Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Northeast Blogger Early Spring Meet...

As I mentioned in the first post about this meetup, the inimitable Ambulance Driver will be honoring us with his presence next month. He's going to be in the area Sunday, March 22nd and Monday, March 23rd, and has graciously consented to slum with us mere mortals. The plan as it currently stands is to get together at a restaurant/bar/brew pub on the evening of Sunday, March 22nd for dinner and drinks, then again at a range on Monday, March 23rd for a shooting event.

The general plan would be for the eating/drinking event to take place somewhere in the greater Boston area, and then for the shooting event to take place in northern MA/southern NH. This will (theoretically) allow for greater geographical diversity, meaning that those coming from the frozen NH north (cough, cough) will have an event close(r) to them, and those from the MA South Shore to have something down their way.

Bleg#1: What's a good place for a good-sized group of folks to get together in the metro-Boston area? I was thinking perhaps Boston Beer Works (the location off North Station), however if there's a Bruins or Celtics game that night it would be pretty crowded. The location should be fairly easy to find, have plenty of parking, and large enough to accommodate a group of 15 - 30 people in a private or semi-private area.

Bleg#2: Range event. My gun club only allows five guests at one time, so we'll need to find a larger range to sponsor us. I believe several members of Harvard Sportsman's have offered to host the event; for that we are very grateful (it's a great club; I only wish it were closer). Once we have a firm(er) number of attendees, we should be able to get something in motion for the club. Since the shooting event would be on a Monday, folks will need to make accommodations for work, etc., so please get a count together quickly.

However, New England in March, even later March, can be wildly unpredictable - I've woken up to 2' of snow on more than a couple occasions. In the possibility of inclement weather, we have several indoor ranges available - there's Bob's Tactical in Salisbury, MA (kind of small) or Manchester Firing Line in Manchester, NH (expensive, but they do rent machine guns...). I'd prefer to have the event at a gun club for greater flexibility WRT guns & ammo (most indoor ranges are limited to pistol-caliber arms); however if it's going to be snowing, pouring, or -10ºF that day, I'd rather we not subject our delicate flower of a guest to the worst of NE weather...




In the comments to the first post, the following people have expressed interest in attending one or both events:

JD
MedicMatthew
Zeeke42
Andrew
Elizabeth
TOTWTYTR
Ross
Lissa
Weer'd Beard

Plenty of room for more attendees - sign up today!

That is all.

11 comments:

scotaku said...

Sign me up! I didn't say all that much during the previous event, but I enjoyed it very much. I'm very much looking forward to meeting you all again.

scotaku said...

Apparently, I'm also in favor of using the word "much" with great frequency. Need coffee...

JD said...

These dates firm? I am up for both but will have to put in for the Monday off. . .

Anonymous said...

If blog-readers who don't actually write are welcome, I'm in.

MedicMatthew said...

I've missed the last two events. This time I have the days cleared on my schedule and I've blocked out the days on our scheduling software at work.

I shall be there in full fan boy geekout mode basking in the presence of JayG, AD & Marko

Anonymous said...

Jay,
A previous commitment prevents me from attending either piece of the event.

AD -- if you're reading . . . whenever I need a boost, I find your archived story about the poultry rendering plant and give it a read. Brings me back around every time.

Anonymous said...

I would be very interested in attending.

Heath J said...

SWMBO and I are probably good for both... Will know sometime this weekend. (depends on what her new job is going to require time wise.)

Anonymous said...

Argh... I didn't realize that we were shooting on MONDAY. What time would this be?

As for places... if you're dead set on Boston, how about the Boston Beer Works next to Fenway Park instead? Plenty of room for parking, and in March we won't have to contend with the Sox.

Or, if'n you want to treat AD to some REAL good Northern BBQ, we could convene at Fireflys in either Marlborough or Framingham.

Anonymous said...

In. (2x)

If it ends up being 22 March, the later the better. I will be in Taunton most of the day.

Lissa said...

I don't think I can take the Monday off, but I'm up for the Sunday foodage!