Well, you know that Verrain and I are begging, borrowing or stealing to get up there. I’m not missing this one for anything, even if it WILL be a busy weekend because of his birthday party with the family the next day, and me doing something special for him on his birthday on Monday. (Birthday smooches for the birthday boy will be welcome from any DoperGals[sup]TM[/sup], and I’ll sit back and smile. :D)
I was thinking of bringing banana bread, if anyone wants some.
We can fix that. I’ll bring along some rope. 
I had a feeling you were kinky like that.
Wassamatta, you tryin’ to hide? You can’t keep me away from ribs, bucky.
Here’s the deal:
(1) I’m in. As a matter of fact, I’m so in I’m out the other side.
(2) Although it hasn’t killed me yet, I’m dubious as to the quality of my cooking skills vis a vis a group of my friends. So I’ll go in with MsRobyn on tater chips and snacky stuff. The Utz Factory Store is but a half-hour from my place, so we can go down and get a crazy stupid big barrel of chips and some pretzels and suchlike. It’s covered.
(3) As I am going to Michigan next weekend, I shall purchase Vernor’s and put it aside for the lovely Mrs. Dave-Guy, assuming she promises to save me a piece of malt ball pie.
(4) My plan is to head up on Saturday morning, having secured a motel room for Saturday night. Any ideas on cheap lodgings? What with you being a hired killer and all that, I assume you can recommend a reasonably bug-free motel where pulling down the cover doesn’t sound like opening a bag of potato chips.
Subject to the fact that I’m staying the night, there are seats in the Amazing Nine-Passenger (Once I Get A New Cushion For The Tailgunner Seat) Buick for MsRobyn and my honorary nephew Bomb Bay Doors as well as TruePisces and Verrain. Chip in for gas money and it’ll be just like when the Brady Bunch went to the Grand Canyon!
Except we will NOT sing “She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain.”
Well, Euty and I have decided on a dish to pass other than me. It’s a nice, summery Hawaiian Tuna Salad.
It’s a family recipe that I hope you’ll like. But if you don’t, a) I won’t be offended, I swear and b) more for me! 
Why A Duck you’re on the “maybe” list. But your presence is urgently desired. Just tell your kid it’s a birthday party for her. She’s just a toddler, what does she know?
Little Nemo, Yay! Ice Cream! Just the thing for a “birthday party” [sub]wink wink[/sub]. I hope we still have room in the freezer.
TruePisces, can’t wait to see you and Verrain again. And yes, banana bread is always a big hit. But you know that already.
RTFirefly and Cosmopolitan, play nice.
Zappo, took ya long enough! Sheesh Louise, man! And the Barrel O’ Chips is a fine idea. The Vernor’s is even better. I’ll email you about bug-free accommodations.
Persephone…Hawaiian Tuna Salad, huh? Well, it’s a good thing I have a cat…
Yes, but does your cat like pineapple? 
Who is responsible for the national conspiracy to name every dish that contains pineapple “Hawaiian”? It orginated in South America, for cryin’ out loud. I gotta get over there and straighten you people out…
(Not that it doesn’t sound delicious, Persephone. And not that I have an ulterior motive for wanting to be there. Nope. Purely in the interest of fighting ignorance. Really!)
Going off to twist Mr. Hawk’s airline-reservation-making arm some more…
Dave, you do realize that’s D’s birthday?
<Homer> Mmmmmm. . .pineapple and Persephone. . .aaaagggghhhhhhh. . .</Homer>
This is gonna be fun!
Got me, **SparrowHawk. ** But “Hawaiian Tuna Salad” is a lot easier to type that “Tuna Salad That I’ve Never Seen Outside Of My Family Gatherings, and No One Outside Of My Family Has Ever Heard Of, and Pretty Much Everyone Except My Family Thinks It’s Pretty Weird, but Actually It’s Pretty Good.”
Well, you’re going to have to change that name after this gathering. How about “Persephone’s Family’s Tuna Salad With Pineapple That We Had At Dave’s RibFest That Time, That Everyone Liked So Much Even Though It’s Pretty Weird”? Hmm. Not much better, I guess.
I am willing to blame Dole for the conspiracy, myself.
A second page! This WILL be a big shindig!
