We are so close to the event taking place, I think the class really feels the excitement of it all and now understands this is really happening. I participated in the bake sale on Wednesday, which was fun, and we sold as much baked goods as Monday. I felt like I as in high school all over again with all the class spirit and shouting out to people in hopes they would stop by.
Tickets and t-shirts have been the hardest items to sell, so many people just don’t want to commit. Even my friends who continually say they are definitely coming have not purchased the cheaper pre-ticket I keep telling them about. I did sell four though, one to my Dad of course. I am giving one as a birthday gift to my friend Carrie who freelances for Urbanite magazine, a free publication that many people pick up. I am hoping that the event will spark her interest enough for a possible story. You never know!
I called Betty Welley, the actress who Emily and Melanie met at a CCBB meeting. She was so excited at the idea of talking about Brooklyn and I could tell she was flattered that we would think to involve her. The interview will most likely be next Thursday and Katie C. will film it! So glad to have her involved. She is planning on going to next weeks street team to meet Prof. King and film some of the street team in action. I have to work, but I want her to feel comfortable with the rest of the class. Back to Betty, she wants to sign autographs at the event and will show me pictures
I feel like everyone has really stepped up over the last three weeks. It seems that everyone in the class has an area to focus on that they are excited about and we are willing to spill over into other areas when necessary. A lot of the class tension, where ideas are concerned, has lifted and we are all ready for this event to take place.
I am glad that to have gained more confidence when it comes to calling people for interviews, I get so nervous. Even calling Betty gave me the jitters and then it was totally fine. I am also excited to continue with the project as an internship. I want to get more involved with Brooklyn as a whole, start attending some of those CCBB meetings that I have heard so much about and make new connections. Who knows what the next journey will be like, but I’m ready. Also, I want the filming to continue. Katie C. says I have a personable quality with new people and that means a lot to me because I want the interviewees to feel comfortable and I am so glad to have a friend that works well with cameras.
Here Here to the countdown!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
My first filmed interview!
As I mentioned last week, I had been preparing to interview Tom Matte at Club4100. My film friend, Katie C, and I went to Mina and Raj Last Thursday. I made sure that we got lunch while there because I don't want Mena to think that we aren't personally supporting her business. Often, I find myself going there to get stuff done, maybe getting a drink, but rarely a meal. I want Mena and Raj to know that we feel comfortable there. Katie C. really liked the place, she was saying she wished we had a bar like this around us. We live in Hampden, so there are a few, but she got a real "home" like feel from Club4100. I wanted Mena and Raj to know that Katie C. may need to come and do some filming on her own time, and to know that she was super interested in the project and preserving place. I am pretty certain this was accomplished, Katie C. and Raj were talking about the Real Estate Business by the end of our time there. Raj owns many buildings/houses and Katie lives in a historic building owned by her father in Hampden.
After that initial meeting, I began my research and preperation for interviewing Tom Matte. Katie has a profesional camera and recently purchased a tri-pod. She has two film lights as well, this came in handy because the bar is pretty dark.
The interview was yesterday, I was super nervous. I had a list of ten questions and various items to be signed, a football and a t-shirt. When I called Tom Matter to remind of the interview, he asked me to do this, he changed the time to 3:00 p.m. This was fine and I know it is important to work within the interviewees schedule. Luckily, this was possible.
By the time I got the Club, Katie was already there. Her boyfriend came along as well to help with the lighting. He has job working on sets and doing lighting so it was perfect. Tom Matte got there a little after three, which was great because we had been trying out various lighting strategies while we waited. Mena and Raj were excited, they told me they wanted Tom Matte to sign there Club4100 shirts, they are planning on wearing them on event day. We also decided to do the interview at a corner table, with lots of sports pictures in the background.
Before I knew it, Tom Matter had arrived with his wife. He was so nice, he greeted us kindly and was excited to help us out. First, we decided to have him sign the football and shirt, and the interview release form of course! He then told me that if he had known we wanted to auction things off, he would have brought more stuff from home. He did run out to his car and get four photos for signing, so thoughtful! I took pictures of him signing the stuff too.
