All,
Please allow this California Gentile to share his thoughts on the planned JTF gettogether a month from now.
1: I don't necessarily think that planning it to coincide with the Israel Day Parade would automatically be the best idea. Do we really want to compete with the IDP? Many Jews will be wrapped-up in activities pertaining to it or else will be winding down after a long day and not really be in the mood to schmooze some more. Moreover, should JTF even endorse the IDP? Many (if not most) participants in it will be secular leftists of the "Oh pwetty pweez let us keep pre-1967 Israel!!!" variety--obviously not JTF material. Of course some participants will be real right-wing Zionists, but again, for many of them it will be a busy and hectic day.
2: Unfortunately we need to face the fact that the real best days to have such a thing are Shabbat days. Perhaps the answer would be to split it into two gettogethers: one for Gentile and non-observant Jewish members, another for religious Jewish members. That way more people would be able to attend at least one of the gettogethers. Of course, we would never encourage any Jew to violate the Sabbath, but by planning a both Gentile and religious Jewish gettogether, we would enable people to exercise free will and conscience.
3: I honestly think the drive-home-on-a-worknight concern is not the biggest one we face. The only real ways to avoid this problem would be having the meeting on a Friday or Saturday (out of the question because of Shabbat) or a Sunday morning (when some Gentile members would conceivably be attending church, or else people would be recharging for the only day they have to do so in the week). If people want to attend a JTF meeting, they will. I would sacrifice a couple hours of sleep for a JTF gettogether and I assume that most of us would too.
4: For the most part I agree with Chaim that a Queens meeting would be preferable to a Long Island meeting on the basis of geographic location and affordability, but I don't think that LI should completely be ruled out if a good, affordable restaurant can be found.
SerbAvenger