From: Dave Ball (vought@msn.com)
Date: Sat Jun 01 2002 - 15:06:29 PDT
Jack have I met you.... I have been to every Woodson Bridge meet. I do not
recall meeting you. I have been in the MVCC and MVPA for nineteen years
nothing changes same complaints same suggestions.
The last time a major change was made was when we moved from Patterson to
Big Bear (Waterford) park.
That was a disaster at the time and many people still have not returned.
Patterson is now forgotten by most.
In the twenty years I have been in the club I have seen many of the original
members come and go and a few have passed away and are missed.
I have heard the complaint if we do not get more people to join we will fade
away. The fact is this has not been true. I have seen this club maintain a
constant growth of new members all along. The problem is retaining and
keeping new members interested and getting them involved.
There has always been a problem with participation there is a part of the
club that participates and a part that sits on the fence.
I can tell you from experience it is hard to get involved in this group
because of the scattered interests and small cliques it takes some work to
find a cliques to fit into with a warm welcome.
This club leadership needs to provide group activities involving the
vehicles to get the club to focus as a group and the leadership as you can
read in the newsletters many times is always looking for someone to take on
this responsibility. The board does a good job of giving us a place to get
together but that's is all and that's why the membership needs to step up
and take charge the VP'S do not feel it is there job to provide us with
activities at these meets although some do try very hard.
Over the years the club has gone in many directions to give a couple of
examples the communications (radio) collectors and uniform and contraband
collectors these splinter groups detract from the clubs main focus and make
it hard for the new members who join to see the clear common military
vehicle collectors group.
There are so many small groups within the main body of our vehicle club that
even the leadership is fostering them unknowingly by allowing this to
continue unchecked.
Do not get me wrong I have nothing against these splinter groups but they
are not our focus and hurt our clubs ability to retain members who join to
be with others with similar interests.
Not so many years ago this club was a Northern Cal club and a Southern Cal
club with districts broken out under these umbrellas. This club is now
spread out far and wide and it is a tough job for those in the board
positions to exact any measure of control over even a small part of there
home districts let alone the overall club and most change is slow and
littered with stumbling blocks.
I would like to say most of the positive change has been started within the
participating body of the club while the fence sitters sit and watch
mumbling to themselves. Please do get involved this is my advice to all
members of our club if you want to do a parade through Chico do it I am sure
a bunch of us would be willing to follow (although in my old Dodge you
better keep a eye on me in your mirror you are liable to lose me between
third and fourth gear on flat land and second and third on hills) I have
come to believe it is up to the individual who in this case is you to make
change happen. If you think posting notices will help go do it who is
stopping you most of the things you want to see happen only need someone to
take on the job this is of course yourself. That said I will tell you my
thoughts on the early departures... There have always been the Dealers both
business and the Garage clean up verity they are needed to keep are wallets
empty and our vehicles moving they will stay as long as they make money. The
members who come for the party leave when the party dies in the last ten
years this has been Friday or Saturday depending on which splinter group you
belong to. Some of us feel the party has fizzled because gone are the days
of blackout night parades and the late night war movies and beer busts
although some of us still do party until the wee hours it is still a very
small number and for the most part these exploits are read about in the
newsletter in disbelief because it all went on while most were sleeping or
at home having left early. For those that show up Friday after work it can
be a real bummer because they miss the party altogether.
It is easy to sit on the fence and talk so come on down those "old folks" (I
am 44) have been waiting a long time for someone to help pump some life into
the events even if for only a short time
If you need a bull horn to rally the vehicles for your parade come on down
to site 34 I will give you a hand you may want to warn Chico of the invasion
in advance.
By the way June 13,14,15 and 16 is the annual Casa De Fruita get together
dust off your truck and come on out. for more info see this link:
http://www.mvccnews.net/UpcomingEvents.htm
Thanks
Dave Ball
vought@msn.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <JaxInCalifornia@aol.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 01, 2002 10:57 AM
Subject: [MV] Open letter: Suggestions for Woodson's Bridge
> One of the main reasons for holding mil-veh events has to be to show off
your vehicle, right? C'mon you know it is. So why not make the public feel
more welcome? I'm speaking to the people who promote Woodson Bridge.
>
> Little bit about the place:
>
> The Woodson Bridge area is located near Corning in Northern California. We
camp at a private camp ground adjacent to the Sacramento River. About 150+
sites are available, including the overflow, so it's cozy, but adequate.
It's mostly shady with a paved road circling 70% of the camp sites.
Electrical and water handy at each camping spot. They have the "usual have
not been repaired or upgraded in 30 years" bathrooms and showers. You know
the kind, where you flush the toilet and somebody in the shower stall next
door screams... but it's what we are used too isn't it?
>
> My suggestion (again) would be to have a heads up notice that goes out to
local TV stations and have postings in the local Corning, Chico and Oroville
papers giving the nature of the event and inviting the public. Should be
about a week ahead. Some fliers around these town at auto parts stores would
also help, 6-8 weeks ahead.
>
> I feel we have really fallen down on the job when it comes to properly
publicizing our event. We seem to be drifting more to the commercial end. A
few commerical venders show up on Wed., sell things to collectors then pack
up and go home by Friday, just part of their work week. Some of the MVCC,
MVPA types are starting to do the same, it's getting to be a pattern to
leave on Friday. In that respect it's my humble opinion that we're losing
sight of what it is to have fun at these things and cater to the public.
>
> A Sat. trail ride around the river bottoms (public invited) would be fun.
A Sat. MV show in the park just off the highway would be great too. We ought
to have an "official notice" of an MV parade SAT (maybe after 5 pm). How
about touring CHICO, instead of Corning just to be different? Corning is
like this rush thru town and that's it..you blink and you miss it. Chico
would flip out to see these vehicles show up in a caravan...especially if we
could stop and park for an hour where people could see them up close!
>
> Just too many people are packing up and going home on SAT. and this is
rediculous because we are missing out on so much that would be good for the
hobby. Most people work during the week, many even work on Sat., but I know
MV people have to use Sun. to drive home, so a little compromise will have
to be in order and make Sat., the big day.
>
> Look, if we don't encourage new people to join us we won't have any events
in 10 years around here. My hats off to the old gang, we owe them a lot and
they did a great job for a long time, but they seem to be less motivated
with every passing year and we need to pump some life into these events or
watch them phase out. Note I truly mean no disrespect to the older folks the
started this, I'm just saying we also need some younger players, with a lot
of energy and enthusiasm to carry it forward into the next decade. I
realize I said this last year and the year before... well, thanks for
indulging me... again!
>
> That's my 2 cents worth, ok I is ready to be flamed.
>
> Jack Lee
> (Chico- CA)
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Fri Aug 16 2002 - 11:22:31 PDT