GomerPossibleChanges

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Possible futures for GOMER after Nov 2021

A discussion about GOMER from November 2021, post lockdowns, we think and hope.

Madelines

• Yes, we are finally reopening our dine-in restaurant on Friday! We will, however, be keeping the restaurant dine-in hours as Wednesday to Sunday, with takeaway and outdoor seating available 7 days a week.

David Morgan

• We could move indoors if we changed our day of the week. Happy to receive comments.
  Or continue to meet outdoors while the weather is (or should be) more amenable.
  I plan to continue the Zoom as long as there is demand for it.

Ross Mackinnon

• I'll stick with Zoom until we can go indoors safely.

John Tuininga

• I feel that the existing arrangement has fractured our Group somewhat.
  If another day of the week was chosen, in my instance, I would prefer a Wednesday or Friday morning.

John Hurst

• Wednesday would be my choice. Can’t do Fridays.

Lindsay Brown

• My preference would be to continue Mondays outside until 2022.
  I am available Thursdays every week. If Friday I would miss one week a month.
  Wednesdays do not suit me for indoors.

Colin King

• Though I have not been to Gomer during covid time, I think keeping the same day of the week would be best. Usually, a change of day does not suit all, and cafe will soon be back to seven day service.

John Snare

• I can’t do Wednesday, but am not a regular anyway.

Doug Newberry

• Unforutnateiy I have another Coffee Group arrangement on Wednesday morning and I will miss our Group - but we cannot please everybody.

Robert Wood

• Happy for it to stay on a Monday as first preference, can do Thursday and Friday am.

Anthony Edwards to Madelines

• Hi Jess,
  

  I am one of the twenty to thirty or so men who before Covid used to meet in your restaurant around 10.00 a.m. on Mondays. We had several tables pushed together, Liana made us all very welcome and a very sociable time was had by all. These meetings were very dear to us and I used to do my utmost not to miss any.
  

  Sadly, I see now that Madeline’s will no longer be opening the restaurant on Mondays and Tuesdays, which is both very disappointing and hard to understand, particularly as trade seems to be very brisk at least on Monday mornings. A small number of our group still come for a take-away coffee, but most of the members no longer attend.
  

  I wonder if I might be so bold as to enquire the reason why, given that there did not seem to be any problem in many years past. I appreciate that post-Covid there could be a staffing problem, but it would help my colleagues and I to understand your position if we knew the reason. And I wonder if Mondays and Tuesdays might one day in the not too distant future be restored?
  

  Please be assured that I have no wish of course to be too intrusive into your business!
  

  Regards,
  

  Anthony Edwards
  

Madelines to Anthony

• Hi Anthony,
  

  Thank you for your email.
  

  Our trading hours have been conversed over quite intimately with new plans being made and decisions about viability of the utilities we have available to us.
  

  Post Covid, we have had to revisit our business model so that it reflects what is most viable for us during this time and moving forward in an industry that has drastically needed to change. Outdoor dining is definitely on the rise! Our trade on Mondays and Tuesdays has never matched those of the rest of the week so, overall, it is more viable for us to utilise those days as an opportunity to catch up on prep work and give the few full time staff we do have, their days off.
  

  Furthermore, there are now more projects happening behind the scenes in and out of Madeline's, so there is a larger picture here available to us that we now have the opportunity to grow with and into.
  

  I understand that it may be disappointing for your group to be unable to dine in with us on a Monday and I'd like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude for your patronage and understanding during what has been, no doubt, once of the most difficult and distressing times our industry has seen thus far.
  

  Change is always an uncertain feeling, and whilst it is sad to have to let go of some things, adapting to and evolving with the times is something that is inevitable.
  

  Of course, you'd be more than welcome to dine in with us on any day between Wednesday and Sunday; we'd love to have you! Once more, thank you for your continuing support and patience whilst we figure out a way forward.
  

  Kind Regards,
  

  Jess Blackwell
  Manager
  Madeline's at Jells

David Morgan

• Dec 5
  I have been pursuing the idea of GOMER meeting at the church with a coffee van attending, but have not yet had responses from any of the ones that I have approached. If anyone has contacts, I would be very appreciative. I have talked to Katherine at Muddings about the possibility of us meeting at the church and getting coffee from them. She is open to trying it. They are closed for two weeks after New Year, so we would realistically be looking at Jan 24 to start. The plan would be for us to write our name and order on a sheet as we arrived, and put money in a bowl. At say 10:10, someone would take the list and money down to Muddings. They would them make the coffees and deliver them to the church. She felt that mugs would need to be covered for spillage and health reasons, so we would need to have take away cups. We could look at Keep Cups later. Comments welcome.

