This is a “Save-the-Date” for the next Wallybird Luncheon which will be on Thursday, July 18, 1130-1400 at the Fairview Metropolitan at Oakland Airport.

This is ALSO a call for speakers for the above event. If you have a topic that would be of interest to our group, or know of someone who would have an interesting topic, please let us know. Free lunch for the speaker!

If we can’t find a speaker, Paul will be forced to talk to you about his misspent youth. Alternatively, I will facilitate a discussion on “My favorite Sky King episode”. Hopefully that will provide you with some incentive!

Please contact Curt Taylor at curttaylor@sbcglobal.net

and Paul Browne at pjbro@sbcglobal.net

More details in our next blast!

Our second quarterly luncheon is now only 11 days away and we are at 16. You KNOW you want to do this!

When:   Thursday, April 18, 2019

Where:  Fairview Metropolitan Banquet Center             

10051 Doolittle Drive, Oakland, CA 94063          (Next to OAK Intnl.)

Time:    1130 to 1400

Salads:   House Green Salad, Broccoli Salad, Italian Pasta Salad, Carrot and Raisin Salad

Entrees:  Chicken Marsala and Lasagne with meat sauce           

Sides: Roasted Vegetables, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Dinner Rolls and Butter         Chef’s Choice Dessert Cookies/Brownies             Coffee, Hot Tea           

Other Beverages available at adjacent bar

Cost:     $30.00 pp if we have less than 35 people, $28 pp if we have 35 or more, so let’s go for the discount!

If you haven’t attended at this venue, I think most who have will attest to the food quality, the room size, ambiance and the view across the golf course of The City By The Bay!  Spouses and good friends are all welcome to join us.

We have a speaker with an exciting but seldom heard story of Combat Helo Rescues in Nam

Please RSVP ASAP to BOTH Paul Browne & Curt Taylor at:
pjbro5790@att.net           & curttaylor@sbcglobal.net

 
Our second quarterly luncheon is only 3 weeks away!

When:   Thursday, April 18, 2019

Where:  Fairview Metropolitan Banquet Center             

10051 Doolittle Drive, Oakland, CA 94063          (Next to OAK Intnl.)

Time:    1130 to 1400

Menu:   House Green Salad, Broccoli Salad, Italian Pasta Salad, Carrot and Raisin Salad

Entrees:  Chicken Marsala and Lasagne with meat sauce           

Roasted Vegetables, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Dinner Rolls and Butter         Chef’s Choice Dessert Cookies/Brownies             Coffee, Hot Tea             

Other Beverages available at adjacent bar

Cost:     $30.00 pp if we have less than 35 people, $28 pp if we have 35 or more, so let’s go for the discount!

If you haven’t attended at this venue, I think most who have will attest to the food quality, the room size, ambiance and the view across the golf course of The City By The Bay!  Spouses and good friends are all welcome to join us.

We have a speaker with an exciting but seldom heard story of Combat Helo Rescues in Nam

Please RSVP ASAP to BOTH Paul Browne & Curt Taylor at:
pjbro5790@att.net           & curttaylor@sbcglobal.net

Paul and I are trying to keep the inevitable cost-creep down for our luncheons at the Fairview Metropolitan. It’s a venue that seems to have worked out reasonably well, but under our current contract, we will need to charge close to $30 to cover all the costs.  Here’s how it breaks out:

.   . Current / Modified / Deli
Meal cost: $24.00 /$22.00 /$19.00
Tax (9.25%) 2.22/ 2.04/ 1.76
Gratuity (10%) 2.40/ 2.20 /1.90
Speaker* 1.00 /1.00/ 1.00
Total Cost $29.62/ $27.24 /$23.66
Charge to you: $30.00 /$28.00 /$24.00

Sorry about the formatting. Every time I save it to publish, it messes up my columns. I hope you can figure it out!

*Speaker receives complimentary lunch.

