Well, this has been a goal of mine for a while now. I'm trying to put together a dinner at a catering hall for the forum. I was thinking of doing it somewhere in central Jersey and in the spring time to maximize the attendees. I would also like this to be for forum family members as well since this IS a family forum.

 

I'm not familiar with how this could be done, but I'm thinking 50 bucks a head could cover everything. My goal is 200 people including family members and I hope to get more. So, what do you guys think?

I'm in. Especially because I'm in central NJ

2 things...

1)if it is a family thing, dinner might not be the best time. kids could get cranky.

2)depending on the menu, $50/head might be a little too much for some, specially the ones with kids.

 

have you considered a BBQ instead? or a day at great adventure or something. it seems centrally located.

Eastern or western central NJ?

Okay, maybe a lunch? Central Jersey is the idea. Not sure where but I wanted it in the middle of the state so noone was driving 3 hours and then getting a little tipsy and having to drive 3 hours back.

2 things...

1)if it is a family thing, dinner might not be the best time. kids could get cranky.

2)depending on the menu, $50/head might be a little too much for some, specially the ones with kids.

 

We always make it through just fine. Never for $50/head, just find a place that has extra space and talk to them ahead of time. No need to reserve a catered ball room, nobody will come. Just find a good restaurant with an extra room for overflow/multipurpose and talk to them ahead of time.

 

have you considered a BBQ instead? or a day at great adventure or something. it seems centrally located.

 

Throwing a BBQ is always good.

Even Maggianos is going to be $37.95 per adult, so where ever your comin up with $50/person is very expensive! I'de look around in the $25-40 range.

 

Edit: And they even do lunch stuff for ~$20 per person. Again, Maggianos, a fancy italian place.

50 dollars was a guess, a high guess. The place has to seat a lot of people since I don't want to turn people away.

considering 9 out of a possible 20 showed today at cabelas, i doubt youd ever get 200 people at a time

considering 9 out of a possible 20 showed today at cabelas, i doubt youd ever get 200 people at a time

 

I'm extremely pissed at that. I would still like to geta triple digit number.

Can you guys PM me possible locations for this event? I'm not familiar with any halls outside of Hudson County.

 

I'll get a poll going to see where we stand. The place has to be easily accessable, plenty of parking, good food, and not expensive.

Ray,

 

I have enough room in my yard to accomadate people. We could do tents, cater or have everybody bring food and then get some stuff for the kids.

I'm in. I like the BBQ idea

Maybe we can get a range for a day or few hours and have tents and someone cater.

well, I'm 10 minutes from Fort Dix and CJRPC if that matters.

well, I'm 10 minutes from Fort Dix and CJRPC if that matters.

If your close to toms river that's perfect...I vote bry@n

I like that idea Bry, waiting to hear from some others on this. There is a catering hall Bayonne that does the Friends of the NRA dinners. It has great food, plenty of parking, and good pricing.

 

I just threw that one out there, but I'm down for whatever the forum decides.

Good luck Ray. I tried to get this off the ground 2 years ago and the response was a total joke. I wish you luck in you endeavors but don't get your hopes up because just like the thing with cabelas the same thing will happen with a dinner, and if you reserve 100 seats and only 50 people show up, expect to still get stuck with the bill for 100 people, just sayin.

 

M

Ray,

 

I see what your saying. If you go the catering route, you need to get people to pay up front. Either way, I'm okay with. I just figured for a cheaper route...we could get slides and water stuff for the kids. Great Adventure is 10 minutes away, ranges are 10 minutes away.

 

May even get a deck done by that time.

Sounds like a cool idea Ray. Maybe people having to pay ahead of time to a hall or restaurant wouldn't be such a bad idea, that way you know who is committed and no one will get stuck paying for the no shows. But on the other hand an informal bbq is not bad either. Tough call...just keep it closer to the northern half of central Jersey

sounds like fun . we also have more options as to places to get together elks have hall rentals the fire dept vfw and so on .

