<VV> Why I ran for the CORSA Board 28 Years ago

[mioanes at woh.rr.com]

Amen, Pete!  I have stayed out of this discussion so far, but will give my .02...For many years I have been a CORSA member, but not a member of a (my) local club.  There is an active club right in my hometown of Dayton, and I did belong to it for 3 or so years.  I was never able to attend the regular meetings but did go to the Christmas party,the picnic and, one year, the pizza party.  After not attending any function for a year, I let my membership lapse.  If I had to be a member of a local club, I wouldn't quit CORSA but might not join the Dayton club, either. Do I think mandating that all local chapter members be CORSA members and vice-versa is a good idea?  Personally, no.  I share Pete's opinion that people should see the advantge of being CORSA members.

Mike Ioanes 
---- peter koehler <pkoehler01 at atlanticbb.net> wrote: 
> I have read most of the comments here on VV about the BoD 
> and the dues increase and mandatory CORSA membership etc. 
> I would like to express my feelings specifically about the 
> mandatory membership rule. My first exposure to the 
> "organized" part of the Corvair Hobby was toward the end 
> of the 1970's. I was introduced to the Chicagoland Corvair 
> Enthusiasts car club and eventually joined them. At first 
> I was the "sponsor" so they could use a GM facility for 
> their meetings. I guess you could say that one thing lead 
> to another and the rest is history.
> 
> My first exposure to CORSA was not the greatest. I had 
> heard of a National Convention in Michigan (1979) and 
> since my wife was a native we packed up our infant son and 
> headed to Detroit in our 1960 700 sedan. With no seat 
> belts. Try that today! When we arrived at the host hotel 
> in Southfield we were turned away at the registration desk 
> because we were not CORSA members. There was no effort to 
> recruit me so I could join the festivities. Just beat it - 
> you're not a member and only members are welcome. So we 
> drove away in our little 1960 Corvair.
> 
> About this same time there was a lot of chatter about 
> making CORSA membership mandatory for insurance reasons or 
> whatever. Sound familiar? My good friend Larry Claypool 
> wanted to get elected to the Board so he could help direct 
> this discussion. His first attempt failed because not 
> enough CCE members were also dues-paying and voting CORSA 
> members. We fixed that for the next election in true 
> Chicago style. We bought votes. I joined CORSA 
> specifically so I could vote for Larry. I guess now they'd 
> let me go to their conventions...
> 
> The following year there was still a lot of chatter about 
> mandatory CORSA membership and all of the related banter. 
> So I decided to run for the Board so I, too could voice 
> the opinion that Corvair enthusiasts should come to the 
> decision that CORSA membership is a good thing for them. 
> They should not join CORSA because there was a rule that 
> said they HAD to. Maybe I was younger and more of an 
> idealist back then. But look at it this way: We are a 
> group of people who profess to be rugged individualists. 
> We like Corvairs because they are different. We don't 
> people telling us what cars to like. Heck, there was a 
> Yale educated Lawyer (Barrister, for my Canadian friends) 
> who told us flat out that these cars were no good. They 
> were dangerous. Don't drive them! You will get hurt! Did 
> we listen to him? No. We made up our own minds. And that 
> is what Corvair people like to do. That is why I ran for 
> the Board 28 years ago.
> 
> I found my reason to join CORSA. We should continue to try 
> to help non-members find that reason. In the interim we 
> should find an alternate path to fiscal responsibility. Is 
> a dues increase the only answer? No, but it may have been 
> the best solution to the current situation. Not being 
> privy to all of the data I would not want to profess to 
> know the answer, but I'm sure the BoD is working every 
> angle. Mandatory membership might be a simple solution, 
> but it is a very complex set of issues. I think we should 
> keep searching for a better fix.- Respectfully, Pete 
> Koehler; former Board member, former Executive Committee 
> member and former CORSA President
>  _______________________________________________
>