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Attention Region and Chapters!
By Sharon M. Lee |
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I just received my report from Headquarters and there are 55 delinquent Regions & Chapters. What do I mean by delinquent? We now have a total of 394 Regions and Chapters; 331 Regions and 63 Chapters. One of the requirements every year is for the Secretary of your Region/Chapter to submit an Officers Reporting Form (ORF) and a Roster of all members to Headquarters by March 1, 2006. When these are not received, Headquarters sends another letter reminding these are past due and need to be submitted. At our spring board meeting, I will make an announcement on the number of delinquent Regions and Chapters. Then the Regions Committee and the Development and Support Committee will begin their detective work to try and contact as many officers as possible to obtain this information. After reading this issue of the Rummage Box, please ask your President and/or Secretary if they have complied with this requirement. We would like to hear from all 394 Regions and Chapters that their is club is strong, have elected officers and have submitted a list of all active members. As mentioned in the last issue a complete list of everyone on the Regions Committee is listed on the website and we are all ready to help you in any way possible. Development and Support is now part of the Regions Committee and they are working hard to support all our Regions/Chapters. We need open communication between your local club and National Headquarters. Having the information that is required assures this link. If I may be of any assistance throughout the year, please feel free to contact me at: Sharon Lee
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AACA Recognizes 50 Year Membership By Joe Gagliano |
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At their February 2006 Meeting the AACA Board voted to recognize individuals who have been members of AACA for 50 years or more. A special membership pin was designed to honor these members. Members that have accomplished this milestone should contact our national headquarters in Hershey. Although our records do cover the past fifty years we may ask the applicant to show proof of membership if we can not substantiate it.
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By Randall Stone |
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A funny thing happened on the way to the car show….I met a new friend. This is funny because I was going to look at the fine vehicles that were going to be there. How did I get a new friend? The same way I’ve met hundreds of people over the last thirty or so years I’ve been in the old car hobby, we tell each other about our cars. The more I think about the AACA and how we became a National Club I begin to realize that the cars are just a prop to the real reason I now go to the shows. Yes, I love old cars, but can I name all the cars I looked at when I was in Waco, Texas last month? No, but I can tell you which of my friends were there and what we talked about. I can also tell you about my new friend and his beautiful 1926 Jewett. I can tell you about his grandsons helping him work on it when they were little. I can tell you about when he returned from service how he worked to keep the little car running. I can also tell you we became friends that day because we had a common interest…family and old cars. I believe that this is the way to help our club grow and reach out to people of all ages. We will always talk old cars but the conversation quickly turns to family, friends, relationships and travels. When we ask people to come to our local club meetings we often overlook the simple things. Sit with them and discuss their family, talk about getting them involved on a local tour. When you plan a picnic with your friends at the club, invite someone you think would enjoy the day. Have them ride along with you because you just never know, you may have not only recruited a new member, but a new, good friend as well. I guess the best way to put it is that the old cars bring us together, but the relationships we form keep us together. Well, I’m off to our next show this weekend in Dover. We have over 500 rare and beautiful cars to look at and admire. I really expect this to be a wonderful weekend because I will also get to see Eugene, Johnnie, Richard, Dave, Rachel, Earl, Randy, Joe, Brenda…….
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Great Websites and Your CLub's Success Go Hand-In-Hand! By Terry Bond |
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Does your Region or Chapter have a great website? It is no simple coincidence that AACA’s strongest and most active Regions and Chapters have great websites. Those websites are a reflection of the organization they serve. They are active, have great levels of participation, they provide a service to the hobby, and most importantly, they inform members and the general public about who you are and what you do. We are half-way through the year and the Internet Committee has been evaluating every site linked to the national home page. At the end of the year, we will honor the best sites with appropriate awards to be presented at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. You don’t need to do anything to get involved with this contest! At the mid-year point we’ve noted that some sites have not been updated in quite some time. One of the most important things considered when evaluating websites is the value they have to the Region or Chapter.
Lets look at each of these areas in more detail: A site needs to be current. The calendar needs to look ahead and promote future events with complete details. The calendar should be updated monthly to remove past events and update information on new ones. A site needs to include enough information so that someone new in town, or new to your club can easily participate. Remember to include: What, When, Where, who to contact, and any other info that will help. Use this chance to promote activities and encourage participation. Reporting on past events should show the fun involved-lots of people, lots of cars, and don’t forget those captions on the photos! Event coverage needs to be prompt and it should include all your events, not just your annual show. A good website has links to hobby related services, sections with technical information, details on other area events, a buy-sell-trade section, or whatever your imagination can come up with that is hobby oriented and provides information and good service to your club. Contacting a real person should be simple! Nobody likes to call and get a recording-with a website, it is even more frustrating to not at least be able to send an email to someone. Make it easy-include phone numbers of event coordinators at least . Two important questions – what would make you want to join, and how do you do it? Simple right? Yes, but it is surprising how many websites do not have a membership application to download. Some sites are even “for members only” and require a secret password to get any information. Don’t close the door in the face of prospective members! The best websites help their members enjoy the full benefits of AACA membership. They link to the national website and the discussion forums, and link to the AACA Library and Research Center and Junior Web Page. Information about national membership should be readily available through a direct link. Your club website should also include information about nearby national activities. Meets and tours are held all over the country, and if you have one close, having details of the event, registration information, judging information, etc. will all help folks to participate and enjoy national activities. Take a look at the many outstanding websites linked to AACA. Just log onto the national website at www.aaca.org and use the Region and Chapter locator in the top right corner. When you see the list of all AACA Region and Chapters, those highlighted have websites that you can access simply by clicking on them. If your Region or Chapter doesn’t already have a website, well, what are you waiting for?
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