Marshal Dan Troop 70448 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Over the years, when Banquets are held at matches, I noticed many times I'm not seeing many of the shooters at the Banquets. Since its paid for in the shooters fee, I'm not seeing many there. Is it sometimes thinking you are required to dress fancy? Yet, many don't require it, and just suggest. MT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Marshall it's not always paid for in the shooter's fee. Last year the banquet at Mason Dixon was something like $35.00! 5 of us went to a restaurant and got a great meal for much less. I know shoots have a hard time having really great food but if the cost is included I always attend the banquet. Just my 2 cents. Rye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Some don't go because they can not drink there or the wrong brand is being served there, or the bar charges too much. Some don't go because the tailgating at the range is more entertaining. Some don't go because they are anti social. Some don't go because once they get cleaned up, and relaxed back at the hotel, they don't want to move. Some don't go because they are still studing the shooters book. Who knows. Edit, Paying Shooter may not go because they do not want to pay an extra $XX for their non shooting spouse or non shooting kids. $35 per person is a lot for a banquet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Dan Troop 70448 Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 Marshall it's not always paid for in the shooter's fee. Last year the banquet at Mason Dixon was something like $35.00! 5 of us went to a restaurant and got a great meal for much less. I know shoots have a hard time having really great food but if the cost is included I always attend the banquet. Just my 2 cents. Rye 35.00 is a lot. I can understand. Wonder how many others have a seperate fee for shooters. Yours, to be honest is the first I heard of. MT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seldom Seen #16162 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 How about getting on the road to get back home avoiding another night in the motel. Or sitting through a loooong awards presentation where every catagory and shooter in it including their dog gets a award. Or watching the same top shootes win the awards again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Marshal, I have attended a couple annual matches where the shooters fee was small/reasonable and the banquet was extra. I can't remember exactly but I think the food fee was $25 or $35. ALOT of the shooters decided to go to a local Mexi restaurant or BBQ place and then come to the awards. This is from personal experiences. I don't know about any other reasons unless some folks pack up and head home on long road trips (of which I've done a couple times). ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Dan Troop 70448 Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 I like matches were the Banquet is given the 1st night of a 2 day match. I've also not attended the final day after a match and decided to drive home instead. Example: Match is done by 2PM, Banquet isn't till 6-7PM. Decide to start driving instead. MT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 A few reasons my wife and I have skipped banquets: Banquet held outdoors in cold weather. Picnics should be held in picnic weather. Provide heat and shelter in winter. Menu does not meet my dietary requirements. My doctor has limited my menu choices for medical reasons. I can't eat heapin' helpins of greasy, salty grub. Staying for the banquet would put us home too late for the next day's activities. I need to get home early when I have to shoot at 7 AM the next morning. BTW the banquet at Utah State this year was well-integrated into the match and worked very well for my wife and I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Numerous reasons as Blastmaster stated. In other words, ya can't please everybody. I've been to some really nice ones and some epic failures. I do appreciate the time, money, and effort some clubs put in to organizing their banquets. It's a thankless job so let me say "Thanks". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brisco Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Like Blast master said after getting cleaned up the last thing want to do is go to a banquet i'd rather go to a local eating place eat and go back to the hotel and look at the next day's stage's and clean weapon's or wipe them off or even sit around lobby and visit with other shooter's you don't see except at the state shoot.And as far as i'm concerned banquet's should be pay for it if you want to go.Brisco Big'n Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGT. ELI 35882 GUNFIGHTER Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 A lot of banquets...well the food just ain't that great. I personally don't care for bands/music at banquets. I like to talk to my pards and folks I don't get to see much thru the year. Many shooters are a little hard of hearing to begin with, throw in the music and.... I would prefer banquets be kept as a seperate fee on entry forms also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I do appreciate the time, money, and effort some clubs put in to organizing their banquets. It's a thankless job so let me say "Thanks". Organizing a successful banquet nearly a year ahead of time is like hitting the plates on a Texas Star while it is revolving at 50rpm's.... using 32 Short Colt ammo. It can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Ray Hality, SASS# 37355 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 A $35 fee sounds a lot like what caterers charge and is not a surprising cost in the northeast. Here is a suggestion.... I got this idea from an SCCA event I was part of, weather permitting, have a big BBQ grill and a table for fixings and drinks and hand each persona strip steak and a grill fork. You get some pretty good times around a fire when people are cooking and eating. If there is a indoor event, music and CW dance instructor helps, particularly with line dances and a mixer or two for the evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolan