I wanted to start a reasonable discussion about what to do for dinner during CJ07--the pros and cons of everything. I am, in no way, partial to any particular scenario here.
Even if you didn't attend CJ06 this will catch you up to speed about the details. Every year for CJ we have a dinner at a restaurant, as a group. It's usually on Saturday night after the Chili's show. Generally it has been an okay experience. With the usual hassles of a restaurant trying to serve 50+ people at the same time, you can expect things to go wrong for some people, and we've tried to adjust from year to year about what to do. So that's what this thread is for.
For 2007 we have an opportunity to have a formal catered dinner at a facility. This opens up a new door...but also new problems. The facility would be St. Andrews Hall (http://www.angelsforanimals.org/apAndrews.asp), which is attached to Angels for Animals, an organization which humanely treats animals (and also one of the groups toward which we donated in 2006). The hall can easily fit our whole group. We would also get a private tour of the facility, including the infamous cat area. We would be able to see our donation in action, which is important. These are all good things...yet there are logistical problems which remain unresolved:
- How do we pay for the catered food and the room?
- How do we get everyone to the facility (approx. 25 min from the hotels)?
- What would everyone expect to pay, per person?
- What day/night would we do this?
- Would this complement or supplant the park on Saturday?
- Can we afford to have the picnic AND this dinner?
I want to stress that we are under no obligation to use this hall. If we can't do it, no problem. My only concern is that, if we DO want to do this, we have to figure out a plan of action so I can reserve it.
My initial thoughts were that, if we were going to do some sort of formal dinner, it could be on Friday night. This gives us time to get there, eat, tour, and get back the hotel without any pressure of a schedule hanging over our heads. To me it's the most logical night. Obviously those people who don't show up until Saturday would miss it. But it would still cover the majority of the people. And just to clarify...by "formal" I mean, jeans without holes. :) It's not a suit-and-tie thing, by any means. Just look sort of nice and as a group, I think we'd be okay.
If this plan doesn't sound appealing then we can go back to finding a restaurant that can handle a group. And dumbass me, I realized almost immediately after CJ06 that there was a pretty good solution: TGI Friday's. It's right across Rt. 224, from the hotels. Plenty of parking spaces, and they do have a large seating area (indoor or outdoor) that probably could be reserved. I really don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. Too many things going on at one time, probably. :)
Money-wise, it would be quite a stretch to do both a formal dinner plus the picnic on Saturday. We're talking double the food, two days in a row, plus the cost of the hall and pavilion. The St. Andrews dinner would cost approximately $500-700 for everything. The picnic is about the same. We have about $800 in the account right now (late Sept. 2006), and I have to pay myself back for the pavilion rental out of that money. I don't see us getting any external funds this year (unless we start thumping for sponsors). I am also concerned about the setup/cleanup. It's...going to be a lot of work, there is no doubt, and therefore a lot more stress. However, what I could do is contact Diane @ Angels and see if they have any recommendations for help, catering, etc. I'm sure they do, and maybe at a reduced rate.
So...that's basically it. Thoughts? Concerns? I guess, more importantly...should we have the formal dinner, or not?
I personally like the idea of a nice dinner Friday night.
As for the cost of it, whether we have a dinner together at a hall, or in a restaurant...we have to eat that night anyway....we'll still be spending money on it either way.
Quite honestly, since there is a full kitchen there, it is concievable that dinner could be made there. Of course, that means some volunteers for cooking it, and then others for clean up...but, we've never had a lack of volunteers (that I know of ) for jobs when it comes down to it.
If we were to vote on what kind of food to be served, depending on what it is....some can be made ahead of time and frozen, then just heated or cooked at the facility. I have a couple things in mind that would work easily, if everyone were to agree.
-How do we pay for the catered food and the room?
**How much is the room?
** If we go with the plan I just suggested, it may not cost as much as catering.
- How do we get everyone to the facility (approx. 25 min from the hotels)?
**Car pool, caravan
- What would everyone expect to pay, per person?
**I would think $10 per person isn't bad, considering what it would cost to pay for dinner at a restaurant.
- What day/night would we do this?
**Friday night sounds good
- Would this complement or supplant the park on Saturday?
**I say 'compliment' the picnic...that is always a good time, relaxing and fun
- Can we afford to have the picnic AND this dinner?
**As I said, we have to pay to eat one way or another....
A couple suggestions I have for dinner are:
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Lasagne
Stuffed Peppers
Meatball Subs
All could be served with Garlic bread (with exception of subs), Salad, and a dessert.
These main dishes are easily prepared ahead of time, and frozen. Then heated or cooked at the facility. They can then be served Buffet style.
