LANGLEY AFB, VA. –
A three-day stay in a motel room - for free - now that's a great deal. Local innkeepers annually donate the rooms for local military people.
The 21st annual Holiday Rooms program is sponsored by the Military Affairs Council of the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. The 1st Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office will begin accepting applications for the Holiday Rooms program Monday. Applications must be in to the public affairs office by Dec. 8. Hotel rooms will be assigned around Dec. 15.
Rooms are available for families of active-duty E-6s and below. The rooms are available for Sunday Dec. 24 through Dec. 26. Check out will be Dec. 27. Rooms are assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis, one room per military member.
Rooms are for the military member's family, not active-duty member's use. Military member's using this program must be assigned to a Peninsula military or Coast Guard installation. The Southside installations have their own program and any military person who lives on the Peninsula and is assigned to a Southside installation should be directed to their duty installation.
"This is an awesome program that supports the military - my relatives have stayed in these rooms for the past four or five years during the Christmas holidays." said Tech. Sgt. Jay Horton, 1st Communications Squadron. "It's a great way for my out-of-town relatives to have their own room and bed - no camping out on our sofa and floors - and they have their own place to spend the night. I can't thank our local hotels enough." Sergeant Horton said.
In addition to filling out the application, Airmen need to provide their ZIP code, which will be used to assign a nearby hotel for the person's family.
Joyce Byington-Clark, MAC member and director of sales at the Comfort Suites Airport, is the program manager. She said she's happy to once again be involved with the program.
"Hotels have gotten thank you notes from families whose brothers, sisters and son were going to ship out to some pretty scary places and this was their only chance to see them before they left." Ms. Byington-Clark said. "It puts a very different perspective on it other than being just a free room."
For details, call the 1st FW PA office at 764-2018. To receive an application, e-mail vic.johnston@langley.af.mil.