm pretty sure we'll find out this is the straight scoop on the subject.
BUMP
Thanks for the ping!
And if I ever, E V E R am forced to stay in a Hilton again, I'm stealing the drapes...
Jeepers... Thanks for the ping!
LOL!
Chris Wallace did a "Power player of the Week" segment last fall about the owner of Fran O'Brian's. Maybe he would like to follow up on this loss of lease, since he already has a reporter relationship with Hal Koster.
What do you want to bet that Hilton is a big Dimmycrap contributor. Just like the other greedy corporations that hate this country.
Tell Hilton that if they go through with this, you won't stay in any of their hotels.
Whoa! What about the ADA? Doesn't that apply here somewhere?
L
Not the Dentists, BTW, but the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Great idea!
I'm on the side that says the government that governs least governs best but that "The People" can certainly organize and use the soapbox to rail against bad decisions - corporate or government.
These folks aren't ordering Hilton to back-off, just suggesting that it's makes good business sense to back-off.
Now I can certainly take this information and pass it along to all I know in government and the corporate world. They can decide whether or not they should patronize Hilton.
Poof! You're on the Scotch Committee! Now you have to spin in place and say, "I'll drink to that!" 5 times.
Fired off an email to Chris, Brit, and F&F. Maybe it will show up on tomorrow mornings news on Fox & Friends. They like to highlight and discuss this type of thing.
Marvelous Steve Doocie quipped that the losing team had to spend two days with Chuckie Schumer.
So there should be lots of concern if this is true.
If its shutting down in two weeks its news - and it will be covered. That's another reason to check the story out - its hard to believe its closing in two weeks and there is not one one news story on the closing while there are several current news stories about the restaurant that don't mention the closing.
I'm not saying "don't take action" I'm saying "lets verify the story."
"Here are the people to call:
Dan Boyle (212) 838-1558"
You don't suppose thats the same Dan Boyle who was one of the convicted Finance guys at Enron? Surely Hilton wouldn't hire him although it would make a nice twist to the story if an Enron guy was closing down O'Brien's.
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