Good day!
Our new building, The China Dine-ah Too is being lowered onto it's new foundation as I write on this beautiful Thursday afternoon. Thus the title of this week's newsletter, "She's Down". This will give us all winter to work on the interior of the building for a June 2013 opening, out on Route #3. We plan on selling a lot of chicken and seafood to travelers headed east towards the Belfast/Bar Harbor area during the summer months, and who knows what else.
Last week I wrote about the loss of four friends/acquaintances. I just want to say thank you, for all the kind notes I received from you readers. All of the families are doing as well as can be expected during their time of loss. The services that I attended were beautiful and very heartfelt.
Update on my boys: Derek is up at Thomas and absolutely loving college life. We did not hear much from him and did not see him at all for the first month of school. He has been home the last couple of weekends and we have had some very good talks. With a laundry basket full of clean clothes and a care package put together by his mother, which usually consists of three or four grocery bags, he headed back each Sunday night, ready to tackle the next week of classes.
Kyle, a senior at Cony, is playing in his first high school play off game as a senior tri-captain. Other than a sprained ankle and seeing limited action for two games, Kyle has had a fantastic year playing outside linebacker on defense and left tackle on offense. He hardly ever comes off the field and loves every minute of it. Cony 7-2 hosts Brunswick 7-2 with Cony having the home field advantage because they beat Brunswick in the regular season. Game time is this Saturday 4 pm and you can trust, I will be there in red and white. What a fun season this has been! Win, lose or draw, I could not be more proud of this group, which includes coaches, players, managers, trainers, scouts, the band, cheerleaders, fans and parents. Hope I didn't leave anyone out, if I did, I will hear about it!
You all know, how we have lots of drawings. We draw two winners each week off our weekly newsletter question and we also draw monthly winners from people who have come into the restaurant during that month. Since we have been doing this, we have given away more than $13,500 dollars in $50 and $25 gift cards, representing over 385 winners. A lot of you have won and a lot of you have yet to win and I encourage you to keep playing because sooner or later, law of averages, will have you in the winners bracket.
I have heard from many customers who were directly affected by Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy, especially those from the New York/New Jersey area who were hit the hardest. You all remain in our thoughts and prayers. We all need to be thankful that none of our Dine-ah patrons received personal injury, at least I've heard of none, and we need to be very thankful for that. I think you would all agree, bricks and mortar can be rebuilt.
Just a reminder, that we set our clocks back this coming Sunday night. Also, I would like to encourage all of you, 18 years and older, to cast a vote this Tuesday in honor of all of those who have fought and died for this right. There is a lot at stake with us facing a $17 trillion dollar debt that must be dealt with in the very near future. If not, we are setting our children and grandchildren up for an uncertain future.
I would also like to welcome back Sherri and her sister Linda Poulin, who flew to Fort Worth, Texas to attend the induction of Sherri's daughter, Stacy Westfal, into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. Sherri said it was a fabulous event and one that she will remember for a lifetime. Congrats Mom, Stacy and Jesse for this unbelievable accomplishment! The timing could not have been better, arriving back in Maine prior to the cancellation of some 12,000 flights worldwide due to the storm.
Sherri, Jesse and Stacy
Linda, Sherri, Jesse, Stacy and their three boys
Halloween was a success at the Dine-ah with many little munchkins coming in for their treats.
Trick - or Treaters at the China Dine-ah last night
Dine-ah staff having a little Halloween fun!