He is a pro at interviews, I told him that I would ask about ten questions and then could he possibly give a shout out for the event. He said "sure!" The interview went really well, I stood behind the camera and asked the questions, Katie C. filmed. At one point someone came in the restaurant and I had to give the shhhhhh.....sign. I hope that doesn't interfere with the sound too much. In the future, I will remember to put a sign on the door to let people know that for about fifteen minutes there needs to be a closed set.
Tom Matte talked about playing for the Colts and his friendship with Johnny Unitas and Art Donovan. He gave is details as to why the Club was important to him and the good times had during Easter dinners. He looked happy talking about the past and all the good friends made along the way. As he had promised, he ended with a shout out that we can show during the event. He thanks people for coming and says it is a good thing we are doing, he encourages people to continue coming.
After the interview, he took pictures with me, my friend Katie and Jason, and Mena and Raj. I snapped one of him and his wife looking at pictures. Mena and Raj had him sign their shirts and then took him to the banquet room where he spoke of old times in there. I took some pictures of him in there as well. Tom Matter told Mena and Raj that he was glad the club still looked the same, he said it is historic and he will do whatever he can down the road to help us out. He told me that I can e-mail him soon and he will round up whoever he knows for possible interviews.
The interview experience went better than I had expected. Tom Matte so nice and up for anything. He never seemed annoyed to be there and was so kind to Mena and Raj. He was off the beach and we were left happy with our experience. Katie C. is so excited to be working on this project and looks forward to future interviews.
More soon...
After that initial meeting, I began my research and preperation for interviewing Tom Matte. Katie has a profesional camera and recently purchased a tri-pod. She has two film lights as well, this came in handy because the bar is pretty dark.
The interview was yesterday, I was super nervous. I had a list of ten questions and various items to be signed, a football and a t-shirt. When I called Tom Matter to remind of the interview, he asked me to do this, he changed the time to 3:00 p.m. This was fine and I know it is important to work within the interviewees schedule. Luckily, this was possible.
By the time I got the Club, Katie was already there. Her boyfriend came along as well to help with the lighting. He has job working on sets and doing lighting so it was perfect. Tom Matte got there a little after three, which was great because we had been trying out various lighting strategies while we waited. Mena and Raj were excited, they told me they wanted Tom Matte to sign there Club4100 shirts, they are planning on wearing them on event day. We also decided to do the interview at a corner table, with lots of sports pictures in the background.
Before I knew it, Tom Matter had arrived with his wife. He was so nice, he greeted us kindly and was excited to help us out. First, we decided to have him sign the football and shirt, and the interview release form of course! He then told me that if he had known we wanted to auction things off, he would have brought more stuff from home. He did run out to his car and get four photos for signing, so thoughtful! I took pictures of him signing the stuff too.
He is a pro at interviews, I told him that I would ask about ten questions and then could he possibly give a shout out for the event. He said "sure!" The interview went really well, I stood behind the camera and asked the questions, Katie C. filmed. At one point someone came in the restaurant and I had to give the shhhhhh.....sign. I hope that doesn't interfere with the sound too much. In the future, I will remember to put a sign on the door to let people know that for about fifteen minutes there needs to be a closed set.
Tom Matte talked about playing for the Colts and his friendship with Johnny Unitas and Art Donovan. He gave is details as to why the Club was important to him and the good times had during Easter dinners. He looked happy talking about the past and all the good friends made along the way. As he had promised, he ended with a shout out that we can show during the event. He thanks people for coming and says it is a good thing we are doing, he encourages people to continue coming.
After the interview, he took pictures with me, my friend Katie and Jason, and Mena and Raj. I snapped one of him and his wife looking at pictures. Mena and Raj had him sign their shirts and then took him to the banquet room where he spoke of old times in there. I took some pictures of him in there as well. Tom Matter told Mena and Raj that he was glad the club still looked the same, he said it is historic and he will do whatever he can down the road to help us out. He told me that I can e-mail him soon and he will round up whoever he knows for possible interviews.