John Hurst

• In these days of avoiding waste, I'd argue that we should go for keep-cups from the start. We could Dymo label or permanent mark our names onto them, perhaps even with preferred beverage, and then take the whole swag over to Muddings with the order. A quick Google search shows that you can buy a Keep-Cup for $16 (small, 227ml), $18 (medium, 340ml), or $20 (large, 454ml). I've sent an email to explore whether quantity discounts might be available. I'm sure Warren could find a cupboard somewhere to store them?

David Morgan

• The Muddings lady was very much "Let's give it a try".
  I'd suggest two weeks with disposable cups to see how it works out for both us and them before investing in more mugs.
  Absolutely in favour of moving away from them ASAP.

  In Indonesia, tea is served in a glass with a silver lid to keep the dust out while it cools. Such things are available, but I did not raise that possibility with Muddings.

Robert Wood

• I think it is a great idea. My only concern is that being a person who likes their coffee really hot by the time they make them all and deliver them they will be lukewarm. I can't remember if the church has a micro wave oven, if so no problem. (It does. DLM)

Bill Norquay

• I think having it in the hall and coffee from Muddings or bring your own would be fine.

John Tuininga

• Thanks for your efforts David in researching various options.
  The Muddings arrangement is certainly worth a try for several weeks (disposable cups) after which they/we can evaluate its success or otherwise.
  It will be good to have our full Group back together.

RossMackinnon

• I am in favour of giving Muddings a trial run with take away cups to start with.

Andrew Manolitsas

• Just another suggestion for a Monday morning venue for "Gomers".
  The Last Piece Restaurant - Waverley Park, Shop 7/2 Stadium Crt, Mulgrave

  • Open 7 days a week, opens early on Monday at 7am
  • Good coffee, hot chocolate etc. In proper cups and mugs (no Keep cups required)
  • Plenty of breakfast and bakery items on the menu.
  • Can cater for large groups.
  • Lots of parking space available.
  • Outdoor seating available.
  • Views over Waverley park.
  • Bicycle parking and access to Eastlink bicycle trail.
  • Close to walking track to Jells park via Eastlink trail but a bit of a up hill walk back to the carpark.
  May be worth a look.

Anthony Edwards to Madelines Dec 7

Hi Jess,

There is a lot of discussion going on in our group about changing our venue on a Monday morning, which most people do not want to do but feel that they probably have to because of Madeline’s closure on Mondays and Tuesdays.

A possible solution occurred to me today while I was sitting at one of your outside tables about 10.00 a.m., at which time it was extremely busy and there was nowhere near enough seating room for many.

How about opening the restaurant for seating purposes only? Patrons would still have to buy their drinks from the kiosk window, and then simply walk inside and sit at one of the tables. This would not involve any extra staff at all, and the only involvement of staff I can think of would be the possible cleaning of tables. A prominent sign stating that patrons must clear and wipe their tables before leaving would help substantially.

Please give this suggestion your careful consideration, because I cannot really think of any practical reason why it could not be followed, and if patrons know that they will have somewhere to sit, particularly in inclement or cold weather, you may well in fact increase your revenue.

Regards,

Anthony

Madelines to Anthony

Hi Anthony,

Thank you for your email.

I appreciate your well thought out possible solutions to the challenge your group is currently facing.

Whilst in theory, your idea may just well work, current COVID Government regulations stipulate that a COVID Marshall would need to be present to monitor check-in's and vaccination status' for anyone dining indoors. The only way we can get around utilising outdoor seating with the current setting we have is that it is indeed just outdoors.

Furthermore, whilst your faith in the customers we have mirrors ours in regards to cleanliness, we could not have unsupervised patrons inside our restaurant, given there is open access to alcohol on the wine rack and other valuable equipment in there.

My sincerest apologies are extended to you and your group for how this may influence your feelings, but we will not be reopening our indoor dining on Monday's and Tuesday's for all the reasons outlined in my previous email.

Once more, I'd like to thank you for your understanding and patronage during a determinedly difficult and unsettling time for all.

Thank you, and kind regards,

Jess Blackwell

David Morgan

• Thanks to Andrew and Anthony for suggesting alternative venues, and to everybody for their ideas and other contributions.
  At this point my preference is to try the "meeting at the church with Muddings coffee" option next year for the following reasons.
  As background, I do not think that this pandemic is over.
  

  • There are more active cases in Monash now than there have ever been, and the number is rising steeply, as shown.
    Of course, this is offset by vaccination, which reduces the chance of transmission, and greatly reduces the chance of serious illness.
    But we have a new variant that seems to be even more infectious than delta, and further variants are likely to arise.
    It is now well established that aerosol transmission dominates the spread of COVID19.
    We still have members who choose not to come to Madelines, suggesting that extra precautions would be appreciated by some.
    

