Field Day- Saturday evening covered dish affair or small dinner?

[WB0CJB]

Should a club have a Saturday evening dinner where everyone brings a covered dish and the club furnishes the meat (usually BBQ or hamburgers and hot dogs)? Or should the meal be closed to only those who help setup, operate, or teardown FD?

To me the club should have a covered dish affair where everyone has a chance to get together and eat and catch up on news and friendships and do a little operating if they desire.Some look at this as a "free food" and heap their plates high then leave and not help with FD.As long as everyone has a chance to eat then I don't look at such a behavior. If the club pays for the meat and soft drinks then who cares.

But if the meat is paid for by the club president and the drinks and other items are paid for by donations from the club members then those who generously indulge in the food get scrutinized. What if the donations do not cover the total cost of the items does the person who paid for some of the stuff this get to determine whether or not a club dinner is open to all members or just the FD crew? What if their fellow church members attend and are not in ham radio?

If there is only a small dinner for the FD crew and hams from other counties that do not have a club then the other club members will feel like they are unwelcome and be resentful to this. I have seen where one person has driven away other members from a club and I would hate to see a club implode due to this issue. Anyone have to deal with this???

[AC2EU]

Think of FD like a party to celebrate Ham radio. It's purpose is to have fun. Every party will have party crashers. Sometimes they are even an unwitting part  of the overall "entertainment". 
If there are two many "crashers", put out a "donation jar" and make it known that the club would appreciate a donation.

It's been my experience that FD crew is a very small percentage of the overall attendance. It would be a shame in my opinion to limit the experience to the hard core devotees.  Non crew members and visitors are welcome to operate, in fact, they are encouraged to do so. However, the FD crew does get certain perks that the others may not get when the sun goes down.

Our open door policy gains more members and future contributors, some sign up that day!

[N4NYY]

I ran FD the last 4 years at our club. We do an open BBQ. In the past, we had some people show up just for the dinner and leave, eating a ton, even bringing family members. The grumblings started and got worse. So last year, I put out a mass email that the BBQ was only for participants. If anyone questioned it, I explained why. What that did was ending up deterring the grubs that came for a free meal and leave. However, little did they know that we would not turn anyone down anyway. So the deterrent worked.

Of the 4 FD I ran, last year was the only time I did that. And the reasoning was that some non-participants thought it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. And some participants were shut out of food. And that is not right. If worked, but you have to take it on an case by case basis. Your club may have differing opinions and circumstances than mine.

[N9ZMO]

We typically do a pot luck for a dish to pass and then the club foots the bill for brats and burgers. I tend to be the grillmaster which I enjoy.

I get to socialize with the club membership and other guests as it seems everyone gravitates to the cooking.  We always have more than enough (smaller club), and invite guests like the Mayor, EC and some others to join us to see what it's all about.

[N4NYY]

We typically do a pot luck for a dish to pass and then the club foots the bill for brats and burgers. I tend to be the grillmaster which I enjoy.

I get to socialize with the club membership and other guests as it seems everyone gravitates to the cooking.  We always have more than enough (smaller club), and invite guests like the Mayor, EC and some others to join us to see what it's all about.

I had a complaints about 2 people, one of which was not a ham and showed up with his ham brother. Apparently, he was the Joey Chestnut of South Jersey and thought we had a hot dog eating contest. LOL. I had to address it because numerous people complained. Otherwise as you said, we should have enough food for everyone.

The other complaint came from an indivdual who brought his kids to the Sunday breakfast one year. This event happened the year before I joined the club. Sounded like this individual only showed up to feed his family. I think the problem came when they ran out of food before all the ops had eaten, and when the ops showed up to eat, were vocal about the food being gone. And some arguments ensued. I am glad I was not there for that one.

As someone mentioned, you are going to get some of those types, no matter what. But it is a shame that it has to happen. Participation is as little as helping erecting an antenna, donating some time somewhere, etc.

[W8ASA]

We always do a pot luck dinner, with a "suggested" donation for the fried chicken and other items provided by the club. Everyone has a great time, and we have never come close to running out of food. We're a friendly, social group, and Field Day is our main event for the year.

I have learned to love cold fried chicken and other chilled leftovers on Sunday morning when I show up to operate. Yummy!

Are we just lucky? In the many years our club has been doing Field Day, I have never heard a single story of someone showing up just to pig out.

Ken W8ASA