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KGPNET: 1997 West Coast Picnic Notes

1997 West Coast Picnic Notes

General observations/comments/ideas

    Date for Next Year's Picnic
  1. Why don't we fix the first sat after labour day every year as our picnic day? Which in case of next yr would be 5th Sept. -- Jagmohan
  2. The weekend after labor day weekend is better. The Festival of India stuff that happens in Fremont (which is attended by incredible number of desis) happens in the mid-aug time frame, so you might want to avoid that time. -- Pran
  3. So, that is 9/5/98 - right ? (By the way, how is labour day decided ? It was 9/1/97 this time.) -- Dipankar
    New Volunteers
  1. Jagmohan, you must try and tap some new folks since you probably know more "bacchas" than most people on this list. Besides, I think we should identify a couple of people from the 60s and 70s to get on this list as well. -- Pran
  2. Actually the acute shortage was people from the 70's. There were more people from the 60's than from the 70's. That probably had something to do with the cost structure. 70's people are likely to have teenage children. We should structure as single/family/guest (opposed to per individual). -- Dipankar
    Good Manners
  1. next year we should make sure families with children get to the food first. -- joydeep
  2. Just get the food there at 12 - it will be automatically taken care of. Noticed crowd started forming at 12 & reached full strength at 12:30. So, if food is there before full strength is reached ... I guess we live & learn. By the time we are 100, we will have a perfect picnic :-) -- Dipankar
    Food Shortage
  1. 1. This year we ran a little bit short of food too. There was no chicken left for people who came to the food later (my guess is about 20 people) -- I found it hard to believe they had enough food for 180 people, let alon 200 which they had promised -- we should not make the same mistake next year. next year we should get some "penalty" clause in if we are ordering food from an Indian restaurant -- looks like skimping on food is standard practice for Sneha and Swagat.
    2. Going by past history about their punctuality, we should order the food to arrive at noon. This year the food arrived pretty late, and as a result there was a mad dash for the food as soon as it arrived. Need to avoid that in the future. --Joyjit
  2. I fully agree with Joyjit on the issue of being late with the food and the shortage. We should definitely pass it on to the Sneha guys. -- Pran
    Venue for Next Year's Picnic
  1. If any of you don't yet know, for picnics over 50 people, Vasona Park requires reserving a group spot. This year the rangers hassled us quite a bit. So, planning ahead, we should book for next year on September 12 (Saturday after Labor Day). This requires that we call on March 12 to book the spot (as they only book 6 months in advance, and the spots are gone almost immediately). So, here are the things to do :-
    a) Please mark your calenders to remind this list on March 11. I can do the job, but am likely to forget. Joydeep, can you set up an automatic e-mail to remind ?
    b) There is only one site (Circle) that accomodates 150 people & it costs $89+4. If we miss it, we should shoot for 2 close-by spots (Gateway+Blossom Valley) or (Meadowbrook+Creekside) that will cost us $55+55+4.
    c) Sunil please set aside $115 for next year's spot reservation. -- Dipankar
  2. How about having the next year's picnic someplace else. I dont know about you guys, but I wouldn't mind a change of venue. Here is a list ofd picnic sites in all santa clara county parks. http://claraweb.co.santa-clara.ca.us/parks/activity/picnicgp.htm As you will see, there are quite a few. I will also find out about picnic areas in other counties... -- Joyjit
  3. I think we should go for a change of venue for sure. -- Vemula
  4. Yes, I like the change of venue idea. -- Pran
  5. Change of venue sounds good. I heard at least one person saying he skipped because it was in the same place. Looking at the pictures in the url, Amphitheater in Mt.Madonna looks excellent. However it is rather far South (Hwy 152). The other spots looking attractive were Cottonwood in Coyote- Hellyer, Elm in Ed Lvin & Sequoia/Peterson Grove in Sanborn Skyline. -- Dipankar

Records/Finances of the picnic

- Sunil Vemula 
Here are the details of the money we have collected.

Before saturday:
(I have)                120 adults + 8 kids     = $1518.00 (some paid $17)
(Kanoj have)            14 adults               = $ 168.00

On picnic day:
                        43 adults + 2 kids      = $ 737.00
                                                  --------
                        TOTAL COLLECTED           $2423.00
                                                  ---------

Withdrawn $35.00 to pay for the permit.       (-) $ 35.00
                                                  ---------
                       TOTAL IN HAND             $ 2388.00
                                                  ---------

I have with me a total of                         $ 2220.00
and kanoj should have a total of                  $  168.00


Expenses:

1) Food (Anand)                                  (-)$1260.00
2) Ice (sunil)                                   (-)$  17.00
3) Beer (Kanoj)                                  (-)$ 114.00
4) Misc. (Dipankar)                              (-)$ 158.00
5) celluar phone(to susmita)                     (-)$  10.00
                                                -------------
                        TOTAL                    (-)$1559.00
                                                -------------
 
In summary:
Kanoj --> Dipankar   $54.00
Sunil --> Dipankar   $114.00 (including the susmita's phone calls)

So, we are left with                                $ 829.00

Which we could use for next year picnic or any other purpose.