Board page for the 127th Army-Navy Game watch party. Tonight's vote is the caterer. The venue is agreed with IOWA in principle; the contract waits on this one decision so we sign once.
Walk the live site instead of a sheet: LAOC on Link (the suite) · Game Day on Link (the event inside it) →
Venue: agreed in principle. Battleship IOWA fantail, Saturday 12 December, block 09:00–16:00, guests 11:00–16:00. The venue portion is $4,120.40 and already carries the $792 bar labor whichever bar model we choose. IOWA's terms: a refundable security deposit plus 50% at signing, the balance and the certificate of insurance by 12 November.
What waits on tonight: who serves the meal. Two quotes, both dated 7 October, both for the same deck and the same day. Choose one and the Secretary signs this week.
Offering by offering, with last year beside them (Suzanne's 2025 agreement, 250 guests, 13 Dec 2025):
| IOWA onboard catering | Suzanne's Catering | Last year (Suzanne's, 2025) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entrée | Fajitas, half chicken and half carne asada, $27 a head | Chicken fajitas, lunch buffet at $25.95 a head | Chicken fajitas, $25.95 a head |
| Sides | The fajita plate as proposed (Proposals A and B) | Mexi rice and refried beans, chips and salsa, Pepito Caesar salad | The same buffet: rice and beans, chips and salsa, Pepito Caesar |
| Appetizers | Wings, 2 BBQ + 2 Buffalo trays; jalapeño poppers, 2; mozzarella sticks, 1 | None | None |
| Dessert | Chocolate brownies, 2 dozen (tiramisu $50 and macarons $25 are among the four alternates in the total) | Assorted sheet cakes, $450 at 250 and $500 at 300 | None (left to the client) |
| Coffee and soft drinks | Coffee 2 gal, hot chocolate, hot tea and iced tea 1 gal each, orange and cranberry juice 2 gal | By IOWA, not in her quote | By IOWA |
| Bar | IOWA's bar either way; the $792 bar labor is in the venue portion whichever model we choose. If alcohol is served, the meal must come from IOWA in-house or one of its curated caterers, and no outside alcohol comes aboard. | ||
| Service and staff | 20% service fee on food and bar labor | 4 staff for 6 hours at $32 plus $400 gratuity; service 11:00–15:00, aboard 09:00 | 4 staff for 6 hours at $30 plus $400 gratuity ($1,120) |
| Fees | None beyond the service fee | IOWA's 15% outside-caterer fee on the food, $973 at 250 | IOWA fee $973 |
| Tax | 9.75% on food | 9.5% on everything | 9.5%, $815.15 |
| Terms | Final counts 72 hours before service; one contract and one invoice with the venue; check, or card via Square with a 3% fee | $500 non-refundable deposit with the signed agreement; the count can change until 7 days out, then becomes the minimum; 3.75% on cards (ACH or check still unanswered); her draft's signature line reads 10/7/2025 and the client name needs correcting | $500 non-refundable; count adjustable to 7 days out; 3.75% on cards |
| Track record | First time catering the chapter; the ship, a 501(c)(3), asked for the business and the money stays aboard | Served 250 on this deck last year; asks for less money up front | Delivered as agreed |
The numbers, food and service before insurance and the raffle. IOWA's quote includes four alternates worth $317.89 with service and tax; both cases are shown.
| IOWA as quoted | IOWA without alternates | Suzanne's | Last year (2025) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food at 250 guests | $10,133.50 | $9,815.61 | $9,940.96 | $9,395.65 |
| per guest | $40.53 | $39.26 | $39.76 | $37.58 |
| change on last year | +7.9% | +4.5% | +5.8% (+0.6% without the sheet cake) | — |
| Food at 300 guests | $11,885.14 | $11,567.25 | $11,630.00 | — |
| per guest | $39.62 | $38.56 | $38.77 | — |
| All in with the venue, 250 | $14,253.90 | $13,936.01 | $14,061.36 | — |
| All in with the venue, 300 | $16,005.54 | $15,687.65 | $15,750.40 | — |
| IOWA as quoted less Suzanne's | +$192.54 at 250 (+1.4%) · +$255.14 at 300 (+1.6%) | |||
| Average ticket to break even at 200 sold | $66.07 | — | $65.70 | — |
On cost the two paths are within 2% of each other and within 8% of last year. What differs is the plate: IOWA serves two proteins, seven appetizer trays, hot and cold drinks and brownies; Suzanne's serves one protein with rice, beans, salad and chips, and sheet cake, with no appetizers or coffee. Last year's $9,395.65 bought the Suzanne's buffet with no dessert.
