progress at the two firsts

We definitely had a quorum there tonight!

Ever since it was announced that the Two First Posts had an event booked by the USO, meetings have been much more frequent.

So far this month, there have been four meetings.

The most fruitful so far was that first one, on December 4th.

The second one, held on December 8th, was sparsely attended and nothing more was accomplished.

Another was held three days later, but I missed that, due to a long-awaited prior booking.

I really do need a clone, as that seemed to have been an active meeting, with some decisions made. 

On Monday at 1 PM, there was another meeting, but the weather was brutal, so my warm heart would not let me out of the house.

That brings us to 6 PM tonight for the fifth meeting of December.

Post 36 had Doug Anderson, Joe Cetti, Billy Cope, Jay White, Pete Hoffman, me and an older guy named Tim.

Post 500 had John Parker, Eddie Patterson, Brenda Pough, Larry Jackson, General Parker, and Eric Bolden.

When I arrived, Larry was addressing the group with a punch list about problems getting the business license.

Besides needing a hard copy of the Certificate of Occupancy and a decision on who will be named on the license, there's another issue.

Pat Harris of the neighborhood association has lodged a complaint about having a bar in the area.

John Parker is going to call her to invite her to the USO event next week, as well as emphasize that this will be a private club, with a restaurant as well as a bar.

I hope that will soothe her.

Hopefully, all of that will be settled in time for the February meeting of the City of Savannah, so we can officially open.

Other issues were raised, such as the need for a House Manager, someone to be in charge of booking all events and setting up for them.

A Bar Manager, Sergeant At Arms, kitchen staff, bar staff: all are needed.

If we follow the example of American Legion Post 135, the Bar Manager gets a base salary, plus a percentage commission on sales.

I hope we are consulting Post 135 and Post 184 on these decisions, as they both have successful operations in place. 

Kitchen supplies, bar supplies: all are needed.

It was pointed out that there are several liquor distributors in the area and that they usually will donate the glassware for the bar, so that's good.

Also, if a caterer is chosen for the kitchen, they will supply all the cooking utensils, so that's good, too.

The need was raised for a center island in the bar for liquor storage.

(I brought up that the original design had included that.)

So what is to be done about money handling with these sales?

Joe Cetti proposed that a drop safe be installed for daily cash deposits; TOAST is the company that will be processing credit sales and keeping track of all sales, with nightly reports.

Training on TOAST operation will need to be scheduled for all who are on the Two First Posts planning committee.

(I guess that includes me, as I am the Historian for Post 36.)

What else?

Oh, yes: security and anti-theft control.

Billy Cope has that under control, with nine cameras that he'll be installing.

He'll also be wiring the big-screen TVs, once we decide how many.

Great to have an electrician on board!

Eddie told us the national American Legion will set up a website for Two Firsts for the nominal fee of $200 per year, as they have a cookie-cutter design for each post.

That will be great!

We can make sure it has social media links, too.

That will be good for getting the word out.

After 90 minutes, the motion was made to adjourn and I seconded it. 

Now, one more meeting this month before the holiday schedule will have to take precedence.

That one will be 6 PM on Monday.

Yes, I had other plans, as I did tonight, but I will choose to be here.

I hope others will do the same.