There were some good comments overnight. Also, it's apparent that I need to
clarify a bit. There is a strong need for local clubs and strong memberships
in those clubs and I never meant to imply otherwise. I personally get most of
my enjoyment from participating with my "Home" club. I would encourage those
clubs to become chartered chapters of a national organization however in
support of those organizations efforts to organize yearly gatherings and in
the case of VTR avail themselves of an excellent publication and all that
comes with VTR Membership. I think most of the local clubs are affiliated with
National Organizations in one way or another.
When I spoke of special interest clubs I was referring to clubs that are
organized for one model Triumph and exclusive of others.Speaking for myself
and maybe others, I would enjoy hearing about the activities of the Spitfire,
TR-3, TR-8 and 6 cylinder happenings but I'm not willing to pay memberships to
all of those clubs for that enjoyment. Having one National Club would provide
that exchange of news.
As to VTR needing to do something to attract new members, I think that comment
is spot on if you look at the last 10 years, but more recently I believe they
have realized a fault and are trying to generate an appeal. Their first
actions were to get current on their obligations to the membership and publish
The Vintage Triumph on a regular basis. By the same token it's an all
volunteer group and thankfully we do have people with the time and financial
means to support their involvement. I admit that it's been several years since
I've traveled to a VTR National Convention and that's due to a variety of
reasons, time and financial being the overriding factors. I have never lost my
interest in reading the articles and seeing the photos about them however and
enjoying the event through the eyes of the reporter.
I didn't understand the comment about Groucho Marx. If it's suppose to refer
to me personally, please take it to a higher level, you really don't know me
well enough, nor do I know you well enough for that to be appropriate.
JVV
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