I see your getting an earlier start. Even though it rained last year, we really enjoyed it.
Is there a minimum amount of people we need to have for the hall?
Sounds really cool, as above, we need to eat anyway.
- How do we get everyone to the facility (approx. 25 min from the hotels)?
Have the local gys show you around / carravan there works.
(Whoa...I just quoted me). ;)
What I mean by this is...we'd have to make serious carpool plans. It's not a car show, it's a dinner, so to save some gas I think the prudent thing would be to carpool as much as possible. But not everyone will want to do that...and for the cars staying at the hotel, I'm sure the owners would want someone to watch after them. That means someone stays behind. Again, it's a logistical thing but one that demans some pondering because it means someone's not going to dinner with us.
Minimum people...I would think at least 20 to make it worthwhile.
Cost-wise...I think it would be more like $15/person with that kind of spread, Karen. ;) But seriously, it would be over $10 when you figure the cost of the hall, the cost of the food, the rentals, etc. And I think if we got an actual caterer then it would be even more. It's sort of like having a small wedding reception!
See guys, my whole dilemma is, I take all of this very personally because, in a roundabout way, I determine how you spend your money and use your vacation time every summer. It is a tremendous responsibility that I don't take lightly. I hate like hell to keep digging into your pockets. Just not comfortable doing that. On the other hand...we do have to eat.
We
could always order a load of pizzas and eat in the parking lot of the hotel... ;)
My vote goes for pizza in the parking lot.. solves caravan issue.. leaving cars behind issue and we'd all have just as much fun as we would at a formal hall.
Pizzas work too. ;) :D
For the pizza idea....we're still talking about Sat. nite, after the car show, right?
I like the idea, but need to state some (probably obvious) concerns. Not concerns really, more like issues.
-The pizza place would need to be notified well in advance to prepare a lot of pizzas.
-There would probably need to be a set time for this to take place, so the pizza place knows when to have them done.
-What about cleanup at the hotel? There are going to be a lot of boxes when we're done. I think I remember seeing a dumpster in the lot, would the hotel be ok with us dumping them in that?
-How/where to "serve" the pizzas. We can't just set them on the ground, and I don't think anyone would want them setting on their car.
-Then there's inevitable toppings issue. :-)
I don't mean to be discouraging, believe me. I lovez my pizza and think it's a good idea. Besides, it also solves the 'when-staying-in-a-hotel,-you-must-order-pizza' rule! LOL
Just some things to think about.
what night r we talking about pizza for? friday or saturday?
There is a pizza shop in my town. Little mom and pop kind of place that will make it right in front of you. Can seat all of us and not too far from catjam. Just an idea.
well as eric pionted out its going to cost 700$ for the hall and room at angels.thats a lil much to try to work in imo.a nice idea indeed.and if thats what happens im all for it. heres what we need.food for friday night and food for saturday night.just throughing out an idea,how about pizza be on friday night.every 1 pitch in and we could all just hang out eat talk and look at cars .i know for me after a long drive its nice to sit /stand in 1 spot lol. not that im trying to think just about me but im sure other feel the same. saturday night we could do a nice dinner.eric said something about tgi.that sounds realy good.i was looking online as well for ides for a good saturday night dinner and saw a place i think called long horn that looked realy good.not to sure where it is as to how far it is from the hotels but i did look at the map and thout it looked close.eric might know.but ether way its a thout.now for the problom is i still think it would be nice to tour angels.maybe friday night before or after pizza?kind of hard to work it in on sat car show goes till 8 or 9 if i remember right.just thout id throw something out there.im not trying to leave any 1 thing or others ideas out.
That's an idea...we could just tour the Angels for Animals facility on Friday night. Problem is, it's way out there by itself...no places to eat on the way really. But we could eat beforehand. Say we eat about 5:00-ish on Friday...we could be at Angels at around 7pm for the tour...it should take maybe two hours...be back at the hotel, ready to imbibe. :) Now that, I can arrange. I guess the only real question would be, again, where to eat? The pizza thing would be good for Friday night. Papa John's is right down from the hotel, but there are other joints in da hood also. If that's what everyone wants to do, I'll make sure we have enough plates, cups, etc. for us, plus get some 2-liters of soda pop for everyone. I will do all the ordering beforehand, giving them plenty of time, and if that's what people want to do then I can get everyone's preference of toppings during registration. I can probably get a few small fold-up tables for serving also. But I'm afraid, Kevin, that the dining arrangements would be limited to the pavement. ;) I'm sure most people will be okay with that. I'll even willing do the cleanup too.
