[karc] Breakfast
- From: <ve3go@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <karc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Bill Nangle <ve7cvq@xxxxxxxxx>, George Kennedy <ghkennedy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 4 Feb 2012 22:06:37 +0000
Hi Phil, I am happy to see someone ask about breakfast at Smitty's
I, for one, have been a breakfast participant since Keith Goobie started it at
the motel on Highway 15 many years ago.
I for one have rarely gone to Smitty's for several years and have stated my
reasons. I will not be able to attend until April anyway as I am away.
1) They are expensive and the food is not of the quality that their price would
demand. This has been expressed to me by severeal people. The last three meals
I have had there were poor. This included two breakfasts and a dinner with
friends. None of these were on Saturday morning. If I want coffee at a meeting,
I pay nearly three dollars. I have had dinner offered to me by the club for
speaking and I have turned it down twice because of the quality and cost to the
club. I can get a good special meal or menu item at Ramekins for less, on
Saturday ,and in fact, my wife and I often go for not much more than it costs
me at Smitty's to eat alone. They will put tables together and do so for many
groups. The Star Diner offers a comparable breakfast, good service, unlimited
coffee, etc. at a lower price and many of us meet there on Sunday morning. I do
not wish to do two breakfasts on a weekend.
2) We have really become just a social club. Lets face it, if not for Terry
and Terry we would not have had a flea market for the last three years. If not
for Les, we would not have a course taught either. There is no event planned
for this year either. I applaud Terry and have offered to help get an active
club going. I have also tried to unite some factions in the area. The club
does nothing but go to breakfast and meet for coffee on Wednsedays. I do join
the Wednesday group on occasion. There were only 3 or 4 people the last few
times I was there. I note the flea market breakfast with a great price and at
the base was cancelled as well.
I have been participating in the FC Ares activitities and they usually take
place on the weekend. I have enjoyed activating lighthouses, islands and some
field day activity which revolves around amateur radio.
3) Several people, myself included, find the Smitty's room extremely noisy
because of the acoustics, when there are many people there all talking at once.
I have come away with a headache from having to talk loudly to be heard. The
noise is sometimes a problem at meetings when you can not hear the speaker.
4) Since the club does little else, I do not see it relevant to meet with
people every Saturday. There is just nothing to talk about but aches and
pains. I meet with the people who I am involved with on Sundays, when I can.
Sometimes we meet on Saturday as well.
5) The vast majority of our communictaion takes place on the Internet. I
monitor the repeater and rarely hear anyone on the air. Perhaps if we talked to
each other some, we might want to see each other more! As I have stated if we
ever need a new repater I would vote against the expense because it is never
used. ( Probably won't wear out then anyway!) Even the last two nets before I
left for South Carolina had few check ins. Ther was really nothing to discuss
anyway!e Perhaps if people talked to one another some of the operators might
join on Saturday morning. In fact, I have talked to more local hams on hf (
Ontars etc.) than on our repeater. I have stopped regular monitoring except
when there is a weather problem and have even had my mobile out of the car. Why
bother when there is no one there! Can the free list and get on the air!
6) Many people have had enough of the complaining when they try to do anything.
Sorry to take up a lot of time but I really feel the Saturday breakfast is just
an example of the lack of any activity in the club or comradship! Others have
gone their own way to get some activities involving amateur radio going. Just
like when major league baseball had a strike, people in Toronto found other
things to do. With the lack of club events, people have go their own way and do
not really feel there is a group there.
I have done my bit to have a meeting with something to hear.
Ron, VE3GO / VE3IDW
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