Doug makes excellent sense. Another powerful ally would be the VFW. Many
VFW posts have a static display of armor or artillery outside their meeting
hall; they certainly would have a sentimental interest in preserving some of
the vehicles they served with and would understand our fascination with
them.
Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas Greville" <dgrev@mail.ruralnet.net.au>
To: "Military Vehicles List" <mil-veh@skylee.com>
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2000 10:23 PM
Subject: [MV] Where to from here - after HR4205?
> To me, the MVPA has very little chance of winning this battle. It is in
> the scale of things (USA where most things are BIG) a very small
> organisation. In all probability the Barbie Doll Collectors Club
> or the Coca-Cola Memorabilia Collectors Club has 10 times the number of
> members and 10 times the political voice.
> Until the MVPA can align itself with another organisation, one of common
> interest BUT one with clout, or have powerful friends in the right
> places, it will be treated as a voice in the wilderness. I really don't
> think it has the funds to go down the "paid lobbyist" path for very long.
>
> This is a very good opportunity to prove to the disillusioned and/or
> former members that it is not "just a Jeep club" and to repair the
> damage that has been done. Amongst not only the armour owners (who
> remember quite well several emails to this list from an "official"
> MVPA source when this Form 6 business first reared its ugly head
> saying "we aren't concerned about armor, what worries us is if
> they ban the import of Jeeps" (loose quote from memory).
> But also amongst the owners of "M" series vehicles whether they be
> soft, hard, wheeled or tracked.
>
> I suggest that a good ally would be the EAA.
>
> Why? Ever been to the Oshkosh Air Show? You only need to look at what is
> around you to know that the big boys are playing with the big toys.
> The EAA air show is to the aviation enthusiast what Beltring is to us.
> Lots of people travel from all over the world to attend and it is hugely
> successful. A very significant reason for this success is the draw card
> of ex-military "heavy metal" aeroplanes. The EAA is well aware of this
> fact, although most of their membership is from general aviation, they
> know what brings the people there and thus the dollars in.
> The difference is that although there is just as big a mix of people in
> the membership as what we see in our hobby,
> there is also a high representation of those with big dollars and
> high connections. Your average man in the street doesn't own
> a P-51 Mustang fighter or build and fly his own aeroplane, the richer
> end of town does.
>
> In years past there was always a HMV representation at Oshkosh, although
> for some reason, for the 2 years I attended, in the 1980's there was none,
> although when I asked, the organisers of the air show had been expecting
> "the army jeep guys". Surely someone on this list lives in Oshkosh,
> Manitowoc or elsewhere nearby and can tell us if there is still HMV
> representation at the air show?
>
> When the EAA (especially the number of members it
> represents and who they are) starts making noises I would expect those
> in power are far more likely to listen, what better if they can also
> say "what about these guys that own ex-military vehicles?". I won't be at
> all surprised if there is some clause inserted in this new legislation
> that allows for ex-mil aeroplanes, but will there be one for vehicles?
>
> As most of us know, any hobby is about networking and unfortunately, I
> think the survival of this one depends on networking too, but with
> the right people outside of our immediate hobby.
>
> What about the vintage car movement for another?
>
> I am CC'ing this email to the MVPA in the hope that the full board will
> read it.
>
> Regards
> Doug
>
>
>
> ===Mil-Veh is a member-supported mailing list===
> To unsubscribe, send e-mail to: <mil-veh-off@skylee.com>
> To switch to the DIGEST mode, send e-mail to <mil-veh-digest@skylee.com>
> To reach a human, contact <help@skylee.com>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Sep 02 2000 - 09:32:36 PDT