Summer BBQ (venue required)!!!

Bill McNeil

Registered User
This thread is basically to establish any interest in having what was supposed to be an annual SCCoO BBQ event. Last year was an amazing success, and was hosted by Greg Coleman, for those who weren't there.

This year, Greg is unable to host the BBQ due to his busy schedule and a recent death in the family. As a result, we would need someone else to come forward and offer their backyard for this event, or we will need to cancel the event for this year.

As of now I don't even know what weekend would be suitable, as there are only 4 left, and we usually need several weeks to plan such an event. Labour Day weekend is usually a bad idea, and the weekend before has been mentioned in other plans and events, as well as several people mentioning they will be away at that time.

Please post here with your suggestions and comments, or to offer a venue for us to hold this event. Keep in mind, there would need to be SAFE parking for around 20 cars, a washroom facility available for everyone to use, and a backyard that will have room for table, chairs and cooking space, plus at least 40 people.

Keep in mind this event is normally suitable for a Sunday afternoon

Thanks in advance!
 
Since we're looking for a new venue for this event, might I suggest that we consider making this a SCCoO picnic?!

We could all meet at a place like Knight's Beach, or some other park along the shores of Lake Erie. These places are typically well setup for this type of an event. Often, you can park the cars right on the grass near the picnic area. We could bring our own BBQ's and have everyone pitch in (pot-luck).

...Fun for the whole family!

What do you guys think?

...Might make for some spectacular photos! ...Both with and without the cars.

Cheers,

Sean
 
I think Sean's idea is great! Less pressure on any one person (or couple) for many reasons. Would this be like a "Pot-Luck" thing? If not a beach then perhaps a Conservation Area, like Kelso (just a name, for reference). We've done that at work for years and it's always been convenient. You can also go hiking, biking, sailing, etc. with the kids. Very family-fun oriented.
Good one, Sean.
 
I know it is a little far but I'd like to suggest going to lake Huron. The water is muchos better in my opinion. We just went down to Port Ryerse(lake Erie) for the day on Sunday and we were dissapointed with the water it was very silty and full of weeds. No comparison to Lake hurons clean clear water for swimming which would be the activity of choice at a beach I would think.
Maybe Grand Bend we could get some of the London Area crowd maybe even some people from Michigan.
Toronto to Grand Bend is 223 km's
Toronto to Sauble beach is 219 km's
Toronto to Wasaga Beach is 134 km's

any of those locations have huge sand beaches
 
Ron,

I think Port Ryerse has about the worst beaches on Lake Erie. Port Dover, Turkey Point and Long Point are definitely better. I would have to call the folks at Knight's Beach for information regarding the current conditions at their beach to know whether the algae is a problem.

I thought that Lake Huron was typically cold? The waters of Lake Erie are way warm, due the how shallow the lake is generally.

...But whatever the majority decides is fine with me.

Cheers,

Sean
 
thats a sweet idea IMO, used to go to Turkey Point all the time, if i remember correctly there was stationary BBQ's there all you have to bring is the coals and the fluid and a lighter.. would be perfect for some hot dogs and burgers..
 
I think you all have good ideas, but let's keep distance in mind for the majority of club members. That is a lot of driving for most of us, which may cut into our time to BBQ and have fun. Couldn't we find somewhere more local to hold such an event? There are some decent locations along the lower portion of Lake Simcoe perhaps? You can swim there also, and parking is available without a problem.

You are the membership, so you decide, but if you guys want to go all the way to lake Erie, I'll need some volunteers to come forward who live closer to the chosen venue to help organize the event.

Let me know.....
 
If the verdict is that we use a location along the north shore of Lake Erie, then I'll volunteer to assist with organizing the event.

Have you guys tried the drive from Brantford, St. Catherines or Hamilton to Lake Simcoe??? That's probably worse than Lake Erie, just because of the greater volume of traffic for most of the route to Lake Simcoe. At least the drive to Lake Erie would be a little scenic. And there's nothing stopping anyone from swimming in Lake Erie! ...But that's just my opinion, and yeah, I suppose I'm a little biased because Lake Erie is way closer to me than Sauble or Wasaga or Lake Simcoe.