For Saturday night, my main purpose is to find a place to eat where we can all get in and out of the parking lot easily, plus have enough spots for all the cars, all while reducing the chances of getting in an accident. Rt. 224 is just one huge accident zone. So the least amount of left turns or road crossings we can do, the better. TGI Friday's is just one traffic light away, directly down the road from the hotels. If TGI Friday's isn't the overwhelming choice, we can stay on the same road (comes around by Wal-Mart) and there's Applebee's, and a place called Smokey Bones (BBQ/ribs). Again, these are just suggestions but to me, trying to coordinate all these cars, it's a very safe solution.
Now for other restaurants on the Rt. 224 strip, between the mall and the hotels...
Right side of the road:
Wendy's
IHOP
Burger King
Olive Garden
Longhorn Steak House
The big chrome diner
Chick-Fil-A
Left side of the road (Note: none of these will be easy in/out parking lots):
Golden Corral (buffet)
Arby's
Krispy Kreme (LOL)
Perkins
Taco Bell
Carrabbia's (Italian food)
Now if we go west of the mall on 224, away from the hotels and the mall:
Denny's
A&W
Rockne's (good food)
If we go east on 224, past the hotels:
Lone Star Steakhouse
Inner Circle (all kinds of food)
Friendly's
And of course, on the same street as the hotels (Tiffany Blvd.):
Papa John's
Subway
Dunkin' Donuts (mmm....donuts....)
Outback Steakhouse
I'm sure I forgot a few but that's the gist of it. Again, I appreciate the feedback.
i dont know about every 1 ealse but that sounds to be a realy good plan.as for food i think eric has it down prity good.easy parking and access.
i dont know about every 1 ealse but that sounds to be a realy good plan.as for food i think eric has it down prity good.easy parking and access.
that sounds like a realy great idea.as for friday night id be willing to help clean up that wont be a problom at all.if tgi is close and has the room then that would be a great place as well.i to like eric does of the (please serve me im tired) idea.so a nice sit down place rocks with me.if for some reason tgi cant maybe the longhorn if it is easy to get to and has the room for us.both have a good selection of food .hope others jump in to give there opinions
Well i can forsee a problem with fri night what if there are a few people comming late like some of the canadian folk. Then what would you do for them to get to the dinner. The pizza idea would be awsome hell ill even go get em if they can't deliver. But thats just my:2c:.
Rockne's kicks ass. It gets my vote
thats 1 of the probloms of trying to plan things like this.no 1 knows this better then eric.not to sound meen or leave out any 1 but its hard to please every 1.in the last 2 years iv attended friday night dinner was up to the indavidual to get what ever u wanted.so doing a group thing this year is new.but yes that is a good ?.i sapose that the late 1s comming would have to get something on their own or the 1s that show up while eating can jump right in.but thats not for me to decide its erics.im just trying to help thow out ideas.
Steak houses are always good. Outback is a personal fave. And they have a good variety of food for everyone too.
Everyone fend for themselves on Friday night is always fine with me too. Get it "to go" then that way it solves overcrowding at one restaurant, everyone can get what they want, when they want, everyone is happy and no stress at all! Everyone is responsible for their own cleanup (i think we are all decent people here) and no harm done all the way around. :)
Eric it's should be a vacation for you also bud, your work should be focused more on the car show side of things rather then worrying about who is bringing paper plates for the pizza.
K that's my two cents.
LOL If it were only that easy, Steve... ;)
Everyone has been on their own for Friday night dinner because people keep arriving at the hotel at different times. It makes sense that way. But...see...if I throw in here that our club account would be paying for the pizza...well...I sense everyone's decision for Friday night becoming much easier.... ;)
I hear what your saying. I really believe that CJ will only continue to grow in numbers. I'm affraid that the numbers may be too much for all of us to be catered. Thats really pricy. I dont mind paying it, but those who are traveling across the country may be in a pinch?
But I'll do whatever is planned, but I'd like to hit up the strip on friday night, do some cruisin and maybe stop in somewhere and have a burger or so. Makes things quick and easy.
just wondering if theres any new updates or thoughts on this topic?i know cj isnt for awhile yet but like to keep it in mind
i like the idea of finding my own friday night. (not one for scheduals)
For the record as a local guy, if there's anything I can do to help / setup just let me know
I think a pizza party would be great but what if it raiiiiinnnnsssss, a choose your own would be easier but would like to go to the animal shelter.
I vote for the animal shelter for Friday night. I'd like to see the place we've been donating money to, and where the money is going. I'm just afraid I'd leave Cat Jam with a few extra cats in my Cat.
