June 2007 173
WHEN I WAS elected to serve as the vice
president for District VII, I wondered what
club has been in existence the longest as an
AMA chartered club or even before AMA
was chartered.
I know of only three clubs that have hit
the 50-year-or-longer mark. I’m not sure if
there are more only because no one has
come forward to let me know. If there are
other clubs that have been around for at least
50 years, please let me know.
The oldest club that I am aware of was
started in the late twenties by Sam Lange of
Wyandotte, Michigan. It was named Indian
City after the city referred to as “The Indian
City” because of the settlement of the
Wyandotte Indian tribe. In 1937 the name
was changed to Indian City Model Airplane
Club and changed again to Indian City
Radio Control Club. The club was still
chartered in 2006.
The second club that recently celebrated
its 50th year is the Radio Control Club of
Detroit (RCCD).
The third club celebrating its 50th year
this August is the Twin City Radio
Controllers (TCRC) of Minneapolis/St.
Paul, Minnesota. Each year the club hosts an
open house called Model Aviation Day or
MAD. Residents in the area get a chance to
see what aeromodeling is all about.
The TCRC club had a vision to become
a premier club and it has shown just what
can be done when every member is
involved. The club owns its own 40-acre
flying site with paved runways called
TCRC Model Air Park located in Jordan,
Minnesota. Scott Anderson sent me a CD
with photos so I’ll let the pictures tell the
rest. Please visit the club’s Web site at
www.tcrconline.com.
An arial view of the TCRC field.
TCRC float fly.
Pilots at TCRC’s Model Aviation Day (MAD).
A youngster points at one of the airplanes on
display at MAD.
This youngster flies on the buddy box at MAD.
Congratulations to the Twin City Radio
Controllers.
I have received a few calls from clubs that
seem to have internal problems. I’ve been
asked to get involved in helping to resolve the
issues.
In most cases, the clubs that are affected
are ones that have not determined what they
want to accomplish. I’ve heard comments
such as “we don’t want to have rules; we just
want to have a place to fly and have fun.”
That’s fine but that philosophy doesn’t work
if a club is to succeed.
Officers are elected to provide direction to
accomplish the vision and goals of the club.
The officers must have some guidelines to
follow. That is the purpose of setting up club
bylaws and safety rules.
The AMA Web site at
www.modelaircraft.org has PDF files that
outline what a club should consider when
making up bylaws. There is a wealth of
information available to help clubs.
The three clubs I’ve illustrated are
examples of what can be done when there is
direction. There is nothing difficult about it,
but it does require the members to be
involved to make it work.
I would suggest a few things to consider.
The secretary must keep a written record of
all meetings and elections. The treasurer
should be bonded and be able to show club
financial statements at any time. Meetings are
conducted in a manner where a system such
as Roberts Rules of Parliamentary Procedure
is used through out the proceedings.
These are suggestions that work and
eliminate some of the trivial things that come
up. I hope this helps clubs become slightly
better organized.
Til next time, fly safely, have fun and
introduce someone to our hobby/sport.
C.A.V.U.
District VII
Bill Oberdieck, District VII Vice President; [email protected]
Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Bill Oberdieck
Vice President
Box 1076,
Southgate MI 48195
Tel.: (734) 283-4813
Fax: (734) 283-0650
www.amadistrictvii.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Larry Brannan, Grand
Rapids MI; (616) 956-6012;
[email protected]
Ed Bucki, Rockwood MI;
(734) 379-4054; thebuckster@
sbcglobal.net
Bud Gorman, Knife River MN;
[email protected]
Don Held, Elmira MI;
(231) 584-2662; [email protected]
Tom Pierce, St. Clair MI; (810)
367-6450; tom_pierce_48079@
yahoo.com
Mark E. Robotti, North
Lindstrom MN; 76214.1624@
compuserve.com
Tom Ryan, Milwaukee WI;
(414) 881-0070; tomcat@
execpc.com
Frequency Coordinators
West: Al Schwartz, Roseville
MN; (651) 633-2286
East: Pete Waters, Northville
MI; (248) 486-4800
Flying Site Coordinator
Joe Beshar, [email protected]
Webmaster
Ed Kincer, [email protected]
District VII Volunteers
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/06
Page Numbers: 173