New Manx Club

[MojaveMel]

I have been asked to be spokesperson for the Steering Committee. Thanks for your patience. We realize it seems like a long time has passed since you requested a spokesperson. Getting to this point was not a simple process. Many of us have to divide our time between income and family responsibilities. We often move at the speed of whoever of us is most detained elsewhere. Allowing time for everyone to respond to a single question can take days. An important task (bylaws) should be mostly behind us. Despite the time constraints we are all committed to the sustainability of the Manx Club. Next, allow me to tell you about the makeup of the Steering Committee. I read concerns insinuating a takeover by another group was under way. I trust you will realize from the diverse makeup of the committee that those imaginations are unfounded. -- We are eight in number (nine if you count Bruce and Winnie as two.) -- All on the committee are long-standing dues-paying Manx Club members. -- Five of us participate in three different buggy sub-groups. -- Meyers? and myself are located in So Cal. Everyone else represents a different geographical area. -- We have several committee members who reside 1500-2000 miles from current club headquarters. Some of us came forward when Winnie asked for help. A few were approached about participation later. We have no ?private? agenda. The preservation and future of the Manx Club is our focus. We regret that some of you didn?t see Winnie?s request or were unable to respond at the time. It is obvious from your concerns that many of you would have been a good fit. Winnie?s statement was very accurate. We appreciate her posting while we were dealing with other issues. As many of you noted the club still belongs to Meyers Manx. For the most part I will not be able to answer questions about current club operation. Those issues belong to Bruce and Winnie. The steering committee recently completed multiple re-writes and edits of many pages of legal-eze, and the bylaws are currently in for legal review. We do not know how long the review will take as we are getting the review service at courtesy rates. If we have no revisions the next step will be to apply for incorporation; again an unknown time frame. I am impressed with the dedication of the committee. We all donate our time. Those committee members who can are even willing to reach into their pockets to personally cover costs to get the new club up and running. We were especially interested in your thoughts for an improved future. They mirrored much of what we communicated among ourselves. If you have questions or comments please post them to this thread. I will try to answer them. I would appreciate it if you respond with only one question per entry. That will help keep responses orderly and on theme. We view this as an exciting opportunity for the Manx Club. We are moving into a new era of member representation with elected officers, regional chapters, forum changes, more runs, and more. Stay tuned.

[BuggyBob]

Thank you Mel for the update. Bob

[mel hubbard]

Jolly good luck with the new club ol chaps :hello: Is an 08 club Baja trip on the agenda?? Bruce once told me of his plans to build a few buggies & hire them out to us more unfortunate guys from far away lands,, do you reckon this could be on the cards??. Dave, how cool would that be,,,, you Pete & myself all racing up to Mikes Sky Ranch for 'last orders' :drinking: I remember the way back down to San Felipe for the meat balls Hey, Buce & Winnie,, you sure deserve a break after all that hard work,,,,, hope we get to meet again sometime :drinking: Take it easy & don't work too hard.. Best Regards, your ol Baja Buddy Mel.

[MojaveMel]

[QUOTE="mel hubbard"]Jolly good luck with the new club ol chaps :hello: Is an 08 club Baja trip on the agenda?? Bruce once told me of his plans to build a few buggies & hire them out to us more unfortunate guys from far away lands,, do you reckon this could be on the cards??. [/QUOTE] Mel: Good to meet a fellow buggista from across the pond. I wish I could say "Yes" to the first question. But we have nothing planned that direction. Right now we are hoping to get a first run posted. This might be a "Transition" run as it won't be old club, and the new club isn't up to host it. In the spirit of the "new club" we want to get something going so folks can experience the change. But we are listening to all suggestions. Our horizon just isn't that far-sighted yet. I can't address whether Bruce has buggies for hire on the drawing board. It's a great idea. If not we might think about "seat for gas." On second thought if you come that far we ought to give you a seat.

[Don Giovanoni]

Sounds great, especially about members being spread out. Thanks for the update.

