District XI
Bruce Nelson, District XI Vice President; [email protected]
RIDERS AND HITCHHIKERS
My mentor and good friend Dick Carson and I were discussing the loss of a club in our area several years ago. Dick's son Bruce explained to me the theory of "Drivers and Hitchhikers."
- Drivers are the people who step up to the plate and get things done. They are not always club officers, but volunteers who keep things happening.
- Hitchhikers are there for the ride—a free ride. The only thing many of them do is find fault and complain. Oh yes, they come up with an occasional good idea but leave that for someone else to follow up on.
I can see it now—you are thinking, "I know some of those guys." Clubs just don't happen; they take lots of work. Good clubs take more work and who is going to do it? The drivers! The hitchhikers complain and claim there is a clique running things.
Some of you out there are going to say, "I have health problems and can't do some of those things." This is understandable, but there are other ways of helping.
Recently one of the oldest and biggest clubs in our area folded. This came as a shock to me because I had no idea that it was in trouble.
Many clubs get top heavy with older members and either don't recruit younger members or, if they do, they don't get them involved in running the club. The new members need to be included in the management so they can replace us "old" guys.
Does your club recycle officers? Most do. Last year our club elected a president who had never held office in the club before. He came to me and asked advice. He had never done anything like this before.
Not being afraid to ask for help and listening to others has worked well. He is doing a good job and is in his second term.
Clubs that survive get involved in their community. This involvement is banking goodwill. Many clubs have fallen on hard times or lost a field, but have been able to get help from their community and its leaders because of the club's community involvement.
Public relations counts, guys. If you don't believe it or practice it, I will say good-bye now because you are on the road to problems.
As I write this, the coming weekend is another great event at Gary Weaver's Field at Othello, Washington. As much as I hate to miss that, I will be headed to the Great White North for a week of float flying and some wonderful Canadian hospitality.
Saying that, I will quote from a note left for me by a drug dealer and draft dodger who was obviously a mental giant:
"So long cops, I have went to Canada."
I hope they enjoyed him as much as we did. Time to "went" to Canada, eh?
Bruce
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