The interview experience went better than I had expected. Tom Matte so nice and up for anything. He never seemed annoyed to be there and was so kind to Mena and Raj. He was off the beach and we were left happy with our experience. Katie C. is so excited to be working on this project and looks forward to future interviews.
More soon...
Friday, April 24, 2009
interviews and filming
I know that I am going to be swamped this weekend so I am just going to give a few updates now and maybe a couple more on Sunday if more comes together.
Today, Friday, I am bringing Katie the filmer to Club4100. I want her to have a formal introduction with Mena and Raj and get a grasp of the place and the atmosphere. This way she will know where it is located and feel comfortable going there alone if need be.
The best news of the week is that I talked to Tom Matte and have a scheduled interview with him next Thursday, 5:00 at the club!! I was really nervous calling him because I had no idea what to expect. He is a very busy man and I tried to be as concise with our needs and tell him how appreciative we are. He also agreed to a filmed interview, great news. I am going to study up on him and Corey already sent me really great info about his history in an e-mail. Thanks Corey. Prof. King mentioned trying to have him give a "best of luck" type of thing at the end of his interview ro be shown during the event. Kind of an ode to the club. Also, he agreed to signing jerseys or other types of sports memorabilla for our auction.
This weekend I will need to come up with a list of questions and run them by Prof. King on Tuesday. I have sent out an e-mail to others in the class for advice or possible questions.
There was a quick dilemma about changing the date, but luckily it got worked out in record time. I think, as a class, we are learning to work well with one another in times of conflict. I know that I had a hard time taking off work the day of the event because it is Hopkins graduation and since I work at a restaurant we need all the staff we can get. That was my selfish reason for not minding a date change. However, I did put my foot down and will be at the event, even if I have to work for a few hours that morning! Also if we had it a week later most graduating students would be off celebrating their graduation nor would Prof. King be able to attend. We are keeping the date and I think the stress over what we may or may not have done is just par for the course. We are doing our best and have learned a lot from trying to plan this event.
I am off to pick up Katie now, and head the to the club. I will try and write later this weekend on how it goes and any ideas her and I have come up with for filming!
Good Luck Everyone!
Today, Friday, I am bringing Katie the filmer to Club4100. I want her to have a formal introduction with Mena and Raj and get a grasp of the place and the atmosphere. This way she will know where it is located and feel comfortable going there alone if need be.
The best news of the week is that I talked to Tom Matte and have a scheduled interview with him next Thursday, 5:00 at the club!! I was really nervous calling him because I had no idea what to expect. He is a very busy man and I tried to be as concise with our needs and tell him how appreciative we are. He also agreed to a filmed interview, great news. I am going to study up on him and Corey already sent me really great info about his history in an e-mail. Thanks Corey. Prof. King mentioned trying to have him give a "best of luck" type of thing at the end of his interview ro be shown during the event. Kind of an ode to the club. Also, he agreed to signing jerseys or other types of sports memorabilla for our auction.
This weekend I will need to come up with a list of questions and run them by Prof. King on Tuesday. I have sent out an e-mail to others in the class for advice or possible questions.
There was a quick dilemma about changing the date, but luckily it got worked out in record time. I think, as a class, we are learning to work well with one another in times of conflict. I know that I had a hard time taking off work the day of the event because it is Hopkins graduation and since I work at a restaurant we need all the staff we can get. That was my selfish reason for not minding a date change. However, I did put my foot down and will be at the event, even if I have to work for a few hours that morning! Also if we had it a week later most graduating students would be off celebrating their graduation nor would Prof. King be able to attend. We are keeping the date and I think the stress over what we may or may not have done is just par for the course. We are doing our best and have learned a lot from trying to plan this event.
I am off to pick up Katie now, and head the to the club. I will try and write later this weekend on how it goes and any ideas her and I have come up with for filming!
Good Luck Everyone!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Hope its a sunny day for the street team!
The time has come for re-assessing where I stand with the project and making new headway. All the lose ends will need to be ties up in the coming weeks. Mainly I want to get active about the filming part, having my friend meet Mena and Raj so that she feels comfortable going to the club on her own if necessary.
