I can do either day - but Sunday's would be easier, as saturday's are my homework and housework day. I'll be driving from north of Littleton.

Sundays are best for me

Okay.. so as of right now Sunday is the most popular day, but I'll wait a little while longer to see if any others chime in.

Next thing is to find a place that is central to us all.. or as central as we can make it. It will be inevitable that some will have to travel as we'll need to find a place that can accomodate us as well as being as central as possible.. (can a person use the word as in a sentence anymore than I just did there? ).

Sundays are best for me but could also make saturdays work as long as it's in the afternoon. I can't wait i'm so excited.

Okay.. so as of now the preferred day is Sunday.

Now as far as location.. I think it'd be fair to pick a location that is as central as possible as well as being a more populated area that will have spaces available for us. My DH said that we could get a covention room at most larger hotels for not too much money.. we might also look into other options. Does any one have any ideas as to where we can meet? Manchester is close to me.. Concord isn't even too far.. Who will be coming from the farthest away? I know we had some from VT and MA who were interested in playing with us NH'er.. . So chime in on where you would like to meet up.

I'm wondering though if Raymond is central enough.. I mean it's great for me (Raymond is one town over from me ) and if everyone like this idea then I'm all for it.

Any other ideas?

raymond is kinda far for me it would be about 3 hr round trip drive time. What about Concord or even Hooksett wouldn't be to bad. but just my suggestion

I agree.. I want to be sure that we meet somewhere that will be easy for most of us. I am willing to travel no problem. I'll start looking into Hooksett, Manch-Vegas, and Concord to start. Please feel free to join in on the hunt for a meeting place..

Just an idea - probably not a great one, but still.......

In Merideth, just off of I-93 exit 23, there is a restaurant called Harts Turkey Farm that has private rooms. I know it's not a regular hall, but it might work. And it seems kind of central. http://www.hartsturkeyfarm.com

I will mention this again - Eatons is in Hooksett and if you are intrested in meeting there I will call and see if we can use their room.

I thought we would do better with a place with a kitchen facility for clean up in case we do a demonstration - if you do not want that.

We could meet in Manchester at the Puritan resteraunt. They have a meeting room that is free for groups who are ordering meals.

I am really do not want to have to pay for a hall if we have not sink or anything for clean up.

Eaton's would be cool if they'd be into that, but they aren't open on Sundays. And I'd be willing to bet that they do some of their demos and classes on Saturdays.

I think the suggestion for using the Puritan's function room is a good one. It's certainly better than paying a ton of money for a function room at a hotel, etc. If we met at lunch or dinner time, it would be perfect (if we just need to order food to get the room for free). It's not far off the beaten path in Manchester and could accomodate the MA crowd. I know it's farther for VT folks, but it seems that most people that have shown interest are from mid/southern/southeastern NH. How many people have we tallied that have shown interest? That could also determine how big a space would be needed.

Puritans would work for me...

I am not quite sure where Puritans is, and I have left at least the decisions to all of you who have really little ones to consider a schedule with. My children are old enough and I have already spoken with DH and I can make which ever day and whichever location you all choose. So I guess you could say that I'm flexible. Surely I wouldn't want to have to travel all the way to the coast, but, the Manchester area isn't totally out of my realm of travel. I'm just waiting for the final destination, and day, but count me in.

I think I just counted 11 people who chimed in on the which day is best vote. I'd rather not have to spend a bunch of money to rent a room either. I'll call The Puritan Backroom to see if they can acommodate us and what the pricing will be.

So now that we have decided on Sundays.. when do you want to have the first meeting? It'll be nice to have a prospective day in mind when I call over there.. Do we want to meet once a month or bi-monthly?

I myself would be most likely to dedicate 1 day per month to our new adventure. I agree with you for not having to shell out $$$ for a location. My guess for a date to shoot for would probably be Nov 3rd or 4th or so. You have my choice. I know that November will be busy for somepeople. I myself have 3 bdays, and a shower that month, but if I can learn something new to help with my designs, or fix any problems w/deco issues, all the better. DH already knows that once the date is set, I'm out of the net for a little while. Keep me posted.

Any Sunday would work for me. I would also like to shoot for a monthly meeting but bi-monthly meetings would be alright too.

I'm still interested, and willing to travel about an hour from home. Manchester is definately doable. Sundays are okay for me. Do we want to figure out something like "the first sunday" or "the second sunday" etc.? I also am (at least at the early stages) against paying lots of money for renting space, because inevitably, someone is going to be stuck with a bill, and since we really aren't "established" yet, it wouldn't be fair to stick anyone with more than they bargained for (due to no-shows, or anything like that).

Here's my thoughts..

We can start out meeting once a month.. see how it goes.. then if we want we can add another meeting per month in there.

November 4th is fine for me too, so how about we'll make a tentative first meeting as November 4th and if it a big problem for a bunch of us we can change it. I can do that Saturday too if that would work better.

I'll call over to The Puritan to see what they have available, but I will need a head count.. so chime in if you will be able to make it.

Jkalman: Sounds like a plan to me. If Saturday will work better for people thats fine with me. I just need to know asap. And also would need directions.

http://www.puritanbackroom.com/history.php

This is the website for The Puritan Backroom. It's located on Hooksett Rd in Manchester, NH. It's right off of Exit 9s on Rt 93.

As soon as I get a good headcount I'll call over and see about reserving a conference room.

I can make it on Sunday but Saturday isn't good, I work 8:30am-5:00pm.

Thanks for posting a link to them. I'm sure I have past by there on my MANY travels to MA. Shouldn't have a problem finding the place. Hope you are successful securing a time. Will keep watch.

The 4th is open for me! I vote for monthly meetings...I think bi-monthly would be too big a commitment for me, but I'm sure I'm not alone. That would be plenty of time in between to plan topics/activities for the next gathering. Thank you Jeanne for doing all of the location detective work and pulling everyone together!

No problem at all!!

Sunday the 4th is good for me. When you call the Puritan tell them we would be intrested in making this a regular spot - maybe that would encourge them to give us the spot. (we could always leave some goodies for the staff to butter them up) - I am all about the bribes!

(Let them know we could do it at their convience as when Christmas comes up that room for parties prob becomes popular but we could meet for breakfast or something.)

- just a thought

Beth

I'm free for the fourth... please keep us posted with details! (was a time mentioned???)

Count me tentatively in for Sunday, Nov 4th. I don't get out of church till noon, so something in the 2 pm bracket works best for me. Can I carpool with you Jeanne?