4th Annual SOKS Burns Night

**McMurdo** · 1st November 10, 10:49 PM

The 4th Annual SOKS Burns Night is going to be held on January 22nd at 7pm.

This year will be in Toronto at the Best Western Primrose. We will have Scottish Country Dancing and Dancing. Our band will be none other than the famous Bobby Brown & The Scottish Accent.

Dinner will be a buffet that features Haggis, Steak Pie, and other tradition Burns Night favorites.

Tickets prior to January 15th will be $65/person. We have a website this year. It's more than it was in the previous years because last year we were cramped for space and we needed to rent an actual event space.

http://www.thescotsforum.com/burns/

**McMurdo** · 8th November 10, 02:07 PM

This is rather discouraging that no SOKS have commented on the Burns Supper. This year is the year that we especially need your support because we are financially on the line if we don't get enough turn out and we can't afford a loss.

So the real question is this: Should we stop having the Burns Night Supper? Or do we want for this to become the best of them all so that we can do something really great in the years to come?

If we're going to cancel this, we need to make a decision very soon. So please, it would nice if all the SOKS would weigh in.

**muirkirkca** · 8th November 10, 02:35 PM

I prefer the smaller and more intimate venue of previous years. My spouse is not a dancer because of knee problems and only attends events from my local RSCD group.

One opinion only.

**Hendry** · 8th November 10, 04:16 PM

I would expect to be there, I know most of the SOKS are not on here as often these days.

Cheers
Dave

**Canuck** · 8th November 10, 04:20 PM

Sorry Glen,
I have the Burns supper in Stratford that weekend as well as #1 daughters Birthday.
Does sound like a fun night
Cheers

**planemaker** · 8th November 10, 06:13 PM

Susan and I will be there. Before I order tickets I am going to see if another couple will want to come as well.

Cheers!

Paul

**McMurdo** · 8th November 10, 09:20 PM

Awesome Paul.

muirkirkca , I do understand your thinking, however, the choices for free to very cheap venues is rather limited, and the ones that we can find simply are not large enough anymore. Last year, there was almost no room left which is why we chose to go with an event hall this year. Plus last year we had to provide the Haggis and soup ourselves. Catherine spent the day cooking both. By the time the supper began she was to tired to really eat much and the Haggis is a dish that she absolutely loathes.

We see a potential for our Burns Night Supper to do some good. Catherine came up with the idea of everyone bringing a can of food to donate to the local food bank.

**cessna152towser** · 9th November 10, 02:59 AM

I'd love to join you there but it is just too far to travel.

**CMcG** · 9th November 10, 07:57 AM

Looks like fun! The price is a little steep on my student budget though... especially being so close to Christmas.

**Bing** · 9th November 10, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by McMurdo

...we are financially on the line if we don't get enough turn out and we can't afford a loss.

There's the answer to your question Glen. If you can't afford the loss then you must pull the plug immediately.

I know of what I speak. Last April my wife came up with the idea of having a real kick-butt party for Alexander Keith's Birthday in October. And then she booked Fiddlestix to play. We signed the contract and paid the deposit and over the summer we would go to their shows and pay the band a little more each time. We figured if we could skip things like lunches out and coffee on the road and takeout dinners we could easily come up with the ca$h in dribs and we wouldn't be looking at a huge bill come October that we would have to cover.

In the end it worked out OK, the band was paid in full by early September and the party was great even if only about 1/2 of those invited showed and many of those chipped it to help out. But who cared? The band was already paid and we weren't on the hook for anything. We prepared ahead and we covered our butts. We sacrificed on the luxuries for months and didn't have to worry about not being able to feed our kids if nobody showed up or chipped. We chalked it all up to "family entertainment budget". Some folks go to the casino once a month, we hired a band to play for a party in our house.

The lesson in all of this is, don't do it if you can't afford to lose it. Don't wait for answers because you run the risks that the "yes" becomes a "no" once the event gets closer. The risk is too big