I spent a good deal of last week transcribing my interview with George. I literally sat in a coffee shop with headphones connected to the small tape recorder pressing stop, play, rewind, play for four hours one day! It became sort of ritualistic though and once I had a system going, it wasn't so bad. I also really liked hearing George's stories for a second time because I caught things that were easily swept over the first time. I noticed how often I would try and jump in and make a comment while George was talking, and then that would spur him to start right up again or start on a whole new idea! Pretty great though, better than working with someone who doesn't want to talk. I still got to ask questions, but he was so excited to go on about each story that the interview was pretty long.
Corey sent me his interview with Mena and Raj and said it could have been longer, I agree. I wish that I could have developed a better set of questions to ask them since they are the newest owners, but it is a good start. I am going to send all the interviews to Emily so that she can pull out quotes for the brochure she is working on.
I got the number for one of the Miss Club4100's and I am going to call her and see if she can do an interview, possibly next week. It would be cool to have that in our history because it seems so nostalgic for those who may remember that time.
I have to work this weekend so I will miss the street team, hopefully it will go well and some pre-tickets will sell. Deciding on the ticket prices was a bit of a struggle but I think our system works. It seems appropiate to offer the neighborhood individuals a lower price since the project is about preserving place and we want local people to actually show up. I think reduced prices for pre-buying is good too and I know it will make my friends more apt to committ.
My goals for the next week are
Have Katie (film girl) meet and talk with Mena and Raj
Get in touch with Miss Club4100
Decide what to do exactly with the oral histories, at least put them in the book my history group is putting together
Help any other groups out if need be, especially event planning. I know that planning out the whole day will be an issue. The timing of each event and such.
Until then......
I spent a good deal of last week transcribing my interview with George. I literally sat in a coffee shop with headphones connected to the small tape recorder pressing stop, play, rewind, play for four hours one day! It became sort of ritualistic though and once I had a system going, it wasn't so bad. I also really liked hearing George's stories for a second time because I caught things that were easily swept over the first time. I noticed how often I would try and jump in and make a comment while George was talking, and then that would spur him to start right up again or start on a whole new idea! Pretty great though, better than working with someone who doesn't want to talk. I still got to ask questions, but he was so excited to go on about each story that the interview was pretty long.
Corey sent me his interview with Mena and Raj and said it could have been longer, I agree. I wish that I could have developed a better set of questions to ask them since they are the newest owners, but it is a good start. I am going to send all the interviews to Emily so that she can pull out quotes for the brochure she is working on.
I got the number for one of the Miss Club4100's and I am going to call her and see if she can do an interview, possibly next week. It would be cool to have that in our history because it seems so nostalgic for those who may remember that time.
I have to work this weekend so I will miss the street team, hopefully it will go well and some pre-tickets will sell. Deciding on the ticket prices was a bit of a struggle but I think our system works. It seems appropiate to offer the neighborhood individuals a lower price since the project is about preserving place and we want local people to actually show up. I think reduced prices for pre-buying is good too and I know it will make my friends more apt to committ.
My goals for the next week are
Have Katie (film girl) meet and talk with Mena and Raj
Get in touch with Miss Club4100
Decide what to do exactly with the oral histories, at least put them in the book my history group is putting together
Help any other groups out if need be, especially event planning. I know that planning out the whole day will be an issue. The timing of each event and such.
Until then......
Friday, April 10, 2009
Things are moving swiftly
This past week has really made all our hard work feel like it is truly going somewhere. After grueling over food concerns for the event, we are set with having a buffet! I met Prof. King last Sunday to talk with Mena about our concerns and be strict about what money we have available. I think having King there helped because even with Corey and I trying to tell Mena our thoughts, having the person who got the actual grant in front of her made it seem more serious. Looks like we will be having baked ziti, steak, pigs in a blanket, salad, and potato wedges. It was nice to walk out of there knowing that something was set in stone.
We also met a man that new Paul and Anne and had been attending the club since it opened. I asked him if he would like to do interview and he seemed shy. However, he said that he likes to write music and has writting over 400 songs! Prof. King was asking him to come up with a Club4100 song and to attend the event. He seemed into it, but then said he did not have a card on him and would be in touch another way. Wonder if we will see him again......?
