[Kuntryboy816]

Is there any interest in having a combined monthly meeting for February? I suggested this last month but with all of the holiday hustle and bustle it probably wasn't the best suggestion at the time. Would anyone be interested in it?

[soundman2345]

I'm in.

[astro_wanabe]

Historically we've only had one meeting per month, and it was usually towards the northern end of the state because that's where most of the members are. The downstate meetings are a relatively new thing. You're free to attend either meeting you want, or both.

[dave_in_delaware]

As was said, we've typically held monthly meetings "up north" since the majority of members live in New Castle County. Occasionally we get "southerners" come up to attend.

On the other hand, sodbuster has recently started organizing a downstate monthly meeting (found in a separate thread). "Northerners" are welcome to drive down to attend these as well.

Assuming these are planned on different days, everyone is free to choose which one or ones to attend.

I'm not saying that an "official" combination meeting can't happen if that's what the membership wants. So, let's discuss!

Would the location be somewhere in the middle of Kent County? Dover could pose an issue for some....

Would people from New Castle and Sussex Counties be willing to travel to a middle point?

Would this be the only "official" meeting for this month or would the regular meetings (New Castle County and downstate) also take place (making 3 meetings that month)?

[Kuntryboy816]

Would the location be somewhere in the middle of Kent County? Dover could pose an issue for some....

Agreed and I was thinking of this as well. Some of us have permits from Chief Hosfelt but that doesn't cover everyone. Those w/ CCDWs would be covered but not everyone has those either. I think notifying the chief ahead of time that we're having an OC meeting at a certain locale and to ask if he could ask his officers to ignore any MWAG calls from a location would be toeing the line a bit. It might even be detremental to our OC cause if he sees this as a bother and then decides to do away with his permits. Then again, if he's all for it it would be a huge plus for OC'ers. Worst case would be if a patron were to call 911 then it may be State or Capitol PD that shows up and that wouldn't bode well for anyone, I believe. Dover just seems like a trove of trouble and worry to organize a meeting there.

Camden is only a few mins south of Dover and has options of places to meet. I'd be willing to make the trip another 10 mins.

Would people from New Castle and Sussex Counties be willing to travel to a middle point?

I am definitely up for making a trip. I look at it this way, it's once, maybe twice, a year so I can't see it as inconvenient or a bother to make the trip. It may mean getting home a little later than I would like but I can also leave whenever instead of closing down the joint.

Would this be the only "official" meeting for this month or would the regular meetings (New Castle County and downstate) also take place (making 3 meetings that month)?

I'd vote in favor of just making it The meeting for the month instead of trying to organize 3 different ones. K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Shooter (I didn't want to call anyone stupid)

[WPCatfish]

Would people from New Castle and Sussex Counties be willing to travel to a middle point?

Would people who are really from Pennsyvlania but claim to be in Delaware show up?

[stephpd]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe this has been tried before.
What happened is even less folks showed up.

I don't even have kids but the thought of spending close to 3 hours on the road during a work day means far less time to socialize. And not conducive, to me, to 'having a good time'. Heck, some of the ones south of the city mean me being stuck in 'rush hour' traffic just getting to some of these. Granted, this is one of my phobias and doesn't apply to everyone. I've always given cred to those from south of the canal that do this for the regular north of the canal meetings.

Thus why we have all day parties during the warmer months on the weekend at someones house. All that time on the road negated by more time to socialize. But for dinner on a work day it's just too much if I'm on the road for more time then spent eating and socializing.

Heck, I usually stay out of even the planning for the meetings because of the odd hours I work. Sometimes it just makes it improbable for me to make them if the distance is too far and I'm working the graveyard or day shift. Totally impossible, without taking a vacation day, if I'm working swing shift. And yet I still seem to make it to many of the meetings.


But this is just me rambling. I always leave it up to the majority as to when and where these events take place.

[dave_in_delaware]

... I think notifying the chief ahead of time that we're having an OC meeting at a certain locale and to ask if he could ask his officers to ignore any MWAG calls from a location would be toeing the line a bit. It might even be detremental to our OC cause if he sees this as a bother and then decides to do away with his permits. Then again, if he's all for it it would be a huge plus for OC'ers. Worst case would be if a patron were to call 911 then it may be State or Capitol PD that shows up and that wouldn't bode well for anyone, I believe....

That's a lot of "ifs" and I'd rather not deal with all of those unknown variables. I also do not think notifying anyone is necessary. Not only in this case, but EVER. It's one of my favorite sayings lately: "It's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission." Especially since if you "ask" or "warn" people ahead of time about what you're planning they could always say "no" and then what? No meeting at all. As long as everyone is following the law then even if there is a MWAG call, it should all go smoothly and quickly with no trouble. Besides, there's no way any Officer would ignore a MWAG call. I doubt that would happen.

Would people who are really from Pennsyvlania but claim to be in Delaware show up?

You know, it was cute at first when you would change my name to "dave_in_pa" or "dave_not_in_delaware" when quoting me. You've made it perfectly clear, in many posts, that I don't live in DE anymore. And I knew that, and I had made an announcement here on DELOC about it. IIRC, I've explained why I'm not going to change my username, and why moving out of DE was necessary. But now, after your post, I'm sorry to say but it has gotten really old. Maybe I'm mis-reading your posts, but I'm beginning to think you have an issue with me. Please contact me via PM and we can discuss. Besides, I never said anything about people from PA, but I was specifically asking people from New Castle and Sussex Counties in DE what they thought about traveling to Kent County.

[DelmarDave]

I myself would love to see more of the North people and have a combined monthly meeting midstate. It's an hour drive from my house to Dover and I would guess it would be almost the same for the NCC folks as well although you have rt 1 to your advantage I have all the poedunk towns with more traffic lights then dots in a box of dominos. My only issue is not the drive but the days. Monday night is my only week night I am free. Saturday and Sunday would be great if we could work that out. It would be great to find some middle ground on this.
Looking forward to warm weather. I'm hoping to plan a few weekends here for a fun weekend of eating and shooting and hanging out.
This is my 2 cents. I hope it helps.

[stephpd]

I myself would love to see more of the North people and have a combined monthly meeting midstate. It's an hour drive from my house to Dover and I would guess it would be almost the same for the NCC folks as well although you have rt 1 to your advantage I have all the poedunk towns with more traffic lights then dots in a box of dominos. My only issue is not the drive but the days. Monday night is my only week night I am free. Saturday and Sunday would be great if we could work that out. It would be great to find some middle ground on this.
Looking forward to warm weather. I'm hoping to plan a few weekends here for a fun weekend of eating and shooting and hanging out.
This is my 2 cents. I hope it helps.

Not sure Rt 1 is really any advantage. We live at opposite extremes of the state yet it'll take me over 1 1/2 to get to Dover during rush hours. (4:30 -6:30) Heck at that time of the day, even if there isn't an accident on I-95, it can take about 3/4 hour just to get to Christiana Mall. For all the work they've done around that area you're still looking at 6 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic trying to jockey around while squeezing into 4 lanes. Better then the 3 they had there. That would back traffic on 95 all the way back into the city. Now it's just Churchman's Marsh that is a parking lot.

So, my options are leaving home at 4pm and getting to Dover just after 5 and waiting 1 1/2 for dinner. Or spending an additional 1/2 -3/4 of an hour stuck in traffic and being late and in a bad mood.