On the fence

[scottanlily]

Hello everyone,

been on the fence since I bought my 60 trdwnd. Decided I wanted to be friends with others that have the airstream passion .i am a vintage nut and wanted to go to vac rallys. I found out that I have to be a member to go to creede colorado in august ,only room for members they say ,60 trailer limit.I wanted to go as a guest ,I went to the silver trailer social in 2004 a non club event .We had a great time ,very enjoyable.I hope the wbcci and the vac will be fun.I want a children friendly atmosphere ,I hear the vac is more inclined to be more family oriented so thats the club i will check out with enthusiasm.
Sending out the membership forms.Going into the Tri County CA. unit 12 its in my area .Any thoughts?
Thanks
Scott

[Stefrobrts]

Hi Scott, we've also been to the silver trailer social, which is a spectacular party. It's full of people who have been alienated in some way or another by the WBCCI (or are not eligable because they do not have AS), which is too bad, because they were great folks and we had an awesome time!

I think you'll like the VAC. We also did the Rocky Mtn VAC rally one year, and it's too bad it's too far away to attend every year, because it was also an awesome party! The VAC IS where it's at

I hope you find your local unit is a good one too!

[dtbw]

As the President of the new unit (Heart of Texas Camping Unit: HOTC) and seeing that what we are doing down here is attracting a lot of interest, I thought I would chime in on this fence sitting discussion. From my perspective, the WBCCI is a lot like a church (in more ways than it should be, I might add). If you visit a church where the members are cold and distant, you scratch that congregation off the list and keep looking. The WBCCI is NOT about the IBT, the International officers, the pomp or the blue book. It is about the people and their Airstreams, which boils down to the local units. While there may not be many units in your area, look around. There were several existing units in our area, but we chose to formed a new unit as we were younger, had different ideas of what constituted a good time and felt it was better to create our own unit culture vs upending an existing unit which just might like things exactly as they were. We discussed the prospect over drinks over many months while sitting around campfires and finally, this past Dec, we unanimously voted to formalize our group as a new unit. As we already had more A/Ss joining our informal campouts than the required minimum number of rigs (10 required) the rest was procedural. We petitioned to our region president for a provisional charter (a simple letter). We crafted and adopted a Constitution and the associated Bylaws (CBL) that reflected our membership. We submitted our CBL to the WBCCI CBL committee and while vastly different than the "sample" WBCCI unit CBL, our CBL was greeted openly by the WBCCI CBL committee and their concerns were minor and easily accomodated by our membership. The last remaining step is a formal vote to be taken at the June 30 IBT meeting that will move us from provisional to fully chartered. The process from start to finish will have taken 6 months. In that time, we have continued to have monthly campouts and continue to gain new members and having a great time.

The biggest benefit to belonging to an active unit close to your expectations is that you will make the effort to use your A/S more often and you will enjoy it more. You will learn a lot from other members. Just getting away for a weekend with friends makes the effort involved, well spent. The club is going through a transition as an entirely new generation is discovering A/Ss and fun of camping. The club today is not what is was when Wally was alive, nor is it what it will be in the future. The club is the people actively involved in it, so get involved, you will not regret it.

David

[Alumaholic]

David,
Your post has given me a ray of hope. Having recently resigned as 1st VP of the NM Unit when I became a target of gossip and criticism when I advocated some modest changes, I've been trying to decide how to stay involved with the Vintage Airstream Club when I can no longer remain affilliated with this unit.

Your approach may be the answer if I can find nine more like minded Airstream owners who would rather visit beautiful places than hold meetings, have flag ceremonies, and wear vests, blazers, and berets. Can you email your CBL? My email address is klevan@lobo.net

Thanks,
Ken

[Airstream25]

Originally Posted by klevan

David,
Your post has given me a ray of hope. Having recently resigned as 1st VP of the NM Unit when I became a target of gossip and criticism when I advocated some modest changes, I've been trying to decide how to stay involved with the Vintage Airstream Club when I can no longer remain affilliated with this unit.
Your approach may be the answer if I can find nine more like minded Airstream owners who would rather visit beautiful places than hold meetings, have flag ceremonies, and wear vests, blazers, and berets. Can you email your CBL? My email address is klevan@lobo.net
Thanks,
Ken

Ken, you rascal,
This sounds interesting. You may only need 8 more.
Wonder if it would be possible to vote on prospective members instead of anyone with an AS & $65 gets in?

[Alumaholic]

Darn! Busted by the Membership Chairman of the NM Unit.

[dtbw]

If you checkout the WBCCI CBL, you will find that it specifically prohibits any requirements other than A/S ownership as defined in that same document being imposed on members.

Our unit has no desire to discriminate against anyone, but at the same time, we want to ensure that prospective members are not under false illusions or expectations. We specifically chose to include the word "Camping" in our unit name as it speaks volumes as to what we represent. Our camping format along with the requirement that any prospective member read and agree to our CBL before joining the unit creates all the vetting process that we feel is necessary.

If anyone wants to see a copy of our CBL, PM me with your email address and I will gladly forward a copy.


david