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Club membership has varied between 21 and 25 members in recent history. The
current target ceiling is 32, assuming 28 might be available for any given
dinner.
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Dues notices are sent in September.
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The cellar is kept in Peter's basement.
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An inventory team counts the cellar in autumn and distributes a list to assist
in planning dinners. Inventory team members are welcome but it’s a hazardous
job and the pay is low.
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There is a wine buying committee and, after a while, you can probably discern
who is on it but no one has yet figured out how decisions are made.
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There is a membership committee. It accepts recommendations and has some
process that decides on acceptance. You will interact in one of three ways
with this committee. You will: A) be asked to suggest candidates for
membership; B) receive notices of new members who have been accepted; and C)
may choose to submit a recommendation for a new member.
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There is a treasurer who collects dues, pays out Dinner Subsidies and pays
bills submitted by the wine buying committee and a limited number of others.
Good proof of purchase required.
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There is a member who tracks dates and hosts for each dinner and makes sure
that someone is signed up to host each dinner. He will be after you to
co-host a dinner at some point.
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Dinners are
the second Tuesday of each month from October to May. Starting time has been
7pm until recently when there were a few that started at 6:30. Many applauded
the earlier start time.
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An invitation is mailed,
usually three weeks before the dinner with a return post card. Hosts
determine if guests can be invited and the invitation is usually specific.
Frequently, you can make phone arrangements up until the last day or two.
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Venues tend to be consistent year on year but everyone supports and enjoys
trying new restaurants, cuisines, and locations.
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Occasionally, there have been dinners in June, usually less formal. That
tradition died out over the last few decades but there have been some glorious
revivals in the past few years.
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Spouses are invited to each half-century dinner (every 50 years) and to some
of the June dinners, but not all. (Spouses have been overheard to say that it
was not worth waiting for.)
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There is a Club publication listing all menus served in the first 50 years
(1936 through 1986). Contact historian.
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A set of Club archives exists
and is, for the most part, really boring but there are some fascinating and
worthwhile items buried in the mounds of old letters, menus and the like. The
Club historian has all of it neatly jammed into boxes.
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There is a Club tie that is not
required but is not bad looking and does not excite any adverse comment if you
wear it out in public on the day of a dinner. The treasurer can supply you
with the four-in-hand model in favor between 1980 and 2002 for $35, the
original purchase cost. Bow tie models have sold. A new model came into
being in 2002 and can be ordered from someone.
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There is another group
associated with the Club called “The Young Farts”, clearly a misnomer with
respect to age. Occasionally there are shared dinners and there is
overlapping membership. They are reputed to be a bit less restrained and
purport to meet only twice each year.
