entry dinner fees

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <fineprint@erols.com>]

"Guest editorial"

>>>How many times have you finished a ride to find
out that there is only a little old salad left and some bread. >>>.

Unfortunately some sort of meal count is necessary ahead of time, so
deciding to buy a ticket at the last minute isn't a feasible option.  In
fact it may have been the problem when the rides ran out of food (too
many
walk-ups).  It also is not feasible to hold food back for riders or crew
who
may not show up, particularly if there are unfed ticketed folk still in
the
line.

Making the rider meal an option may well mean no meals, since the count
may
be so low as to discourage ride management going through the bother of
food.

I personally have trusted that sufficient food was on hand and arrived
fashionably late, only to find buns and bones left.  As management I've
also
had to police portions so that there was enough for all.

Meals that are scheduled as a lead-in to the ride briefings still work
well.
Meals after the ride are the problem.  Horse care, trail problems and so
forth preclude meeting a set mealtime, and lead to hungry, tired,
resentful
riders and crews.  But it would lack grace to have nothing.

I would suggest the No Frills model or some variation.  A lot of soup
and
bread, or chili and chips or some other high volume, low cost, self
serve
approach seems to work best after the ride.  Even a big pile of cold
cuts
and a salad bowl work.  Hot dogs. I would give up on the catering and
just
have an open kitchen for 5 or 6 hours.  Sort of like feeding the
homeless.  

Any other ideas? 

George Hvizdos 
gjhvizdo@bechtel.com


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