L.I.R.A. Meetings at Dowling

[acropora]

We have been holding our meetings at Dowling's Fortunoff Hall in the Hunt Room. It is an exceptional location which became available to us at no cost to our club . However over time, the large room at Dowling became less available for our use.This had left the Lion's Den, a smaller Room, available for most of our meetings. The L.I.R.A. membership has grown immensely and a larger room is needed for our meetings; especially meetings with guest speakers. Dowling has pledged to correct this situation, but it has become apparent that this can not be guaranteed.
As a result we will be looking for a new place to hold our meetings. We have members from N.Y.C. as well as Nassau and Suffolk Counties. We would like to see our meetings held closer to the Nassau/Suffolk line . Meetings held in this area would make the drive more equitable for all. However, we must locate a suitable venue to hold these meetings and the help of the membership is requested. We are currently looking for a location that will provide the space we need as well as availability on both Friday and Saturday meetings. If you know of a location that fits this criteria, please let us know. Suggested locations can be E mailed to me and they will be forwarded to the rest of the board members. We will check out these locations for size, availability and rental prices.


Tony Concialdi
Vice President
L.I.R.A.
E Mail: acropora@optonline.net

[DgenR8]

Has Les' studio already been decided against?

[Spracklcat]

Of course not. We are looking at all the options, will investigate them, ask questions, and weigh which best suits the needs of the club now and into the future. If anyone has any suggestions or would like to volunteer a place, please write to Tony at the above address so that we can add it to our list of possibles. If Les is interested (hi Les ) please have him write Tony.

Thank you everyone!

[DgenR8]

Originally posted by Spracklcat
Of course not. We are looking at all the options, will investigate them, ask questions, and weigh which best suits the needs of the club now and into the future. If anyone has any suggestions or would like to volunteer a place, please write to Tony at the above address so that we can add it to our list of possibles. If Les is interested (hi Les ) please have him write Tony.

Thank you everyone!

Given the way that LIRA and Les went their separate ways, I'm relatively positive that in order to move forward there, the club would have to contact Les.
I'm sorry I don't have other suggestions to offer, but I would like to put one thing out there;
While I feel that anyone with an interest in the hobby should be welcome at LIRA meetings, it IS a Long Island club. I don't feel it's right to look for a meeting place that works better for those west of the Nassau County/NYC line, especially knowing how that would impact certain long time members of the club that live pretty far east.

[billsreef]

Yes, do please keep in mind that some of us are far enough east that it is long drive just to get to what some of the western Suffolk and Nassau folk would call civilization

[sleezyp1]

Originally posted by DgenR8

While I feel that anyone with an interest in the hobby should be welcome at LIRA meetings, it IS a Long Island club. I don't feel it's right to look for a meeting place that works better for those west of the Nassau County/NYC line, especially knowing how that would impact certain long time members of the club that live pretty far east.

Well put Larry!

[cb747]

Queens and Brooklyn are part of Long Island. There is nothing but land that seperates them and Montauk. Granted they are lumped into the City of New York category. If the interest of the club is to grow and expand then it should be available and more centrally located to the center of Long Island. IMO the middle would be somewhere between say Long Island City and Montauk. 5 more miles i would be a "city dude" and not a "Long Islander"? I think not
Whatever and wherever the board decides is best needs to be permanent. The club cant be changing locations and days/times the way it has been.

[diverrad]

I never had a problem traveling to the meetings when they where held at the old spot. Unless there is a problem that we are not aware of with having meeting there again or it's simply not on the table. So please stop beaing all PC and tell us what's up is the dance studio a no go and if so they why?

[pecan2phat]

Real estate? Whadda you beat the crap out of them to buy

Sorry, Back to Topic

[diverrad]

Originally posted by pecan2phat
Real estate? Whadda you beat the crap out of them to buy

Sorry, Back to Topic

new wife new life

[keefsama2003]

agreed

[Spracklcat]

Guys--nothing is off the table. I'll say it again: any possible sites, have them email Tony, we will check them out, weigh them, and a decision will be made. The board memebers are working hard to find as many possibilites so that a good, stable choice can be made.

this is not "PC" talk, no bigger agenda.--just the simple truth. I and we just want to find a place to meet.

[Neurotech]

If we include Queens, then midway between there and Montauk is around Centerreach/Miller Place/Coram. If we don't count Queens (personally, I feel if the subway goes there, it ain't LI), the midpoint is further east.
What about AMW? I would imagine this has been explored before. We have the biggest reef tank in the America's within our club's area. How much would it cost for three hours a month? Volunteers could set up. I would be willing to meet on weeknights there if that made it affordable. I think we would get a good turnout, and I bet AMW would get more members as well.

[Neurotech]

Oh, and despite my comment about the subway, I don't see any reason that we should deny membership to anyone.

