No, you are not in a time warp. Scoop for many years showed up in your inbox on the 5th of the month. Here it is, though, only Oct. 28. What happened?
At our September meeting, our board discussed the advisability of moving up our publication date now that our monthly luncheons occur on FIRST Thursday. In some months, that date would come before the 5th, so it made sense to get our newsletter to members before that day.
Those who attended our first luncheon at our new venue, Tiburon Golf Club, commented on the quality of the food (very tasty, even if not piping hot on delivery to some tables) and the scenery (floor-to-ceiling windows allowing long vistas across the golf course). Tiburon personnel bent over backwards to accommodate an overage of 13 beyond the number turned in three days earlier. Rhona Saunders—the club’s liaison with Tiburon—reported 32 reservations at the 5 p.m. Monday deadline. But 45 people showed up!
We hope this does not happen again. We’ve done our best to educate members to make reservations through Eventbrite or our rsvp email. We discourage walk-ins and have told the Tiburon folks that this was an anomaly. We feel it was because, at Monday’s deadline, Hurricane Matthew was bearing down on Florida. It chose to scoot up the Atlantic coast, and Naples people showed up without advance notice, hoping they could get in. If you were one of those accommodated at last minute, be sure to express your appreciation to the Tiburon people.
The board feels those who register EARLY should get a break on their fee and those who register LATE—or not at all and walk in expecting to be accommodated—should pay a surcharge. It’s not fair that members can walk in without reservations and pay the same as those who signed up on the first day possible. Before we institute this, I’d like to hear from you. Email me at cjgliteraryagent@gmail.com before our next board meeting, scheduled for Nov. 15.
At our Oct. 8 board meeting, we reviewed plans for our 20th anniversary party on Dec. 1. A beautiful tribute is planned for past presidents and founding members who have contributed so much to the club throughout these two decades. That’s all I’m going to tell you, but make sure you calendar NPC for that day. That luncheon will also be our annual meeting and election of officers. Look for another Scoop article detailing this year’s slate.
As Season (capital S) heats up, more of our members will launch new books. Let me remind you that at our luncheons, any NPC member may display, sell and autograph their recent books. Just notify Rhona Saunders at rhonanaples@gmail.com so she can ask Tiburon for tables and chairs to accommodate this service.
See you on Nov. 3.