Dinners for Eight

WHAT IS DINNERS FOR EIGHT?
Dinners for Eight is an opportunity for the people of Downtown Presbyterian – both members and visitors – to build relationships and get to know one another over a meal.  We hope that Dinners for Eight will help build a strong community within Downtown Pres. 

HOW DOES IT WORK?
To sign up for Dinners for Eight is to commit to one dinner with seven other people, some or all of whom you may not know.  Once each quarter, you are able to sign up for the next round of Dinners for Eight via the home page of our website.  When you submit your name, you are only signing up for one round of Dinners for Eight.  If you want to participate in the next quarter, you will need to sign up again, which means that you are only committing to one dinner at a time.  Each quarter, the groups will change and you will get the chance to sign up to eat with a different group of eight people.  A leader from each group is randomly designated, and that person is responsible for emailing or calling the group to set up a date and time for everyone to eat dinner together sometime within the next three months. 

WHERE DO WE EAT?
The leader can choose whether the group will eat in his/her home, someone else’s home, or at a restaurant.  Sometimes local restaurants may offer incentives (such as a free appetizer) to bring your Dinners for Eight group to their restaurant within the designated time period.  (If this is the case for a particular quarter, the leader of your group will be informed of that option.)  We do not want leaders of the groups to feel as though they must invite everyone into their home, although eating with someone in his/her home can be a fun way to build intimate community.  If the leader chooses to eat in his/her home, he/she can ask the group members to bring various elements of the meal when they arrive.  (Group leaders receive detailed emails with suggestions for how to plan the dinner.)

WHEN DO WE SIGN-UP?
Summer sign-ups start June 15 and end June 29 (to eat with your group once during July-August)
Fall sign-ups start  August 15 and end September 15 (to eat with your group once during September-November)
Spring sign-ups start March 15 and end April 11 (to eat with your group once during April-May) 

If you have any questions about Dinners for Eight, contact Mary Ellen Kistler at marykistler@gmail.com.