IOWA onboard catering for 250 guests, with the additions modified as the board sees fit, and the flexibility to adjust the details up to the catering freeze so that the food does not exceed 110% of last year's cost: $9,395.65 in 2025, so a ceiling of $10,335.22. IOWA as quoted at 250 is $10,133.50 (+7.9%), inside the ceiling; without the four alternates it is $9,815.61 (+4.5%).
If ticket sales forecast the need, the count goes to 300 at the freeze. One vendor, one contract, one invoice with the venue; the money stays on the ship.
A cash bar. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate and juice come with IOWA's catering, so guests who want a drink pay for it; the $792 bar labor is already in the venue portion and a cash bar adds nothing to the ticket.
Moved: that the chapter engage [IOWA onboard catering · Suzanne's Catering] for the 12 December watch party on the 7 October quote for [250 · 300] guests, [with · without] the alternates, and authorize the Secretary to sign the IOWA venue contract and pay the deposit this week. Counts freeze the week of the event, ahead of IOWA's 72-hour deadline or Suzanne's 7-day minimum; guests choose their entrée when they buy a ticket.
IOWA's two proposals (250 and 300 guests, venue and food together) arrived from Kevin Borough on 7 Oct. Suzanne's two quotes (250 and 300) arrived the same day. The side-by-side is below, in the same shape as last year's numbers.
IOWA re-generated the proposal in its own system with our corrections: Saturday 12 December, the 09:00–16:00 fantail block, Ron Helms as contact, the chapter's legal name. Every venue line and price is unchanged from 14 Aug: $4,120.40, and that figure includes the bar labor. IOWA's named contact on the proposal is now Hall Roosevelt; Kevin Borough still does the correspondence.
The September milestone was a signed contract and a submitted deposit. Neither has happened; both wait on tonight's caterer decision, because IOWA's proposal now carries the food. IOWA wants 50% of the contract plus a refundable security deposit at signing (last year's deposit was $500; this year's amount is unconfirmed), and the balance and the certificate of insurance by 12 November.
Kevin (24 Sep): Vicky's restaurant itself serves hot dogs only. The catering menu is IOWA's onboard catering, prepared ahead and served hot when we want it. That is how IOWA covers 250 to 300 guests. His answers of 8 Oct: 12 oz coffee cups; drinks can be added on the day and charged by card; brownies can be quartered with lead time; at 300 he would add chips and guacamole, spinach dip or more wings. Whether the macarons contain almond is still pending.
The whole ship is in the studio: tables on the covered fantail, welcome and entry on the starboard side, the bar and the way to the heads on the port side, food forward of the LED wall. Every service block can be moved. Open the studio and sign in with your chapter email. Its cost model still runs on September's assumptions; the figures on this page are the quotes.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Fantail steel deck, weekend block 09:00–16:00 | $2,000.00 |
| Bar labor (IOWA's line reads "additional hosted bar, F&B labor"; it is the bar staffing whichever bar model we choose) | $792.00 |
| IOWA security, 2 staff × 8 h @ $60 | $480.00 |
| Event porter, 4 h @ $60 | $240.00 |
| Tablecloths, 25 @ $10 (25 round tables and 250 chairs included at no charge) | $250.00 |
| A/V production (LED wall included at no charge) | $200.00 |
| Service fee (20% of the bar labor) | $158.40 |
| Venue portion | $4,120.40 |
| Optional: certificate of insurance through IOWA's special-event policy | $107.00 |
Terms: refundable security deposit plus 50% of the contract at signing; final balance and the certificate of insurance due 30 days before the event (by 12 November). Check, or card via Square with a 3% fee. Parking in the Port of LA lot is first hour free, then $2/h to a $24 max; validated parking can be arranged. IOWA contact on the proposal: Hall Roosevelt, hroosevelt@labattleship.com. Corporate relations: Kevin Borough, kborough@labattleship.com, 703-401-2706.
Cash bar. Soft drinks, coffee and tea come with the catering; the bar labor is already paid in the venue portion; nothing is added to the ticket.
The bar labor is the $792 line in the venue portion, whichever model we choose. The decision is who pays for the drinks: the guest at the bar, or the ticket.
