Dinner Time!

Greetings from the nether!

Today I'd like to talk about an important part of Schedule 1 games these days - I'm talking about the Wargate's Sunday dinners!

It's become apparent that during an all day gaming event like we have every Sunday leaves many a gamer haggard after about six or so hours - a little over halfway into the entire ordeal.  Add to that the fact that players that get here for the main event usually do so right before dinner time.  What that adds up to is a whole slew of hungry wargamers.

Pizza delivery has been our best friend the last few years, as we have several options in the town where we live.  We have traditionally put a huge pile in the center of the table for those who will pitch in to help buy dinner.  Usually, this is about $5 a person, and frankly I'm astonished at how much money we collectively spent on pizza delivery.

Why?  Pizza delivery.  It's delivered, man.

Just as pizza is easy to get (we can do it without talking to a living being), the bottom line is that we can't handle the red pie every week.  Enough pizza.  In recent weeks, we have been taking a collective leaning away from pizza delivery for dinner every Sunday.

No one wants to venture downtown for food, but we did have a few taco nights where an agent ventured forth to a taco place (again, several options) and returned bearing huge loads of lifesaving texmex.  However, it quickly became evident that catering in-house would be a better option than take-out every weekend.

We've had grilled hot dogs and chicken wings!  On the semi-annual Feast of Krampus, we gorged on bratwurst in a Germanic style cuisine.  We tried several things, but were unable to conceive of a system that would help support what we needed - dinner every Sunday.  As things wore on, dinner preparations became sporadic and random.

Eventually, we'd end up ordering pizza even amidst calls to figure out a different plan.  Get a party sub.  Many nights I was commanded to do something about it and help us get the food where we wanted it, when we wanted it!

Big Matt's a professional caterer and has surprised us by showing up with huge loads of awesome grub!  Recently, however, the Smith has been insisting on preparing an awesome dinner for every session of his game!  He and his wife have painstakingly prepared vast feasts for the warriors of the 'gate, which brings me to my point.

Give forth the clank!

While I hate asking anyone to contribute money, in this case I think it's less that I'm asking for contributions and more that I think we can put all that pizza money to better use and we would all be happier for it.  I think that the dinner time provided at the Wargate has been a fantastic addition to the gaming, providing a break from the game and a refreshing and invigorating repast when those of us who have been fighting all day really need it.

Moreover, many times in the past we have called for action like this.  I'm not going to say how much Smith's been spending on those dinners, but those of you who've taken a bite can tell that there was time and effort involved.  While no one asked for the money, I think it's just right that we not only reimburse him - but encourage this sort of thing all around!

So, we're going to start a catering fund.  Every week, we'll put the cash we normally spend on dinner to the week's caterer - for now that's the Smith!  Dinner will be prepared in advance by the Wargate (the Treasury has enough to cover plenty of incidentals) way more often going forward - we might even have to hire our own cook!

Many thanks to the Smith and family for their fantastic dinners!  Know that you've kept the armies going at the Wargate for a couple of delicious weeks now and we all appreciate it very much!

That's totally worth the money we squander on pizza!