LOL that's funny cat's in my cat!!!!
This is my thinking I can bring a table for Pizza on Friday night. Odd's are im bringing the truck and trailering the car thing's keep going wrong for me with the car and don't want to get stranded. I can haul a table and big a$$ cooler too with POP not soda pop in it (had to say it). Then after we eat and clean up we can head down to the animal shelter thingy and tour there no later then 7:30.
As far as Saturday I say after the car show we go and eat somewhere that isnt too far and easy to get into and park. The place really doesn't matter as long as they can handle a big group cause im sure everybody can figure out something deceint that they can eat.
The hall thing to me is just gonna cost too much all the way around. That's my opinion.
I would definitely like to tour the animal shelter on Friday. What if it was earlier in the day say like 5. Do the tour, be back at the Hotel by 8, then have pizza and frosty refreshments? I could bring my truck on Friday, and a couple of folding tables. Then bring the car out Sat.
I can try to grab the bronco and maybe a trailer to help with tables if need be
i know i missed out on all the fun and excitement from the last 2 catjams, but i am just throwing my opinion out there... i am a picky eater, and i know there are pleanty of other folks out there like that too, but pizza seems to be a common food that everyone can enjoy... i haven't been a fan of much catered food.. you can usually get enough different pizzas to satisify everyones tastes, however with catered meals there is normally a limited selection...
I am pretty new to this forum and have not attended a CJ yet.but I have read alot of the posts on this subject. It sounds like you guys go out for dinner friday night and have a car show,eat and bs on saturday, out in the hotel parking lot,is this pretty much how it goes?
I am hoping to attend this year and thought up a idea that may be far fetched but hear goes. Is it possible to hire a caterer, that would setup a tent,table and chairs and serve pizza?. I have no idea what this would cost or if its even possible,but it would solve some of the issues I am reading.............crazy idea or not?
Just to add a few more comments on this.there are several places in the youngtown area that will setup a tent,table and chairs and we can get the pizza somewhere near by. can this be done at the location of the CJ?..............just a thought
Hey all, thanks for the feedback, it's really appreciated.
I've discussed the catering thing with my folks, who are the "food support team", and so far the consensus is...
...we probably can't cater anything this year. Which is good because it means a return to my mom's cooking. But it also limits our plans.
As it stands right now (late Jan. '07):
- Friday night: I am in discussion with the rep from Angels for Animals. Since we made a donation to them last year, with the special engraved brick and whatnot, I think it's only prudent that we at least visit the facility for a tour. I'm going to give this at least a 70% chance of happening. So that would mean everyone would be on their own for Friday night. I'm going to try to schedule the tour for about 7:00 pm which will give everyone a chance to eat beforehand. It will take us approx. 25 minutes to get to the Angels facility from the hotel. Tour will be about an hour. That gets us back to the hotel around beer-thirty. ;)
- Saturday (picnic): We had some problems in '06 with the catered food. It was an awkward situation all around...the people that needed to correct the problem certainly did. But that also shook my faith in this year's show concerning catered food. Mom thinks she can take on extra work to make all-homemade food. I think we'll probably end up doing that because she's a stubborn woman and I will never win an argument with her.
- Saturday (night): This is the part that we should be discussing from now on. A lot of people like the pizza idea and frankly, that's what I'm leaning towards also. It's a universal food that is cheap, hot, and delivered. Covers all bases. But, here is an issue...say it rains. Where do we eat? I mean, the hotel isn't our personal property for 48 hours. We can't just set up a tent anywhere we please.
My thoughts:
If it rains...TGI Friday's is very close. So is Applebee's.
If it doesn't rain...pizza in the parking lot.
We absolutely need backup plans for everything. This makes the most sense to me.
Now what do you think? Sound reasonable?
Sounds good Eric.
I also have no problem helping your mom with the food situation. I am sure there are a few things I can make here and bring with us when we come, like salads and such. It would make it easier on your mom so she could just worry about the hot foods.
Just let me know about that. ;)
Plans all sound good. Roger and I really wanted to go see the Angels for Animals. Especially since we got Bosco from a rescue place almost 5 yrs ago, and more recently rescued Guen on our own. That sort of thing is very close to our hearts now.
Plans for Saturday night sound good too.
That sound's good to me Eric!!! What are you planning on having saturday night for food? If you want I can get Burger's and dog's and bring them out. Anything you need Let me know Im always willing to help out.
it all sounds good to me too eric.ty for the update.
Me and my dad are liking this idea eric!
in gonna try and get my dad to go this year, and take me(if we fix the oil leak on the t/c) those dinner plans sound great by me