Recommendation to discuss: cash bar, so the ticket covers venue, food and the soft drinks already in the catering. Kevin to confirm the $792 line staffs a cash bar as it does a hosted one.
Cost by guests served, venue (with bar labor), food, insurance and the $500 raffle budget. Each guest costs about $35 in food, service and tax on the IOWA quote; everything else is fixed at about $6,100.
| Guests served | 200 | 250 | 300 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IOWA | $13,109.25 | $14,860.88 | $16,612.50 |
| Suzanne's + venue | $13,034.62 | $14,668.49 | $16,302.37 |
The event breaks even on 200 tickets, not on a full deck. The average ticket that does it:
| IOWA | Suzanne's | |
|---|---|---|
| Average ticket to break even at 200 sold | $66.07 | $65.70 |
| At a $66 average, 250 sold | +$1,526 | +$1,625 |
| At a $66 average, 300 sold | +$3,051 | +$3,250 |
Every ticket past 200 pays its own catering and clears about $31 for the chapter. Stripe's uncovered share of about 50 cents a ticket is included. Raffle sales, sponsorships and any hosted-bar adder are not; a hosted bar adds its per-person price straight onto the ticket.
Tickets needed to break even, by average price (IOWA quote; Suzanne's within a few tickets of each row):
| $60 | $65 | $70 | $75 | $80 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 249 | 207 | 177 | 155 | 138 |
Tiered pricing (front row at a premium, stern tables below the average) raises the average without raising the floor; the studio models the tiers.
Ticket sales by 1 November. The September options:
Recommendation: (a), for 1 November. The generic engine is the form (b) takes after (a) opens registration; both can coexist, the ledger recording the Stripe-hosted purchases first.
Ticketing needs four things:
The chapter's site becomes the first instance of Link's community template: the same proven surfaces that ran Vets Whole In One's events, made aware of which community they serve and born for the chapter by the platform's emitter, on the chapter's own host, with the chapter's own database. Members buy their ticket online with their entrée and seat zone, arrive by QR, see their table on their phone, and staff run the day from one console. National gets the attendance report in its own format. Nothing is shown as working that is not.
External dates that remain: Tue 13 Oct, the vote; by 1 Nov, tickets live (Paris's milestone); week of 7 Dec, counts freeze; Sat 12 Dec, game day.
That the board accept the Army/Navy 2026 plan: the caterer and menu as decided tonight; ticket sales online through Stripe-hosted checkout with entrée choice and seat zone; the bar model as decided; the price and tiers as decided on the 200-ticket floor; and the platform plan above; the Secretary to execute, report progress at the November meeting, and bring the financial close to the board after the event.
| Step | Status |
|---|---|
| Tenant row, chapter templates, admin emails, staff, board members 6 staff, 9 board members on the tenant | DONE |
| Event row evt_LAOC_ARMYNAVY_20261212 Active, pre_event, capacity 300 | DONE |
| Org-aware event link kinds and an /armynavy short redirect By 1 Nov: one line in _redirects; the QR payload already points at /register/?event=... | NEXT |
| Surfaces: landing, register, console in chapter colors And more: checkin, portal, rsvp, photo, staff, board, minutes, meeting runner, studio, gameday | DONE |
| Sender identity laoc@link.onamerica.org and chapter confirmation template Branded sign-in and confirmation verified by real sends | DONE |
| Board room seeded; June 10 minutes as the first ratified record August minutes await ratification 13 Oct; September's not yet drafted | DONE |
| Ticketing per decision 3 After the board's vote on 13 Oct; Stripe account opened the night of the vote (Treasurer's go-ahead 27 Sep); registration live by 1 Nov with entrée choice | NEXT |
| Attendance and roster export in national's column shape Export when national answers: required columns, cadence, export rights, API credential | WAITING |
| Flyer: QR and short link from the event link service, delivered to the board By 1 Nov with the price | NEXT |
Dates: board vote Tue 13 Oct; Stripe account opened the night of the vote; /armynavy short link and flyer by 1 Nov; registration live by 1 Nov with entrée choice; export when national answers.
Board meetings are the second Tuesday of each month (changed at the August meeting).
The national board of trustees made myUSNA.com the official platform for reporting active chapter membership. myUSNA is where membership is purchased; this platform is where members register and check in. The event's registration link will be posted on myUSNA, and attendance will be exported in whatever form national's report requires. Three questions go to chapter services: required report columns and cadence, whether chapter admins can export the member list, and whether a chapter-scoped API credential is possible.