Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 02:36:35 -0500
To: TarMac Membership
From: Tom Davis
Subject: TArMac Proposed New Meeting Location Questionnaire

All,

Your Board has been busy researching new meeting locations for several months. You do all remember that we sent out emails asking for suggestions don't you? We have researched and visited several locations (Atlantic Bread, Golden Coral, Picadilly Cafeteria, Shoney's, Uncle Louies, UpTown Buffet amongst others) and found them not suitable for various reasons.

We feel that we have found a new location that you will all be very happy to move to. It is The C & M Cafeteria located in Giant Square on Independence. We request that you respond to the following questions after you have read the information on the new location below. We would like to have enough feedback from the membership to make the decision to commit to making the move by the end of this week. We intend to discuss moving to a new location during our meeting on Thursday Feb. 12th.

QUESTIONS:
1. Do you agree that we should move our meetings to The C & M Cafeteria?
2. Do you agree that we should change our meeting time to start at 7 PM?
3. Do you agree with an increase in dues to $3 in order to meet in a nicer setting?
4. Do you agree that if the move is approved by the membership that the first meeting at C & M be the first meeting of March, Thursday the 11th?

To respond send an email message to all Executive Committee members here.

Proposed new meeting location is:
C & M Cafeteria
737 Independence Blvd.
Giant Shopping Center
Virginia Beach, VA

DIRECTIONS: - Map at http://tidewatermug.757.org/tarmacmap.htm

From West (Norfolk, Portsmouth and I-64)
-Take I-264 east.
-Take Exit 16, Witchduck Rd.
-At the light at the bottom of the exit ramp turn right onto Witchduck Rd. headed north.
-Continue north thru Va. Bch Blvd.
-Two miles north of Va. Bch Blvd turn left into giant Square Shopping Center, C & M is straight ahead.

(This is the side entrance to Giant Square so the sign is a little small but don't worry if you miss it and find yourself at the Independence Blvd light, just turn left at the light and take the mid-block left cross over turn into Giant Square and you will see C & M in the far corner beyond Farm Fresh, CHKD Thrift Store, Mattress Discounters and Dollar General.)

From East (Va. Bch East of Pembroke Mall)
-Take I-264 west.
-Take Exit 17, Independence Blvd headed north.
-Take Independence Blvd north thru Va. Bch Blvd.
-1.4 miles from Va. Bch Blvd turn left at the mid-block cross over into Giant Square, you will see C & M in the far corner beyond Farm Fresh, CHKD Thrift Store, Mattress Discounters and Dollar General.

(If you see Bayside Hospital on the right you went a block to far and will have to turn around and head south on Independence Blvd.)

From Northampton Blvd
-Take Independence Blvd south.
-Just after the 5th light turn right into Giant Square and you will see C & M in the far corner beyond Farm Fresh, CHKD Thrift Store, Mattress Discounters and Dollar General.

GENERAL INFORMATION - Photo's at http://tidewatermug.757.orgs/cafeteria.htm

- SPECIAL NOTE FOR YOU LADIES, Lynn hays that the Ladies Room is the cleanest that she has seen outside her own house.
- The parking lot is large and well lit with numerous handicapped spaces right in front of the building. This parking lot is shared with Farm Fresh, CHKD Thrift Store, Mattress discounters, Dollar General and the Fred Astaire Dance Studios.
- The entrance foyer is large and very pleasant. The interior is very pleasantly decorated with large pictures mounted on wall papered walls above wood paneling. Our meetings would be held in the banquet room which is used by several other groups, Thalia Lions, Kiwanis Club of Bayside, Gold Wing Riders Assoc. and the Pearl Harbor Survivors Assoc. It is large with booths around the outside with tables in the center and has excellent lighting. The lights and music can be turned off separately from the rest of the building. The ambiance of the entire establishment is very good. Lynn, Frank, Ray and myself felt very comfortable and at home there. The entire establishment is clean, quite and smoke free.
- This is a cafeteria offering a number of very good inexpensive meal options. The food line is close to the Banquet room, but not inside. Here are Lynn's comments on the lunch we had "I tried the chicken salad on croissant with fresh fruit salad plate. It was good, the fruit was fresh not rescued from the refrigerator, the croissant was small but fresh and the chicken salad was very good. It costs $4.25. Two of the guys tried out the chicken and dumpling stew (it was very good), while Frank opted for the fried catfish. We all agreed the food was vastly superior to that available at the House of Eggs. Entrees were priced a la carte, with fried chicken priced at $2.69 and most items a bit higher. There is a daily special as well, Saturday it was spaghetti for $4.99. Thursdays when we will be there, the special is fried catfish with 2 sides and a beverage for $5.69 (I think... working from memory here.) We did not see any sandwiches or soups. Although I didn't have any dessert, Tom's looked great (Boston Creme Pie). The manager told us that most of the deserts were home made." There is no requirement that everyone eat but we very strongly encourage it, after all this is a Cafeteria and they are in business to sell food.
- There isn't much power available right now but the manager is willing to work with us to get a few outlets installed. There also is no phone line in the Banquet Room right now but the manager will let us connect to one of their lines and run it into the room.
- Closing time is 8:15 PM. In order to support this we will have to move up the start of our meetings to 7 PM. We do not have to be out by 8:15 PM, all dishes will have to be bussed by then and we must be totally out by 8:45 PM so that the employees can vacuum the room and be out by 9 PM.

DUES: - In order to support this move we will need to raise dues to $3 per person per meeting. $2 for the Cafeteria and one for our Treasury. The $2 for the Cafeteria does include water, coffee and tea. Lynn says "I certainly don't want to be insensitive to anyone's financial limitations, but I really want the club to move to a better location. I think it would actually increase our attendance (and our treasury). I realize it is a thorny issue but honestly, if I couldn't afford it, I'd just attend a meeting once a month rather than twice. But then I occasionally pay $3 for a Starbuck's coffee on the way to work as a treat. The information/networking/camaraderie of the user group is worth more than a cup of coffee. I think it's time we bit the bullet and unless the majority of the membership votes against it, raise the dues... in conjunction with the move as an increase in value added." Many of you old timers will remember when dues were $3 at Waffles & Things on Va. Bch. Blvd. and at the Higher Education Center and given the vastly superior setting I for one am willing to pay the extra dollar. When was the last time you bought a cup of coffee or glass of iced tea and paid less than $2 including the tip?