You Spoke, The Club Listened

by Staff Sgt. Roy Lynch
366th Public Affairs

10/11/2012 - MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- The Gunfighter Club recently asked for assistance with customer support and received more than 200 replies on ways to conduct business in a better, more customer-friendly way. The new changes went into effect as of Oct. 1.

For years, the Air Force Clubs have been offering club discounts for their members. Here at Mountain Home, members have enjoyed those savings a dollar at a time when purchasing lunch at Striker's Grille, Hacker's and the club itself.

Beginning Oct. 15, club members will see a change in how discounts are given and an expansion to the number of facilities that will be involved.

"In the past, if you didn't eat lunch at the club, bowling alley or golf course, it was very difficult for you to see many benefits to your club membership," said Tommy Brooks, 366th Force Support Squadron community services flight chief. "Now you will be able to see those benefits at the swimming pool, outdoor recreation, arts & crafts and other activities as well with the new calendar of savings."

The calendar of savings offers a discount at a different facility every month, and if used fully, is a minimum $220 savings per year, per person.

"The thing some people may not understand is that the club had to pay back the other facilities for the flat rate monetary discount they were offering," said Brooks. "If the golf course gave out $500 in discounts a month, then the club would have to transfer $500 to the golf course to cover any loss it caused to that food operation."

Brooks said in the club's current financial situation, it could no longer pay those additional costs.

"Everyone should understand that as budgets are drawn down, we are left with the choice of either making money or closing our doors in FSS facilities and that includes the club," he said. "We need your support more now than ever before."

In an effort to keep the doors of the club open, FSS conducted a survey due to a 30 percent decrease in customer patronage since Jan. 1.

"Lunch sales were so far down," said Brooks. "We went to the customers and asked--what are we doing wrong and why are you not coming."

A wider variety of food and lower prices is what the customers wanted so they lowered prices for the buffet.

Buffet prices for members are now $7.75 and $8.75 for nonmembers. There is also a soup and salad option for members at $5.95 and $6.95 nonmembers.
More than just menu prices have changed, the menu itself is different.

"We will have five different themes for five different days," said Brooks. "Mondays are southern, Tuesdays are Asian, Wednesdays are Italian, Thursdays are home-style and Fridays are Mexican themed."

Each theme has different dishes that can be used.

"We are not tied into having just fried chicken on the southern theme," said Doug Rhodes, 366th FSS club manager. "If we have a theme we can rotate the foods in and out."

If you have a hail or farewell guest of honor, Brooks said the club will take care of them during any of the themed lunches. The club will be starting a barbeque to-go on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

If you have questions or would like the details of the new calendar of savings for club members, you can contact the club at 828-2105. Calendar of Savings

Titcomb Basin Wind River Range in Wyoming

Reflection and Recollection

by Joshua Brown, OAP Asst Director

                Back in college, one assignment we were assigned in Recreation Leadership was to read Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac.” We had to pick our favorite chapter and write a reflection essay.  If you haven’t heard of or read this book, it is an easy and interesting read. The author, Aldo Leopold, was nicknamed “Father of Conservation,” and wrote about his experiences and encounters in the outdoors.  For this assignment, after much debate, I chose October “Smoky Gold” describing the season transitioning into fall, with crisp cool mornings and the smell of change in the air. The moral of the story is to not only find joy in your journey and experiences made in the outdoors, but develop a way to place these experiences into memory.

                Having a photographic memory would be an excellent way to remember your trips and adventures, but not many of us have this unique ability. I encourage you to take a small pad of paper and pencil to jot down experiences while out on a trip.  Take pictures, LOTS of pictures, because you never get all the shots you want. I am eating my own words on these last two; I forgot my log book on my last two backpacking trips and only took a few pictures to submit to memory. Taking note and photos can enable you to escape mentally back to a place that is sometimes easily forgotten. Being able to take that mental road trip back to an epic trip or hunt is pretty amazing. So I challenge you, on your next excursion into the outdoors take some notes and lots of pictures. Write a reflection of your trip and create a hard copy memory that yourself and others may enjoy. If you wish, share those stories in the comments section below.