[diverrad]

Originally posted by Neurotech
Oh, and despite my comment about the subway, I don't see any reason that we should deny membership to anyone.

wow thanks man, good to kknow,, and if you do hold meetings at AMW you will lose 50% of the people who can attend .

[diverrad]

Originally posted by Spracklcat
Guys--nothing is off the table. I'll say it again: any possible sites, have them email Tony, we will check them out, weigh them, and a decision will be made. The board memebers are working hard to find as many possibilites so that a good, stable choice can be made.

this is not "PC" talk, no bigger agenda.--just the simple truth. I and we just want to find a place to meet.

I am doing my best here not to say something I will not regret, ok one more time,, THE ONE place that everyone keep bringing up is the dance studio. So can we please look in to it? The simple fact is the board messed up with Les the last time , and since has been hobbling along with all sorts of difficulties that the decision to go to downing has created. Mind you that decision was made only by the board without imput from the members so since the board already made this mistake before perhaps it's time to learn from it and not repeat it. I don’t mean to be rude here guys but what's the problem here.

[drej424]

Please forgive me in advance if my comments seem out of line - I know I'm new and I wasn't around for these past difficulties. But I'm wondering if there is any way to neutralize this topic? I mean, can fences be mended with Les independently of the decision about the meeting place? Obviously, Les is well - liked and for good reason. Rich and I will volunteer to have a "fence-mending" barbecue over here, if that will help. Anyone interested?

How about doing a poll to see what criteria are most important to people in terms of a meeting location? Personally, I'd be happy to go to Les' wife's place or to AMW (I never need to be convinced to go there again!) I'm just grateful for the many benefits being a member of this club brings to me.

[onegreenray]

Its funny I don't remember any bridge the last time I went to queens....


If not les then what about another college centrally located on the island. Hofstra, Farmingdale? All of these yes are in Nassau County. You know the county between Suffolk and Queens, which to me is centrally located on the island. Amw is out in the sticks for me imagine how the half of the club that lives past the Nassau border would feel.

but in my opinion les was the best choice to begin with.

[dickenscd]

I don't know the detailed story between Les and Board because I just joined the club at that time, and some members suggested me not to ask.

I liked dancing studio because I could go to Les store buying something after the meeting. There were quite a few heated conversations regarding the new location at Dowling, but all the doubt seemed to disappear completely at the moment when we stepped into the splendid Fortunoff Hall at Dowling for our first meeting. Some members actually praised the board went through so many controversies and made an excellent decision. I think the major problem is that school changed our schedule without early notice, and sometimes changed the "Hall" into “Den” which I feel is inferior to Les dancing studio, but how the board or anyone could know this when they negotiated with Dowling.

There are quite a few other possible reasons if the membership or attendance is dropping, the move to Dowling could be one, but should not be the important one.

While some people questioned whether the bridge with Les was burned, I hope the bridge with Dowling will not be burned. If our club can grow and expand to couple hundreds of members, where can we find a splendid meeting place like Fortunoff Hall?

Lots of existing members live on the east end, it seems the members from east end also have more time to write messages on RC, but we need to look the west end if the club wants to grow. Here is the population of each county.

Nassau 1,333,137
Suffolk 1,474,927
Queens 2,225,486
Brooklyn 2,472,523

The above numbers were got from US Census Bureau. Someone told me that the people in Suffolk keep more corals and fish than the other counties, but I could not find the statistics.

Without maintaining or growing the membership, lots of activity and programs will become impossible. I feel the growth will come easier from the west, not the east. After Joe left Brooklyn Aquarium and Seth left the club, BAS is no longer a good club for reef and salt water fish, lots of hobbyists are looking for a club like ours to join.

[Neurotech]

Is the private forum at LIREEF down?

[Neurotech]

If we have a great place at Dowling we should keep it. Can we get assurance regarding availability?

[Spracklcat]

The private forum is down.

[cb747]

The board certainly has there work cut out for them with this decision. I dont envy there position. I still say Queens and Brooklyn are part of Long Island. Thats what Mr. Hagstrom shows me

[eboonaman]

the private form is no more.. there was a problem with the hosting service and since no one ever posts on it It was not worth the effort to reconstruct the private form from scratch . So since everyone posts and read RC we are (for the moment ) using that for our forum. Being that , unfortunatly the only info you will find on the L.I.R.A home( and only) page will speakers and meeting times .. (we will also post this info on RC, which will be the most current info. you will find).
In order to change the website we would have to change our domain name which is owned by a former member (who we are trying to get in touch with) since no one actually posts on the LIRA forum, this is the next best thing until we can straighten out the domain name and find a better hosting service.
I posted this before but it was not made a "sticky" and got lost on RC...
sorry...............
chuck

[eboonaman]

I bet if we could get Beer up in the "lion's den" everyone would think that's the place to be no matter how small it is !! (it's a joke!)