  Meeting at the church means that we only come in contact with each other, not with strangers, as in a cafe.
  The church foyer has large doors at both ends, enabling us to control the ventilation and hence ensure that it is adequate to minimise risk.
  The foyer is also a relatively sound absorbing room, reducing the need to speak loudly, with consequent aerosol generation.
  Muddings have a long association with GWUC, and are willing to do their best to meet our needs.
  

  Of course I am one member and I have no right nor wish to dictate to the group, but I would encourage you all to consider the above arguments.
  As always, comments are welcome, either by email or on http://wiki.gwuc.org.au/gwuc/GomerPossibleChanges

Comments

• JohnTuininga "I personally support David's comments in every way."

• KenCoutts "Thank you for you work on this . I support your approach and use of the Church as proposed at least for a trial in 2022."

• RossMackinnon "I endorse your comments, David."

• AlanRobison "Thank you to all those investigating the possibilities for the Gomes Monday morning coffees. In lieu of Madelines and for all the reasons that David is suggesting, I think that the church for you is an excellent option and I support that. I look forward to hearing what others may think."

• LindsayBrown "I will join the group at the Church in the new year. I will be using the normal throw away mug from Mudding’s."

• IanMcMillan "I support this suggestion as a means of increasing the number of members who get together each week.
  Particularly as this would be on private property.
  No doubt those who walk will possibly be a little late each week by the time they then drive to church after walking.
  This could also overcome a long line of people wanting coffee.

• JimRobinson "Re GOMERs, I think the church-Muddings option is a good one; everyone knows where it is and is comfortable there."

• Anthony Edwards "The trouble, or problem, really is that we have two groups, those who are walkers and those who are not.
  Speaking of course entirely for myself, much as though it would be nice to get together and see everyone again as one large group, I don’t really want to give up my walk around the Jells Park lake every Monday. I know of course that I can then drive to the church, but I would prefer to have my coffee right there and then rather than having to make a second journey to do so."

• AlanRobison "Perhaps another solution is that everybody gets up five minutes earlier makes themselves a cup of coffee or a cup of tea and put it in a thermos and put it in a bag and hang the bag over your shoulder and head of to gels park. Then, if you want to walk around the lake you can do so and have your cup of coffee afterwards; if you’re not a walker just bring your drink and have it with all those happy walkers in the sheltered area after walking time.
  Just another solution."

• JohnHurst "No, the real trouble is that we have 30 or so different groups - one group per person.
  The real GOMERs is the group that is prepared to compromise, to accept and affirm that we are really a diverse group of gr*** o*d men who get together in the spirit of enjoying each other's company.
  To slightly misquote St Augustine: "Love God, and do what you want"."

• JohnTuininga "Given our sizeable Group, it is near impossible to reach unanimous consensus.
  I suggest we go with a majority decision before our Group journeys into oblivion.
  Wishing you all a Blessed Christmas and a Happy and Decisive New Year."

• PeterStewart "Seems to me Gomers could field two teams. The A team could meet at Jells Park on Monday mornings, walk round the lake and BYO coffee. The B team could meet at GWUC for a chinwag and drink coffee from Muddings (or BYO). Members could choose which team they were on each time. On rainy days all could get together at GWUC?"

• DavidMorgan: "I see two walking options within the GWUC/Muddings plan. One is to walk at Jells Park, maybe a few minutes earlier, and drive to GWUC. The other is to do a walk from GWUC. The "walkathon loop" up to Bogong reserve and back is about the right length, 2.5km, with the added attraction of watching the new railway station being excavated. Not as scenic as the lake, but would save the drive. I would be happy to join either, but also happy to hear opinions."

• JohnHurst: "I like the railway option!"

DavidMorgan

• We have wide support to try meeting at the church, with coffee from Muddings.
  See http://wiki.gwuc.org.au/gwuc/GomerPossibleChanges
  Muddings close for two weeks after New Year, so Monday Jan 24 appears to be the best start date.
  Until then we will continue with the 9:15 walk at Jells Park, followed by either takeaway there or Zoom around 10am.
  More details on the mechanics after Muddings resume.
  
  We could set up the credit card facility if people found that valuable, or just collect cash as before. Comments welcome.
  
  For the walkers, there is still a decision on whether to walk at Jells and drive to GWUC, or walk near the church.
  I suggest that we walk near the church on Jan 24, and then make an informed choice for the future.
  

DavidMorgan 14 Feb 2022

Hi Gomers,

After 4 weeks, it is time to evaluate the new GOMER arrangements.
We have been getting typically 12 present at church, who are mainly very regular.
The coffees have been coming as quickly as they did at Madelines, and have been adequately hot.
The walk is not as nice as Jells Park, but walking from church saves driving between venues.
Setting up and packing up has not been onerous.
The Zoom session is still available, but typically only getting two participants, as far as I am aware.

I would invite comments and suggestions, particularly on:
What can we do to encourage greater participation on both venues?
How can we improve the experience for those who are coming?

Thanks,

David