Convention Wednesday: business sessions capped by banquet
Pub Date: 9/1/2007
By Roger Porter
Wednesday, Sept. 12 of the Montana Tavern Association Annual convention is "business day" with meetings of the Budget and Finance Committees and the Legislative and Gambling Committee scheduled for the morning.
Also scheduled is the final session of the trade show which will run from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
At 11:45 a.m. buses will begin loading from the front of the Bulldog Convention Center West Coast Outlaw Inn to transport convention goers to the separate men s and women s luncheons.
The women s lunch will take place at Mackinaw s which is located in a beautiful setting overlooking Flathead Lake south of Somers. Fare for the occasion will be foccaccia bread, spinach or Caesar salad, meat or vegetable lasagna and tiramisu.
The men s luncheon will be held at Vista Linda which is located a few hundred yards up the hill from Mackinaw s and features a beautiful rolling lawn in addition to unique quarters. The men s menu will be garden salad, lasagna, roasted pork loin, red potatoes, steamed vegetables and dessert.
The luncheons are scheduled to conclude at 1:30 p.m. at which time the buses will load for the trip back to the Outlaw.
Upon return to the Outlaw the "general session" is slated to begin at 2 p.m. and there many of the issues affecting the industry will be discussed in addition to appearances of dignitaries including an address from the Governor and an industry regulator panel discussion.
One of the highlights of the day will be a panel of the five declared attorney general candidates, whose policies at the Department of Justice have so much effect, for good or ill, on your businesses. No licensee will want to miss this one.
At the conclusion of the general session those in attendance have some free time with which to do as they wish and to prepare for the evening's festivities which feature a cocktail hour and banquet and represent the highlight of the convention's social activities. The witching hour is 7 p.m. and the evening's program begins with a cocktail hour held in the Ambush/Dry Gulch rooms.
Whetting the appetites will be a delectable assortment of hors d oeuvres: Asian barbecue beef and tandori chicken satay, grilled lime marinated shrimp cocktail with tequila-cilantro cocktail sauce, poached salmon, smoked duck and cashew egg rolls with Mandarin orange-hot mustard sauce, Caribbean marinated lamb chops with a mongo-coconut drizzle and a mini dessert tray.
Guests can mingle and renew old friendships or initiate new ones until the call for dinner comes and the crowd is seated for the evening's official program.
At last report this year's banquet will be a sit-down affair and, like the hors d oeuvres, will be prepared under the watchful eye of the Bulldog staff.
Dinner in the Stagecoach-Running Iron rooms is to include prime rib (a Bulldog specialty) with rosemary and garlic, smoked salmon ravioli with whiskey cream sauce, asparagus, spinach salad with warm bacon dressing, an assortment of breads with the meal topped off with a chocolate fountain.
As in past years many activities are included in this final social event including the calling of the roll for the number of years in the business, the presentation of the Durkee Award, the drawing for Dinner/No Dinner raffle, the awarding of the employee of the year, the introduction of VIPs and any other action which may be called for.
Following the formal affair, entertainment will be provided by Cold Creek. At last word a formal tour of member establishments was also planned following the program.
As the evening winds down members can go to bed knowing a robust brunch sponsored by the Montana Beer and Wine Distributors Association will be awaiting them in the morning from 9-10:30 a.m.
A menu of mini quiches, hash brown casserole, biscuits and gravy, bacon and sausage, scrambled eggs, yogurts and granola and breakfast breads and pastries ought to be sufficient to jump start any weary convention goer.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, September, 2007, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.