Current Menu: 2 entrees, 4 salad choices, vegetables, dinner rolls, coffee, hot tea, cookies or similar.

Modified Current Menu: 2 entrees (choice of lasagna, tilapia, chicken), 2 salads, chef choice dessert (cookies or similar), coffee, tea.

Deli Menu:  Sliced deli meats, assorted cheeses, assorted slices of bread and all the condiments, Served with 4 salads.

This pricing preserves the kitty at its present level.

Please let me know what your preference is of the three options above by responding to my email (curt@taylorsinpv.com) by March 1^st.

OTHER VENUES?

Paul and I did quite a bit of looking around when we had to move from Francescos, and the Fairview seemed to be the best suited for our needs. If any of you want to investigate less expensive venues, we would encourage you to do so.  Ideally it would be a buffet where everybody pays on the way out, and has a separate room that we can use.

SPEAKERS

ALSO, we are looking for speaker suggestions for the April meeting (and beyond), so please think about any contacts you might have who would have some topic of general interest for the group. Also, I would invite any of you who have an interesting hobby or experience that you would like to share with us to let us know.

Over and out.

Curt and Paul would like to revisit our Wallybird Luncheon of January 17th.

It turned out to be something of a double-edged sword.

We usually sit with crossed fingers while hoping to get the required minimum of twenty.

Our contract requires that minimum which we pay for whether or not we collect from twenty.

This one was amazing!  We guess the word that Frank Mayne was to be our speaker and Bruce Cowee was to update his progress with Volume 4 of “Vietnam To Western Airlines” stirred considerable interest.

We are required to declare the number expected to attend by the previous Monday.

We had forty positive replies!  Please understand that the chef has to prepare for that expected number and so the guarantee is raised.  In this case they raised it to thirty-five.

We had eleven no shows, five walk-ins, and finished with thirty-two paying customers. And so our kitty, which was inherited from Dick Deeds, took a bit of a hit.

We recognize that sickness and serious family matters are valid excuses, especially when we are told ahead of time and we certainly don’t expect someone to pay for an event they were unable to attend.

However there were 3 or 4 from whom we never heard.

So here’s the bottom line:  Let your conscience be your guide.   If you had a good excuse and you let us know forget this matter and we hope to see you in April.   Otherwise you can send a check to Curt Taylor at:

35 Grove Drive, Portola Valley, CA 94028

We are working with Fairview Metropolitan to reduce the cost per person (and not by serving sub-standard beef!). We are waiting for their response, and when we get it, we will put out a very informal survey that will be meant only for those who attend the Wallybird luncheon in Oakland.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us:

Curt: curt@taylorsinpv.com

Paul: pjbro5790@att.net

Keep your nose up in the turns!

Paul & Curt

,

We’re only a week away and we’ve had a great response so far! We’ll have to cut off signups by 0800 Monday, January 14th. If you’d like to join us, and we hope you do, contact Curt Taylor: curt@taylorsinpv.com AND Paul Browne: pjbro5790@att.net

Where: The Fairview Metropolitan 10051 Doolittle Drive (next to OAK) Oakland, CA 94063

When: Thursday, January 17 1115-1400

MENU: Salad:   House Green Salad w/Italian or Ranch Dressing
Buffet Salads:  Penne Pasta and Carrot & Raisin
Entrees: Chicken Marsala and Beef Round Roast
+Oven Roasted Vegetables+Dinner Rolls w/Butter+Coffee & Hot Tea+Chef’s Choice Dessert (cookies/Brownies)

Other Beverages may be purchased at the bar.
Cost:  $28.00 including tax and gratuity

Frank Mayne will be speaking on  “The Whacky World of Marine Biology” or “From the Bottom of the Bay to Your Dinner Plate: How It All Works” Frank has been teaching marine biology since 1982, so he’s picked up some really interesting stories and facts during that time. 

Bruce Cowee expects to be there with some great books and some word about “Vietnam To Western Airlines, Volume IV”!! 

Spouses and friends are all welcome