I'm extremely pissed at that. I would still like to geta triple digit number.

 

Sorry you had to cover both right and left flanks. My eye is all flared up and I'm not sure if it could be conjunctivitis again.

 

I'd definitely be down for either catering or BBQ. I can whip up some bad a** macaroni salad and spinach pie to bring.

I'm always up for anything that involves food. When you combine food and guns...how can I say no. As someone who has done planning for many events I definitely suggest you get the money ahead that way you don't have to reach into your own pocket at all.

 

It depends on the time of year that you want to do this whether or not an event outside would work. There may even be a member on the forums here who could get a hall to have things and they would be able to secure a better rate.

 

Send me a message privately if I can help with anything.

Ray,

 

I have enough room in my yard to accomadate people. We could do tents, cater or have everybody bring food and then get some stuff for the kids.

 

I know a guy that does pig roasts, on site... and someone that rents party stuff, like bars, big jumpy houses, slides and stuff for the chit lens...

 

Also, I could check with CJRPC about having a group function there to shoot earlier in the day..grab a pit or a lanes on the range?

 

Your place would be ideal, plenty of room and parking, plus the lot across the way there... nice idea Bryan..

I was kinda hoping to skip the whole shooting thing as I wanted this to be more towards family and kids. I didn't want members to have to drap shooting gear along with family to an event. I like the idea of having it at your house Bry, but 3 things come to mind.

Parking

bathrooms

weather

 

The first step is to pick a place, date and time. But we'll have to do a collection as I would NOT want to have to ask people who showed up for more money.

 

Matt, hopefully this will get off the ground. But I know what you mean.

Okay, I just thought about your idea Bry and it does make some sense. If we rent kid stuff it'll keep the rugrats busy. Hmmmm, and a pig roast.

A couple ideas I've seen for kids from recent meets.

 

Rent a pavilion at a park. The kids can screw around on the playground equipment and give each other wedgies.

 

If we do a BBQ at somebody's house, setup badminton. And put up a few hay bales and let the kids shoot BBguns and airsoft.

 

If you want it slightly more firearm themed, get a .22 trap. The kids and adults can spend an hour or two shooting .22s. If it is legal to bring your handguns (is it considered a shoot?) then it would be an opportunity to carry your handguns while socializing. You can shoot frangible ammo at the .22 trap out of your carry guns as well.

 

Anyway, the kids never seem to need a whole lot. I would try to keep it simple and just provide a couple normal activities for them. After a few hours they will just be swinging sticks at each other and setting traps for the dog anyway.

If you want to do indoor, instead of catering why not just hit up a decent sized restaurant. In Central Jersey there's a great restaurant that I go to - Gabriele's Bar & Grill. My Scion club has meets there every month with 20+ people. Just gotta call ahead to let them know about how many we have coming. Parking is not an issue either as we can park at the Lowes next door if the Gabriele's lot overflows. It's probably easier for us all to park there as we can meet up easier.

http://www.gabrielesbarandgrill.com/

 

Also another thing I've done is have a BBQ with several people. Johnson Park in Piscataway is great for this sort of thing. LOTS of parking, great facilities, etc. They have grills there in the pavilions. Just gotta bring food and charcoal and any utinsels and the like.

I like the pig idea

I know a guy that does pig roasts, on site... and someone that rents party stuff, like bars, big jumpy houses, slides and stuff for the chit lens...

 

Also, I could check with CJRPC about having a group function there to shoot earlier in the day..grab a pit or a lanes on the range?

 

Your place would be ideal, plenty of room and parking, plus the lot across the way there... nice idea Bryan..

 

Ray, I can fit about 10-12 cars in my driveway and I have a park right across the street with parking. The park across teh street has ball fields and if you walk a little further into the park, there is a jungle jim. As far as bathrooms, we can do porta potties if need be. I am sure if we rent those jumping air things and a water slide of some sort, the kids will have fun.