Dear fellow Restaurant Industry Professionals,

We have an exciting, challenging year ahead of us. As the newly elected president of the Dare County Restaurant Association, I am excited to serve you as an officer and I am looking forward to advancing our ambitious '05-'06 agenda. Our Association is currently pursuing an array of opportunities aimed at further increasing the value of membership.

Our first meeting for the general membership is Tuesday, September 13th at 3:00 pm at Kelly's.

This letter is my personal invitation to you - to let me know what your Restaurant Association can do for you. Please plan on attending this meeting. Our mission here at the DCRA is to represent, educate and promote our vibrant, diverse restaurant industry community. To excel at this, it is very important that we communicate about the issues that are important to our members. With your participation, we can present a united message to our local governments as we help shape the future of our communities and our industry.

Here are just a few of the initiatives and projects we are developing:

Representation - With local elections coming up on November 8th, the DCRA is seeking candidates to speak at our October meeting.

Promotion - Our marketing committee is preparing an advertising and promotional messages and a media campaign aimed at maximizing its delivery.

Education - Informative speakers are already lining up for the few coveted opportunities to speak to our members.

Events - DCRA will host a reception for newly elected officials and our entire membership within ten days of the election in November. We will prepare a tree for the Festival of Trees and then host our fundraiser/restaurant-awareness event Taste of the Beach in the spring.

Please also find the attached "Who We Are" document for more information about our purpose and our accomplishments.

We have also attached the new '05-'06 membership form so we can update your contact information, etc. The dues remain $75 for the year and are due now 2006 or your membership.

I look forward to seeing you at the general membership meeting on Tuesday, September 13th at 3:00 pm at Kelly's. If you can not make it, please send an employee in your place. And if you know of another restaurant owner of industy partner that is not already a member, please encourage them to attend as well. I intend in following in Jeff Metcalf's fine footsteps by attempting to run efficient, productive meetings that stick to a schedule.

Sincerely,

Ben Sproul,

President

The Dare County Restaurant Association's mission is to represent, educate and promote our vibrant, diverse restaurant industry community.