Goose–yes. You’ve gotta be old enough to chew your own food.
The only other limitation would be drinking. If we have this is a restaurant/bar, as long as you’re old enough to get into the restaurant, that’s fine. But no trying to sneak in to the bar, and no fake ID’s. We only contribute to the delinquency of minors here on the boards, not in public. 
Goose, I’d rather not ave to have a minimum age. If there are those who are younger than 21, we’ll make sure to meet at a place other than a bar. 
Hell, I’m only 22.
I’ve set up an eGroup for discussions amongst Michigan Dopers about DopeFests and so forth. The address is, not surprisingly:
You can subscribe by sending an email to:
michigandopers-subscribe@egroups.com
And, if you don’t want to subscribe, but would like to see all the messages that are posted, you can go to:
http://www.egroups.com/group/michigandopers
Anyone can read messages, and anyone can post, without specifically joining. When you do post, of course, it’ll be helpful if you include your SDMB username so that everyone knows who you are.
(Anyone interested in helping me moderate this dragon? Email me.)
The general trend/consensus seems to be for: Ann Arbor, somewhere between the 27th and 30th. Are there, at this point, any suggestions/other recommedations?
LL
awh, wring, please try hard to come. I want to talk mystery fiction with you. We could even bring some to trade–now isn’t that enticing, hmmm?
Oh yes… are there any other AA Dopers out there, besides Cranky, who might be able to help me in choosing a locale?
LL
Well, my family’s headed to Indiana for part of the week after Xmas. I might be able to make the evening of the 30th, though. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll catch everyone next time.
I’m 19, so can we please select a location that will let me in? whimper, beg
Pers, I’m interested, and depending on date, place, and weather, I’m in. AA if fine with me as long as the border patrol will let a spartan visit. (I promise to leave my riot tools and green spraypaint at home) Christmas and New Year’s weekends are booked, of course, but those days in between may be doable. If you pick a date after that, I’ll try to be there, but I can’t guarantee anything yet.
Boy, I’m glad I checked MPSIMS today - I almost missed this.
Yeah, I’m game. Those days work for me too. I’m pretty sure that we’ve got that Friday off (the 29th - Ralf, is that right?) so I could even do it on the 28th since I wouldn’t have to get up early in the morning. I may even be able to convince my hubby to come. Pers, Tim (am I forgetting his name again?! )and Randy could talk music - at least we wouldn’t have to worry about them for the rest of the evening! 
I’ll give it a try, may even be able to car pool from Lansing area. Asquared is ok, (I’ve been there, incognito). I’ll be out of town Christmas through about Wednesday, and have a family get together some time new years weekend. Drinking establishment is not a pre req for me, by the way.
Hi Ralf and
Brynda be happy to chat mysteries. I haven’t been able to find my big box of old books in the garage, and since there’s currently about 2 feet of snow blocking the doors to the garage now, I don’t suspect that I’ll be able to find them soon, either, but I still have plenty in the house…
Every thing sounds good to me. Not to sure if Mrs X and I could make this one though. Xmas is beating my bank account into the mat. We’ll definitely keep an open mind though.
Bill
Alas, no-can-do for me.
I’m there next summer, though.
Sorry, Bun, we get the Mondays and Tuesdays off this year. That makes our days off December 25-26 and January 1-2, unless you’re taking vacation time for that Friday.
OK, so if Medea’s Kid is in-state from 12/15 to 1/5, and we try to do this on a weekend, that leaves us only this weekend (as in starting tomorrow afternoon), Christmas weekend, and New Year’s weekend. Not good, not good. Lemme throw out a “what if”. What if Medea’s Child and maybe some other kind soul did a road trip, and drove up to Lansing? We can’t all get together, but with the magic of 1 hour film processing, we can see what she did with the A-Squayered group, or they can see how we hold dope-fests here in E. Lansing. Yeah, it’s a weak suggestion, but the only alternative I see is to do something mid-week which cuts participation, I bet.
Medea’s Child has already told me she has previous engagements this weekend, and her and I are already supposed to get together the following weekend (the 22nd), so that’s why I suggested the 29th or 30th.
I’ll leave it to whomever chooses the location and does the organization to pick the day, of course. (I don’t know Flint or Ann Arbor at all, but I do know how to get there from here.)
Did you guys know we have a bookstore that is completely devoted to mysteries? Well, that and true crime. It’s got new and used titles. It’s called “Aunt Agatha’s” and it’s a neat place.
See, more reasons to come to Ann Arbor!
As it happens, I’ll be travelling and won’t be home until the 30th. Don’t plan around me, though. If I’m not there, you can just talk about me a lot.
Thanks, Ralf, I just wasn’t sure.
Anyhoo, I’m still open for the 29th or 30th.
Sounds like fun, but I’m going to be out of state that week. Have fun!
Hi BunnyGirl(didn’t want to leave you out) and while I’m at it, hi to Diceman too.
29th would be better for me (family obligations on the 30th) but, if the other works out better for everybody else. ya know…
The weekend between Christmas & New Year’s (29th & 30th) is good for me, too.
If this is held in A2 (as it looks like it’s gonna be), I won’t be drinking much, nor will my husband (Yes, BunnyGirl, his name is Tim). While it’s not a huge drive, only about an hour, it’s not within staggering distance. SO, that leaves me open to having this bash pretty much anywhere.
We should choose a place that serves dinner, with drinks optional. That way, our not-quite-old-enough-to-drink-Dopers can show up, and we can point at them and laugh.
One thing A2 definitely has is good eateries. But it’s been sooooo looooooong since I’ve lived there that I don’t know the new ones. I do know that there’s a Joe’s Crab Shack down there that I’d like to check out, though. Can’t remember where it’s at right off the top of my head, but IIRC, it’s easily accessible from the expressway.
Joe’s Crab Shack is right off I-94 and a stone’s throw from Chez Cranky. It’s at the Ann Arbor-Saline Road exit. It does, however, tend to be very busy. I’ve only eaten there once due to crowd–but then the crowd factor is a problem at every AA restaurant, so maybe it’s as good as any.
29th is perfect, could I carpool with someone cool? (I could drive myself, but I have a dislike of driving when I’m out of practice. I haven’t driven on snow in three years.)
Could we get reservations someplace? Would that cut down on the crowd issue?
Yea, laugh all you want. pout two more years and I’ll show you. I’ll buy my own alcohol!
[sub](And if I can really be the whiny one of the group, I dislike seafood…)[/sub]