After our column about the Brattle Theater’s Trailer Treats show, and noting my disappointment at the lack of a decent food spread this year, the Brattle’s creative director, Ned Hinkle, wrote to tell me what happened with the barbeque for the show.
Ned explained what happened thusly:
Regarding the the omission of the bbq… What can I say, we were disappointed as well. The food at the event has always been donated gratis by local institutions but, for some reason, no bbq joint in the area was willing or able to donate the food we needed. We contacted everywhere that has donated in the past (and a couple of new spots) and it just wasn’t going to happen. With that in mind we did the best we could do under the circumstances. If we were to actually pay to have the event catered it would cost at least another $10 per person and we just didn’t think that charging over $20 for the event was feasible. Next year, if we can’t get donations again, we might have to charge for food or something so that we can return Trailer Treats to its former glory. (Although, I love the cheeseball hot dog machine so we might keep that around.) Anyway, sorry you were disappointed.
As I told Ned in my letter, it was good to hear what happened, and that we hoped the Brattle would have better luck next year. And SHAME ON YOU if you were contacted by the Brattle and wouldn’t donate your services – the Trailer Treats show is a wonderful promotional opportunity, and even though the economy is a bit fragile, it still wouldn’t have hurt you to take advantage of the free publicity! So once again, SHAME ON YOU….you know who you are…
Ned, thanks for the letter and explanation! And we wish the Brattle better luck in finding a willing company next year.