Why a Duck–the answer is so obvious, I am surprised no one else has posted it–your food contribution should be a birthday cake, and we can all sing! Mrs Daveguy and I are both expert birthday celebrators and singers, having about 20 of them a year…not our own, mind you, those of the kids we teach. You’ll just have to remind us to stop a bit earlier on the “Are you one, are you two…” bit!
Bill
I was going to blame Gore, but honestly, I think it would be best to leave partisan politics out of this.
Yes, I know it’s D’s birthday, but this just seemed like the right time. I don’t even know if they’ll be having a shindig, since that gang of kids is kinda scattered far and wide (also, Andrew W. and Tim H. are getting married soon, not to each other :eek:, but in both cases it might be this summer, and in any case, I got the date first). If you can manage to twist Mr. Hawk’s arm and come, then that would be peachy. I’ll be sure to email you directions (First, fly east across the Pacific Ocean…).
FriendBill, I should have known you’d come up with the perfect solution. There’s no reason why Why A Duck can’t furnish birthday cake and for you and Mrs. Dave-Guy to lead a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday, Dear Duckling.”
Sheer genius, I tells ya…
Hey, what’s this doing on Page 3?
I’m bumping it for now, and later on today I’ll post another update.
Still waiting to hear from a few people…
Heh.
Well I asked my wife what we should donate to the “Bring a whole lot of feed to keep Dave’s house full of leftovers for weeks to come,” thing and after a moment’s thought, she decided we should go ghetto.
We’ll being some chicken for grillin’ and Jell-O shots.
Hey, her ideas, bucko.
Mmmm… jello shots.
Yeah, I’m there.
The grill will be full enough with the ribs. It’s gonna take me most of the afternoon to cook 'em all. And they’ll be more than filling. But if you insist…
Perhaps someone’s contribution should be a second grill and some charcoal? Sorry I’m out on that, first because you’d all miss out on my macaroni salad, and second, my grill is a gas grill…a bit hard to stuff in the car. (Although some of you probably have read about my older and slightly smaller VW’s exploits with Dave’s family…!) I have a spare grille off my car, but don’t think that wil be of much use at all…
Bill
will…
Yes, Bil can spel!
Date and Time: June 14, 2003, starting roughly at noon and going until whenever
Place: Casa Dave-Guy. Please let me know if you need directions, and from whence you are coming. I am easily accessible from the NYThruway, the Palisades Interstate Parkway, the NJTurnpike, the Garden State Parkway, and the buses from PABT and the GWBridge.
Cost per Adult: Five bucks.
If you have folding chairs or lawn chairs, you might want to bring them. Also, maybe another grill. I’ll supply the charcoal.
Playground facilities close by for wee ones (and the young at heart).
Definites
DAVEW0071 – three adults, cookies and two pies
RTFirefly – one adult, maybe two, black bean salsa
Gorgon Heap/Acrylic Vessel – two adults, chicken and Jell-O shots
tkeana – two adults, homemade brownies
MsRobyn – one adult, chips and “mun-cheez”
FriendBill/HelenWheels – two adults, macaroni salad
Eutychus/the honked-off Persephone – two adults, Hawaiian Tuna salad
Biggirl and Co. – Four adults, beer
Beerchick – one adult, fruit salad, potato salad, grilling veggies
MannyL – one adult, a dessert-type thing
Sakura’s two friends from school – two adults, dunno about side dishes
Zappo – one adult, barrel o’ Utz and Vernor’s for Mrs. Dave-Guy
TruePisces/Verrain – two adults, banana bread
Little Nemo – one adult (?), ice cream
Danyne and Mark – two adults, side dish TBA*
Definite maybes
Cosmopolitan – one adult, side dish TBA
rjk/zyada – two adults, fresh baked bread-type stuff
Joe_Cool/Jersey Diamond – two adults, side dish TBA
Why A Duck/Mrs. Duck/Duckling – two adults, maybe birthday cake
*Danyne is someone I work with, and Mark is her husband. She’s a DoperChick, although she doesn’t know it, and I’m sure you’ll all love her as much as I do. Danyne rocks, and she assured me she and Mark will be there.
Yes, I AM putting directions together for people. Please email me, subject: RibFest Directions, and let me know from whence you’re coming, and what major highway will be best for you, unless you’re someone like Zappo or** RTFirefly**, and I already know where you live, or unless you’re someone like FriendBill, and practically live at our house anyway.