Cheers,

Sean
 
How's this for local (keep in mind where I live).
High Park
Cherry Beach (swimming okay??)
a park along Lakeshore
one of the parks along Humber River (at least four South of Lawrence, three North)
one of the parks along Don River (maybe "smelly"?!)
- keep in mind these are not locations suited for swimming, sorry
also, if not for a picnic, then maybe worth a try as a meet location?Just trying to help.
 
hey guys im in for this...if you guys pick down here (brantford) lake erie i can help out with alot of stuff ... or you guys pick higher up like sauble or something im still in .. just let me know and im there..later all
 
well guys my opinion is that we hit lake huron or Notawasaga bay somewhere the water is a little cooler but not enough to worry about this time of year. With my daytrip to Grand Bend I have hit both lakes this year within the last month and I will never go to lake Erie unless I'm in a boat and can get to the clean water for swimming sorry guys the algea and crap in the water is just too much for swimming and the sand is not even nice. Joanna and i will be hitting Sauble next Saturday(August 23rd) leaving early Saturday morning and spending the whole day at the beach.
I can pull my car right on to the beach parking is like 5 bucks we are packing a huge cooler full of food and drinks and it is going to be a blast depending on weather of course. If anyone else wants to go for the day let me know we can hook up in Sauble or Convoy up together.

Sean your signature line says it all for me. Lake Erie is soooo mediocre for swimming off the beach. Great for Pickeral fishing and swimming off the boat.

kewl hope some people can make it seeya
 
Ron, I like the sounds of that day of the 24th. What time do you think you will leave around? Lets do that, for a day trip, sounds great to me. Sauble is GT's(Good Times)no other words can explian the times I've spent there.;)

As for the BBQ, can we set up a poll for this, may help things move along faster.
 
I've been out of town since Thursday, so I'm sorry things have been moving slowly on this front. As much as I appreciate the ideas that have been brought forward thus far, the BBQ is supposed to be a local event, that will attract the most amount of members possible. When stretching the event too far North, East or West, people may not attend strictly due to the driving distance and time involved in travelling.

I've spoken briefly to Ed about this, and he mentioned we may have to pass on having an official BBQ this year if we don't have a volunteer to offer their property and facilities, or a suitable venue is not chosen. That isn't to say that people can't arrange their own get-togethers between club members, but on the official side of things, we need an acceptable venue before we can proceed.

This has been a rather busy year for everyone working on their cars etc, which has been quite evident with the reduction in track times and dyno numbers coming forward. With everyone busy at work on their cars, and a relatively weak show of interest to date, we may have to pass for this season. That isn't to say we will pass for sure at this point, but that is the direction we are headed unless we all come together and show some interest, as well as agree on somewhere local to hold the event.

A public area is not a bad idea, but keep in mind, that means people we do not know will be around our cars etc, so keep this in mind. Washroom facilities as well as cooking facilities are of the utmost importance when considering our venue, should we go forward.

Keep the ideas flowing.....
 
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let me just say that I would go and meet you guys just about anywhere for a bbq...
I was kinda rolling with the idea of a bbq beach day from about 2 threads ago no biggie.
People are generally kewl at these public facilities what we need is a nice big grass parking lot....
:D
 
Ron,

I'm sure everyone appreciates your willingness to drive anywhere for a BBQ, but not everyone is as eager to drive over an hour when last year's event was local (at Greg's house in Mississauga). Just as you and I were willing to drive to Englishtown, New Jersey last month, not everyone else was. Like I said in my previous post, don't let the lack of official designation prevent you, or anyone else from getting together in large or small numbers for your gatherings.

We need a location that is relatively central, and that will attract the most club participation possible. Some people may want to just stop by for an hour or so, while others may choose to stay for the entire day. Having a local event makes this more possible, and adds a measure of flexibility to people's busy schedules.

Personally, due to my new job working weekends, I will likely be unavailable no matter where or when it is. My goal is not to accomodate any certain person or people from a certain area, but rather choose a venue that the majority of the club is pleased with, and that will allow for the most participation.

Like I said earlier, we are going to need some more interest from everyone before we can get this event moving forward again. Let me know.
 
what I was referring too Bill, was my willingness to go to a local GTA location for the event if it does indeed happen. I was not trying to say that members should willingly drive the distance for the event if it were held farther away.
I agree with the localized venue given the short period of time we are dealing with. Maybe next year if a date is set now people can plan arround it and we have a whole year to gear up for it.
It's too bad becasue I missed last years event and have been regretting it since.
 
It's certainly looking that way. I'll give this until Friday.

Only 7 people have responded to this thread, and we get up to 20 people out to every meet on a rolling basis between about 40 or more active members.

We need more interest before we can proceed.
 
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