California Room Reviews

Hi Ken & Jen,

It’s our policy to rebut reviews we think are inaccurate. I have posted the email chain below for readers to decide if your review of us has merit. The irony of this is your first amendment right to post your review verses my first amendment right to have a bumper sticker in my private office on the back side of my door.
Secondly, I would ask readers to note how you contradict yourself through out the conversations wanting to hire our facility, admitting unlikely someone would see the sticker and that your guest will be a mix of trump supporters present.

My conclusion is you left the review when your plan to press us on this matter backfired.

Let the readers decide.

Thank you
Jeff Crocker

---- 12/04/2019 08:49 PM redrider***@gmail.com wrote ----
Hello,

My name is Jen, you had met with me and my fiance Ken a few weeks back. We were considering a September wedding. We really liked the venue but there was one thing that kind of worried us. My fiance had noticed a Trump sticker on the inside of your back room door. I acknowledge its unlikely anyone would see it during the event. But it still might be seen. I'm bisexual, and we'll have people of different ethnicities, sexual orientations and genders present. I need them all to feel 100% welcome. If we were to book your venue, would you be willing to keep it covered for the duration of the event?

Hope to hear from you soon,
-Jennifer Bailey

Replied:

Hi Jen,

Thank you for your questions. I would not be willing to remove things from our private office where we believe guest would not be. I understand you taking your wedding to another venue because of this. I would however point out your judgment could not be farther from the truth here. If you had looked on our face book page you will see, we have hosted "drag shows" for years here and have hosted many same sex marriages’ here too. I also employ all female bartenders at this time. Two of the bartenders are married to each other. It’s a shame a political sticker can invoke so much misinformation. I hope that in the future you be truly accepting of things rather than the ones that fit only your tolerances.
I wish you both well.


Thank you,

Jeff Crocker
The California Room Inc.
290 Derry Road
Hudson, NH 03051
603-578-9900



Response:

From: Kenneth Belsito


Good Afternoon,

Let me begin by clarifying that we have no interest in you removing the sticker. All we're asking is that it be covered. A piece of paper taped up would serve fine. Let me further state that your parting shot regarding my fiance's tolerances is out of line. Our wedding is going to be two months before a contentious election, we will have guests from both sides of the political divide at our wedding, and want to keep the entire topic of politics as far from our event as possible. We will have Trump supporters present, we will also have guests who have, in recent months, been physically assaulted by trump supporters. It isn't misinformation to say that friends of mine, who will be at my wedding have been physically harmed over this topic. It is also not misinformation to say that my fiancee and I have both been harassed by trump supporters personally, despite this we maintain close relationships with people on both sides of the aisle, and in the interest of avoiding arguments among our guests we're asking that political markers be hidden.

The fact that you've hosted same sex marriages, and employ women is immaterial to our efforts to avoid this topic intruding on our event. If the door to that room is opened for any purpose, including changing lighting, sound, etc, it is visible from the main room. We're not asking for any permanent changes to your grounds, just a piece of paper and some tape to ensure that our guests have no unnecessary reminders of the topic. I will admit, I've never understood businesses owners that felt it was appropriate to broadcast their political views, on either side. It always seemed to me like it would be bad for business, because no matter which side you fall on you alienate half your potential customers, and employees.

I'm sorry that a simple request like this made you feel like we were judging you. If anything this should highlight how contentious a matter it is, and underscore our interest in avoiding such tensions at our wedding. By all indications, these matters are only going to get worse as we get closer to the election,

and for this one day, we would prefer to keep the whole matter as far as possible from everyone's minds. If you would be amenable, we can move forward.

Best Regards,
Kenneth Belsito

Our Reply:


Hi Kenneth,

Unfortunately, we would not be able move forward on your request. We wish you success in your endeavors.

Thank you,

Jeff Crocker

The California Room Inc.
290 Derry Road
Hudson, NH, 03051
603-578-9900