There is still a debate over ticket prices, we are toying with fifteen or twenty dollars, and ten if you get the ticket ahead of time. I think the the street team will be able to get people to purchase early, but I worry for those who come to the door and aren't able to pay. Plus, we don't really know who our sports stars are and we can't just assume certain ones are coming. I wish we had Oprah because EVERYONE would pay a lot to see her. I think in the next week we will figure out the tickets, I mean we have to in order to sell them.
My big goal for the next week is to have my interview with George transcribed. Even though Staci will be utilizing her interview with him as well I am going to get mine down on paper in case other oral histories fall through. Better to have more than nothing!
My history group also decided that we want to have a scrapbook in the banquet room for people to look through and a guestbook for people to sign. Anything that gets people involved and leaves them knowing they are part of something greater will make all of us happy. Missy is planning on getting the scrapbook this weekend and we also want to have a picture area where we can instantly print out pictures of our guests.
I am hoping to get in touch with the people who run the Better Brooklyn org and see if any of them can help us tie up our history. Also, Hillman mentioned a desire to do an interview and it would be nice to have contacts for those looking to help in that area.
All in all, we are on our way. The semester is flying by and I hope this event is a success. It is definitely a learning process though. At the start of the semester it was hard for me to imagine an even like this actually working, but we all help one another out and start to figure out our strengths and weaknesses. If I ever do anything like this down the road I feel as if I will have a head start.
My friend and co-worker took off the Saturday of the event and will DEFINTELY be filming. She can't do the street team next Sunday, but is available any other Sunday or Thursday afternoon. I hope to go to the club with her to meet Mena and Raj and take some general footage of the place.
More soon.......
We also met a man that new Paul and Anne and had been attending the club since it opened. I asked him if he would like to do interview and he seemed shy. However, he said that he likes to write music and has writting over 400 songs! Prof. King was asking him to come up with a Club4100 song and to attend the event. He seemed into it, but then said he did not have a card on him and would be in touch another way. Wonder if we will see him again......?
There is still a debate over ticket prices, we are toying with fifteen or twenty dollars, and ten if you get the ticket ahead of time. I think the the street team will be able to get people to purchase early, but I worry for those who come to the door and aren't able to pay. Plus, we don't really know who our sports stars are and we can't just assume certain ones are coming. I wish we had Oprah because EVERYONE would pay a lot to see her. I think in the next week we will figure out the tickets, I mean we have to in order to sell them.
My big goal for the next week is to have my interview with George transcribed. Even though Staci will be utilizing her interview with him as well I am going to get mine down on paper in case other oral histories fall through. Better to have more than nothing!
My history group also decided that we want to have a scrapbook in the banquet room for people to look through and a guestbook for people to sign. Anything that gets people involved and leaves them knowing they are part of something greater will make all of us happy. Missy is planning on getting the scrapbook this weekend and we also want to have a picture area where we can instantly print out pictures of our guests.
I am hoping to get in touch with the people who run the Better Brooklyn org and see if any of them can help us tie up our history. Also, Hillman mentioned a desire to do an interview and it would be nice to have contacts for those looking to help in that area.
All in all, we are on our way. The semester is flying by and I hope this event is a success. It is definitely a learning process though. At the start of the semester it was hard for me to imagine an even like this actually working, but we all help one another out and start to figure out our strengths and weaknesses. If I ever do anything like this down the road I feel as if I will have a head start.
My friend and co-worker took off the Saturday of the event and will DEFINTELY be filming. She can't do the street team next Sunday, but is available any other Sunday or Thursday afternoon. I hope to go to the club with her to meet Mena and Raj and take some general footage of the place.
More soon.......
Friday, April 3, 2009
Food and other trials
We spent about forty minutes in class going over food possibilities. We came up with about three/four ideas. The first one was have five dollars off an item with the purchase of a ticket. Next we had a solid food price with buffet. Te option for no food was an idea as well, and giving coupons out for future visits. We even thought of having a reduced menu. It was so hard to come to a decision because there are many ways we can go about this, but the bottom line is coming to an agreement with the owners based on the budget we have available.
