Dear folks,
Before this topic gets old, I wanted again to thank everyone for being at the fund-raising event, and especially Dave and Colleen for all their generosity and work.
We made less money than we used to at McGurk's, but there was less expense, so it came out about exactly the same. Plus, there were benefits to being in a home. The setting was more intimate and relaxed. There was (if I may be frank) a more genteel atmosphere. And (important to me) there wasn't that steep $25 entrance fee such as was the case at McGurk's. That fee deterred several people. It came to $50 for a couple, and even with food (greasy!) and an open bar (cheap!), it was hard for many people to justify that big an expense, much less pay for it. Some people told me outright they couldn't afford it. Others, upon learning of that entrance fee, grew embarrassed and became noncommittal. I don't blame them.
And what good conversation it was. Maybe the evidence for this is bolstered by the fact that very little booze was consumed. I'm not sure the hard stuff even got touched. At least not by me.
Thank you again, and I am hoping for another such get-together next year!
All the best,
Francis Baumli