Spring Cruise Big Thanks

[deadlydave]

I just wanted to give Matt, Kieth, and Greg a big thanks for planning the cruise this year.  Matt did an excellent job with the food, working with the Albany Pump Station people.  For those that missed it, you missed a grand feast.

A couple of points were brought to my attention:

-Convoy splits-there's really no way around this. 

-Dinner Arrangements- Matt took final headcount at Thatcher.  He had to call ahead for the Pump Station to know how much food to make.  This affected how much each of us was charged.  It seems that between Thatcher and dinner, a few people that said yes to dinner that later changed their minds...leaving those of us that went to fend for ourselves.  In the end, several of us managed to scrounge up a few more people, so we only had to fork out a few more dollars.  For a few tense moments, it was looking like we were gonna get slapped with an extra ten bucks per person, but only worked out to $3.50 or so extra with Matt tossing in an extra 10 bucks.

For Next year, maybe several guys with CB's(no swearing on public freq's) or walkies can be spread through the group so that the convoy can stay together.  Perhaps anyone leaving for other ventures should go to the back of the pack to prevent mixups.  Also, if a similar buffet style dinner is to be considered for next year, a small non-refundable deposit might be in order so the extra can be covered.

Anyone else got any thoughts, concerns?
Did I mention the food was good? 

[RS25BG]

i give a huge thanks to matt, he basically took over for me and really made this happen...things have recently not been going my way and ive been tending to those issues at hand and again i apologize.  this year was a bad time for me, but next year i promise will be better.

it seems that this event has gotten to the point where one person cannot handle it all...so matt id really appreciate it if we could do again a joint effort for this next year to make it just that much better! 

i also have a few ideas for this next year:

make the cruise more berne and heldeberg based but also keep in middleburgh and schoharie (keeping out of the general poplution would be nicer)

turn this into a suby car show??? hhhmmm possible

rent out a place in thatcher park...every one throw in a certain amount for the place we will be renting and basically turn this into a BBQ and we can cruise before hand then come back and eat!

who knows just some ideas to make this better

[spoolordie]

i second the part on walkie talkies or people going on diff ventures in the back

thanks everyone for waiting for me lol and greg and flutty for guiding me back

food was great thanks matt

cruise was awesome

[Kavik]

Yeah, big thanks to everyone involved in planning it out, awesome job for such a difficult task!



Walkies are a must next time...and I  the idea of cruise first, then back to thatcher for a picnic/bbq/general fun 

[idipskoalmint]

We were extremely lucky last year that we did not get split up. This year, we had even more cars. The fact that we got split up within 5 minutes of starting reiterates the fact that we need some form of communication. Cell phones are great, but there are a lot of dead zones up in the Berne/Helderberg area, so this doesn't do us much good if we're in one. We will need to have some way to talk to each other, and I think walkie-talkies are the way to go. CBs are great for those who have them, but for anyone who doesn't, it's a much larger investment. You can get a set of basic channel WTs for $20 or so, and split the cost with another member.

As for dinner, another reason the cost went down was because the management was sympathetic and was willing to meet me halfway with the number of empty seats we had (we were charged for 6, but the manager settled on 3 to make things a bit more fair). I made a point to express my gratitude to the manager when I squared up the bill. This brought the extra cost of everyone who attended down $2/person. If we decide to go to an establishment for dinner next year, there will be a non-refundable deposit for anyone intending to go.

I would definitely be willing to help out with doing a BBQ in TP after next year's meet. I have a few concerns, however:
1) What do we do with the meat? Having a full ice chest in someone's car is going to make their cruise a lot less fun, IMO
2) We would have to make it a pot-luck style dinner - what happens if someone bringing an "essential" (e.g., hot dogs) doesn't show?
3) For any spur-of-the-moment people, how do we deal with them? It's not as though we can charge them enough to give everyone who brought something $1 (I don't believe that would be fair)

Personally, I feel the BBQ would be better served as a standalone event. We could have everyone bring something small to cut down on cost (soda, beer, chips, salads, brownies, etc.), and collect some $$ for the rest of the food. I would be willing to hit the grocery store on my way to TP if I was told amounts of food to get, what to get, etc.


@Greg: I had a lot of stuff come up in my personal life as well, so I understand. Hopefully, next year will be better for the both of us.

[Kavik]

^^ yeah, the keeping food fresh part would be bothersome.....but if a couple people were willing to split off on the way back to TP with a grocery list it might not be that hard (i assume there's a grocery store out there somewhere? lol).  then everyone could just throw in cash towards groceries, which we all know are alot cheaper than restaurants!

i dunno, it's an idea, but there's plenty of time to figure it out before next spring 

[RS25BG]

^^ yeah, the keeping food fresh part would be bothersome.....but if a couple people were willing to split off on the way back to TP with a grocery list it might not be that hard (i assume there's a grocery store out there somewhere? lol).  then everyone could just throw in cash towards groceries, which we all know are alot cheaper than restaurants!

i dunno, it's an idea, but there's plenty of time to figure it out before next spring 

actually the closest grocery place from TP is 25 mins away if you were to stay on the hill lol and there are only two gas stations up here.

its pretty bad...we can store the groceries at my house and i can run and get them or something its not a big deal! we'll figure it all out

[deadlydave]

No joke, al just volunteered to 'manage the women and cook the food while you guys were out having fun'.   



Ok, maybe a little bit of joking.  I'd be willing to at least contact thatcher because my family has had dealings with them in the past.

[idipskoalmint]

No joke, al just volunteered to 'manage the women and cook the food while you guys were out having fun'.   

[RS25BG]

i think itd be a great idea to rent a place out there and have a BBQ after the cruise.  its gonna be hard to have bring people to remember to bring shit but w/e!

[LarenF3D5]

No joke, al just volunteered to 'manage the women and cook the food while you guys were out having fun'.   

I was just thinking this. Maybe not Al specifically managing, but the women to handle the food. MCP go!

[JayS02RS]

Yeah, it was a great turn out.  I agree on the deposit.  Even thought i couldn't do din, (thanks the parents) it was nice meeting some new and old faces.

Also the idea of a bbq.  I am so down.  Just hang out, cook food, play some bocci (sp) and hey, anyone have lawn darts!!!!(FTMFW).  Maybe a separate event.  Thats not something to really have a drive cause you would be bringing food there, coolers full of refreshments and such.

[spenk]

^^^^^ +1

I realize I'm still an alien here, but FWIW, that sounds like serious fun.  If we could find a field, Ultimate Frisbee, anyone?   

[idipskoalmint]

If we could find a field, Ultimate Frisbee, anyone?   

There's room for that

[RS25BG]

good people are interested then!!

[9925leggy]

im deff in for the next time around anyone like to play KAN JAM???