Corey and I went to Club4100 to meet with Raj and Mena, they looked pretty worn out and said that business had not been great. The Lions Club had come in the night before, but that was about it for the week.
First, we proposed the "five dollars off of a meal with ticket purchase" idea. Mena shot that down right away, she told us that the kitchen just was not staffed enough to handle people lining up to order food. As far as I can tell, I think it is just her and Raj cooking, I can see the dilemma. For some reason, we just did not consider this in class. It's amazing how so many details can get overlooked no matter how much one tries to cover all concerns.
She seemed most interested in the buffet, although she brought up high food prices at the grocery store as well. This alerted Corey and I that she is not buying in bulk from actual restaurant stores, and is going to a standard grocery store instead. I'm not sure if she is even going to a Sams club type of place. I would suspect she would have to for this event though. She also said that she wants it to be as low stress as possible. Well, of course that would be nice, but we need her to meet us half way here.
Mena said that she needed to find out some more info from a place she may purchase the food and I am going back on Sunday to talk with her. Prof. King is trying to come as well! I think having her there explaining the situation with the buget could really work in our favor.
I also brought up the possiblity of giving out 10% coupons for a future date, as a way to bring people back to the club. She said she wants to think about this also.
I am pretty sure that the venue is free and we didn't even ask because things were already so tense. I hope Mena knows that we are trying to help out, I told her this many times. She said she really wants to help us out but is hoping that if we do the buffet the money will work like this...ten to her and five to us. Corey did not seem to think this was a good idea, but we only discussed out concerns on the way home and then met King in her office to discuss all the possibilities.
What a week! I will be at the restaurant Sunday afternoon/evening if anyone wants to go. I hope to find out more about the food situation and try once again to gather moral history.
Corey and I went to Club4100 to meet with Raj and Mena, they looked pretty worn out and said that business had not been great. The Lions Club had come in the night before, but that was about it for the week.
First, we proposed the "five dollars off of a meal with ticket purchase" idea. Mena shot that down right away, she told us that the kitchen just was not staffed enough to handle people lining up to order food. As far as I can tell, I think it is just her and Raj cooking, I can see the dilemma. For some reason, we just did not consider this in class. It's amazing how so many details can get overlooked no matter how much one tries to cover all concerns.
She seemed most interested in the buffet, although she brought up high food prices at the grocery store as well. This alerted Corey and I that she is not buying in bulk from actual restaurant stores, and is going to a standard grocery store instead. I'm not sure if she is even going to a Sams club type of place. I would suspect she would have to for this event though. She also said that she wants it to be as low stress as possible. Well, of course that would be nice, but we need her to meet us half way here.
Mena said that she needed to find out some more info from a place she may purchase the food and I am going back on Sunday to talk with her. Prof. King is trying to come as well! I think having her there explaining the situation with the buget could really work in our favor.
I also brought up the possiblity of giving out 10% coupons for a future date, as a way to bring people back to the club. She said she wants to think about this also.
I am pretty sure that the venue is free and we didn't even ask because things were already so tense. I hope Mena knows that we are trying to help out, I told her this many times. She said she really wants to help us out but is hoping that if we do the buffet the money will work like this...ten to her and five to us. Corey did not seem to think this was a good idea, but we only discussed out concerns on the way home and then met King in her office to discuss all the possibilities.
What a week! I will be at the restaurant Sunday afternoon/evening if anyone wants to go. I hope to find out more about the food situation and try once again to gather moral history.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Interviews
I headed over the Club4100 on Thursday, the 26th to interview Paul. When I got there I found out that Staci had been there talking to George Mills and other regulars and that Nick and Corey were still there meeting people and doing interviews. I also found out that Paul had already been interviewed which I need to follow up on and see how detailed it was. I was a little upset to hear this news because I had specifically gone down there to interview him, and he said it had already been done. I then found out that, everyone in the bar had been interviewed. Of course, I was a bit unsettled, wondering where I should begin. I started talking to George Mills and even though he had told his story a few times to other people,he was willing to tell me as well. He also agreed to a taped interview.