Kraps, SASS # 24084 Life Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Here's why I don't go more: Crappy Food - Most of the time the food is barely edible. Takes too long - After shooting / Vending all day, I want a quick, good meal and go to bed. I don't care to play "Dress up" anymore Therefore I don't like being made to "pay" for a banquet in my match fee. Times are tight, Cut the price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Dan Troop 70448 Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 BlueJeans always remembers the time, when I paid for an extra ticket, and she went to stand in line, got 1 scoop of questionable mash potatoes, some gravy poured on top, cream corn, and 1 chicken leg. Desert was a cookie. She was still hungry afterwards, not haven't eaten all day, went for seconds, and was told that seconds would be served after the servers were fed (they were caterers). She wasn't a happy camper, had to stop at Denny's on way back to Motel. Haven't been back to that match since. MT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Tired and in the case of my wife , food allergies(Soy)that could kill her. We won't take the chance! This is why we don't like shoots that include the dinner in the fee, we feel these meals should be optional. LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolan Kraps, SASS # 24084 Life Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I also don't care for the "Arm-twisting" that goes on by Match Directors where any guns / Premium prizes given away are at the banquets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlands Bob #61228 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I'm not real big on banquets either. I can usually be talked out of going if there's a group of cowboys heading off to a really good place to eat. Standing in a long line for rubber chicken and green beans is a pain. I guess it just depends on how it is set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fingers McGee Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 1. Cost - $35 is too much to pay for the wifes ticket when you're gonna get: 2. Lousy food - cold, tasteless, greasy, mystery meat with sides and/or: 3. Insufficient quantities to serve the attendees the first time much less be enough for seconds. 4. Band/DJ/entertainment so loud you can't hear yourself think much less carry on a conversation with the person next to you. There are, however, some banquets that are 'must attends', like Landrun, when it's held at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in OKC Fingers (Show Me MO smoke) McGee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shoer 27979 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 like some others here I don't like to go. Even though they might deserve it, I get tired of seeing the same people getting the same awards and the food well lets just say I have burnt stuff that has tasted better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I'd prefer that the banquet fee(s) remain seperate from match fees. If the fee is an option, 99% of the time I won't go to the banquet due to the many reasons listed by others in this thread. Lets face it, for 35 bucks you can get a great meal most anywhere.......instead of food that I wouldn't feed a stray dog. For the ones that the fee is included in the match fee, I'll go if the banquet is held AFTER the normal match is over. I'm just not much for staying out late and having to shoot the rest of the match the next day. For those who put on the banquets: - If you are going to have it buffet style, have at least 2 lines. Have salt and pepper available at the tables, not on the buffet line. - Permit folks to bring their own beverage (including adult beverages) of choice. No one likes paying $3.00+ for a beer or drink. - Have the food ready when stated. - If you're going to have music, don't have it so damn loud or while people are eating. Just a few thoughts......... CS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baddog Nobiscuit #46532 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I'm generally just too tired to go back out. I can grab some Chinese take-out on the way to the hotel, clean guns(Ha! Like that'll happen), and veg in front of the tube. I don't go to shoots where the dinner is included in the entry fee. I like having lunches at the range though, you're already there and it's hard to screw up burgers/dogs. Respectfully, Baddog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Angus McPherson Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 BlueJeans always remembers the time, when I paid for an extra ticket, and she went to stand in line, got 1 scoop of questionable mash potatoes, some gravy poured on top, cream corn, and 1 chicken leg. Desert was a cookie. She was still hungry afterwards, not haven't eaten all day, went for seconds, and was told that seconds would be served after the servers were fed (they were caterers). She wasn't a happy camper, had to stop at Denny's on way back to Motel. Haven't been back to that match since. MT Sounds like a BIG match I attended a while back. Except we were told NO seconds and the piece of chicken I was served was so undercooked as to be inedible and looked so bad it almost destroyed my apetite entirely. Course I have to admit that was the caterer's fault and not the match organizers. Angus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Dog, SASS #20401 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 We do not have a banquet at our annual. But we do have supper in the chow hall at the ranch. Rib eyes and big baked taters. Biscuits, salad, and peach cobbler. Yum yum. Y'all come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sage Creek Gus SASS #64320 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I only go to one match that has a banquet and the banquet fee is included in the price of participating. I wish they would price the banquet separately. For what they charge we can go to a local restaurant and get a steak that is cooked properly and still warm, other food that is either cold or hot as it should be and not have to wait on ourselves and eat off a paper plate with