The interview consisted of me learning all about his life and how he came to love Club4100. He lives down the street from the place and started going there in 1961. He practically raised his children in the club, bringing into the much loved Easter dinners. His son (now 56) grew up to be the well known Keith Mills, and he has a daughter (now 52) as well. He made it clear that everyone who went to the club grew to feel like one big family. He still feels that it is second home, even with new owners. Raj, one of the owners, was sitting next to us the entire interview and George kept reaching over to let him know how much Raj means to him. Especially since Raj is keeping the place and its history the same.
He also told me that the first owner, Kutros, used to have a swimming pole where the venue space is located now. The pool used to be used for crippled children at a nearby hospital, they would come and swim. Children would use it during the summer and at Easter as well. It seems like such an amazing idea, and crazy to imagine it once being an actual pool.
George also told me about his relationship with Oprah and how he helped take video of her while she was applying to be on television. He told me he will try and bring pictures of her the next time I see him. He said that she thought of him and his wife as family and would hang out a their house sometimes. Pretty exciting!
One thing that made sense to me was George's explanation as to why the clientele may have changed over the years. He said that because people in the neighborhood do not move out, only get older, health issues prevent them from living the same lifestyle. Most of the children grow up and move away, therefore there is less likely a chance for a rotation of clients. Many of George's friends are too sick to walk over the club and outsiders are less likely to just stop in for a drink or meal. This was of great concern to him, but he was happy to see that we are all trying to revive that, trying to bring in new clientele.
I am also happy to say that I have made a dent in spreading the word about Club4100. One of my regulars, Scott, was saying that he did not know where to get some lunch. I suggested Club4100 and that he could say he knew me and the project if he wanted. He actually went, he called me from there saying he was having a great time and that the owners were so welcoming and excited about a new person eating there. I talked to them later that night and they were saying my friend was so nice and how happy it made them. I told them that we are all trying to spread the word!
I hope to get some of my concerns about oral history out on Tuesday, I also hope that me translating my interview with George is not a problem.
The interview consisted of me learning all about his life and how he came to love Club4100. He lives down the street from the place and started going there in 1961. He practically raised his children in the club, bringing into the much loved Easter dinners. His son (now 56) grew up to be the well known Keith Mills, and he has a daughter (now 52) as well. He made it clear that everyone who went to the club grew to feel like one big family. He still feels that it is second home, even with new owners. Raj, one of the owners, was sitting next to us the entire interview and George kept reaching over to let him know how much Raj means to him. Especially since Raj is keeping the place and its history the same.
He also told me that the first owner, Kutros, used to have a swimming pole where the venue space is located now. The pool used to be used for crippled children at a nearby hospital, they would come and swim. Children would use it during the summer and at Easter as well. It seems like such an amazing idea, and crazy to imagine it once being an actual pool.
George also told me about his relationship with Oprah and how he helped take video of her while she was applying to be on television. He told me he will try and bring pictures of her the next time I see him. He said that she thought of him and his wife as family and would hang out a their house sometimes. Pretty exciting!
One thing that made sense to me was George's explanation as to why the clientele may have changed over the years. He said that because people in the neighborhood do not move out, only get older, health issues prevent them from living the same lifestyle. Most of the children grow up and move away, therefore there is less likely a chance for a rotation of clients. Many of George's friends are too sick to walk over the club and outsiders are less likely to just stop in for a drink or meal. This was of great concern to him, but he was happy to see that we are all trying to revive that, trying to bring in new clientele.
I am also happy to say that I have made a dent in spreading the word about Club4100. One of my regulars, Scott, was saying that he did not know where to get some lunch. I suggested Club4100 and that he could say he knew me and the project if he wanted. He actually went, he called me from there saying he was having a great time and that the owners were so welcoming and excited about a new person eating there. I talked to them later that night and they were saying my friend was so nice and how happy it made them. I told them that we are all trying to spread the word!
I hope to get some of my concerns about oral history out on Tuesday, I also hope that me translating my interview with George is not a problem.
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