plastic utensils. We pay the fee for the banquet but go to the restaurant anyway. I just consider the banquet fee a cost of participating. But they would do us a favor if they would price the banquet separately but I'm afraid they wouldn't get many takers. SCG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying W Ramrod Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 My wife and I have been to many banquets and had great ones and not so great ones. The great ones we go back to, the not so great ones, well an ice chest full of good beer, a hot grill, a good steak and pards to chaw with makes it just fine. I hate loud music. I wear hearing aids and if it's too loud I have to take them out then I can't hear my pards. If I want live music I'll go to a club. If the banquet directors want loud music, please wait until the meals are done and the folks who don't want to hear it leave. Been to a shoot where you can hear the band a mile away at the campsite. I love Winter Range Saturday Night banquet, the California State Match Friday and Saturday night banquets, Kings River Requlators Beef and Beans Saturday Night Potluck and the Chorro Valley Shootout 4 start catered Saturday Night Soiree. Went to the Oregon State Match this year and their Saturday Night Banquet. Next year, we'll be going back for the shoot and banquet. FWRamrod(who likes his food cooked not still running) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelsea Kid, #47400 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Hello the fire, I can understand a number of the reasons why people do not attend the banquets, but here is a tidbit that many may not know, the SASS contract, for a regional, requires a banquet. This is just one of the things the group that is crazy enough to volunteer to put on a match has to deal with. Chelsea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Hello the fire, I can understand a number of the reasons why people do not attend the banquets, but here is a tidbit that many may not know, the SASS contract, for a regional, requires a banquet. This is just one of the things the group that is crazy enough to volunteer to put on a match has to deal with. Chelsea Da't ain't rite.. Do ya still have to give a free-ride to upper SASS "brass" too? LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fillmore Coffins, SASS #7884 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 My wife and I have been to many banquets and had great ones and not so great ones. I love Winter Range Saturday Night banquet, the California State Match Friday and Saturday night banquets, Kings River Requlators Beef and Beans Saturday Night Potluck and the Chorro Valley Shootout 4 star catered Saturday Night Soiree. Went to the Oregon State Match this year and their Saturday Night Banquet. Next year, we'll be going back for the shoot and banquet. FWRamrod(who likes his food cooked not still running) Thanks for the mention Flabby. Yes our Prime Rib/Shrimp Scampi dinner with linen tablecloths and napkins with real china is out of the ordinary. The $35 charged is what we pay for the on-site dinner. With camping on-site it is very convenient. If you don't like the band you can walk down the lantern lined street and sit by the fire. With all that I'll be selling my dinner ticket cuz the missus doesn't like pink meat or shrimp. We'll bar b q and come by the tent to shmooze. Fillmore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Fillmore, why don't you raffle the dinner ticket(s) off. Respectfully, LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nasty Newt # 7365 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 We've done banquets just about every way you can: at a restaurant in town, at a meeting hall in town with catered food and bar, in a tent at the range with food we cooked and a bar, in a tent at the range with food catered and a bar. There's pros and cons to all of them, but I can honestly say the food at all of them that we've done has been very good. We've also included the banquet in the match fee, and charged for it separately. You have people who like and dislike something, no matter what you do. Having said all that, I have skipped other people's banquets, even when paid for, usually because I was just too tired, so I get it. Clubs can only do the best they can and hope for the best. Nasty Newt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Eldorado Cowboys (LV, Nevada, Creekers area) puts on an EXCELLENT banquet. Or at least the one and only one that I attended. The Prime Rib and fixings and setting and location were WAY GOOD!! I enjoyed the Windy Gap Regulators banquet this year. Down to earth food and a bargin. You have to put on a match to appreciate what the MD has to go through,,,, putting on a banquet for this topic. If you ever have, you will NEVER, EVER complain about banquet food. Blastmaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assassin Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Perhaps it's time for Banquets to go away, kinda like the Modern category. I'm not into the "Cowboy Barbie" thing myself, although some enjoy it. At WR99 Friday night dinner was fish sticks and tots. Today I could use the 60-70 bucks for half a tank of diesel fuel. LL' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Perhaps it's time for Banquets to go away, kinda like the Modern category. I'm not into the "Cowboy Barbie" thing myself, although some enjoy it. At WR99 Friday night dinner was fish sticks and tots. Today I could use the 60-70 bucks for half a tank of diesel fuel. LL' ummm!! All the winners of the 32 catagories (1st-10th in each) plus costume winners would be mighty upset with your statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fillmore Coffins, SASS #7884 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Fillmore, why don't you raffle the dinner ticket(s) off. Respectfully, LG There's always a demand for the dinner tickets. Our Match Director, Sinful, usually brokers them. This time my friend and co CVR founder, Cole Younger, needed it for his lady, so of course, he got it. Fillmore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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