[flaboyjim]

Sounds like a deliberate and well planned transition. As a former NCCC (National Council of Corvette Clubs) Governor, I know the time and effort that must be put into a club to make it have it's own identity. In that search, we struggled with SCCA rules and classes, but opted for our own. I trust that the NEW Manx Club will keep an identity similar to what Winnie and Bruce have developed (dont revert to SCORE type classes). I traveled across the country to meet Bruce, and have my picture taken with him. That picture is one that I have placed in a frame. The magic is in the name and on the cars that he developed - similar, but greater to what Duntov did for the corvette. NCCC has a saying "save the wave" i.e.: vette owners should wave to other vette owners when tooling down the open road. What could we develop to keep the magic in and on the little cars that Bruce built??? Keep the faith gentlemen and women - it will be a long road, but it will be worth the effort.. We have one thing that Vettes dont have - each one of our cars have personality - being hand built in a carport, garage or under a shade tree seasoned that personality into the body, steering wheels, dashboards and seats, no matter how much they are alike, they all have different personalities.... Or is that just from my 40 year love affair with the Manx?? GO TEAM!!!

[90volts]

well... it would be good to start off with who all the members are, a little bit about them and what areas they will represent. if the by-laws have been approved will they be posted so we can see them? will members have a vote for officers, rules and such?

[MojaveMel]

[QUOTE="90volts"]well... it would be good to start off with who all the members are, a little bit about them and what areas they will represent. if the by-laws have been approved will they be posted so we can see them? will members have a vote for officers, rules and such?[/QUOTE] I believe there is a member list now. At least that is what it says in the overhead black band (above, slightly to the left of center). Or is that just a list of forum participants? If the latter a full membership posting will be an issue for the whole steering committee, but look for a new openness. I don't see any reason why a member list should remain secret from other members (unless someone doesn't want their info posted). I think it would be a nice asset to help locate others in your area so buggistas can get together, or people with the same type of buggy can find each other, etc.. There is a provision in the bylaws for groups to form around many common interests. If a manxter group or a 1776cc group wants to form as a sub-group it can. Or regional chapters. We hope to have the by-laws submitted for incorporation in the near future. I'll post the progress on this forum when it happens. We are putting together some activities and plan to make the bylaws public at one of those. I can't say how yet, but any member in good standing should have access to them. Members will get to vote for officers. One vote per membership. We are talking about exactly how to do this so no one can tamper with the vote. No firm decision yet, but you will probably mail your completed ballots direct to an outside accounting firm who will tally them. The incorporation by-laws are the central charter, and that is the reason we spent time on them. If we missed anything or changes need to be made the bylaws are amendable if the amendment is approved by the members.

[MojaveMel]

[QUOTE="flaboyjim"] ....a saying "save the wave" i.e.: vette owners should wave to other vette owners when tooling down the open road. What could we develop to keep the magic in and on the little cars that Bruce built??? GO TEAM!!![/QUOTE] Great idea. How about, "Under New Management." Seriously, many of our f/g cars have names based on some experience the car has been through, it's color, or it's personality. I think it would be good for a motto to surface in the same way. The personality of the new club will begin to show over time. Let's watch for something catchy to surface. Afterthought: I recall a line from the fine print on the manx club membership card, "For the serious minded fun enthusiast" (or something like that.) That would would seem to fit and links to the origins of club.

[90volts]

[QUOTE="MojaveMel"]I believe there is a member list now. [/QUOTE] actually i was asking about the members who are on the steering commitee who are representing our interests presently before the elections take place. you had said that there are 8 people. yourself , bruce/winnie and 6 others who are geographically diverse. it would be good to know who each of them are and what their thoughts are on the club and where it is going. and what are these 'sub groups' that have been mentioned? is that like tow'd, manxter,siggy or what? good info on the bylaws and such though...thanks.

[MojaveMel]

A bio of each candidate will accompany the ballot. I think that is why they wanted to set up this thread. You can ask a question. Give them your input. That's what's important. The bylaws permit regional chapters and other groups. For instance, if some want to form a Manx Club Turbo Powered Corvair group along bylaw guidelines they can. Yes, could be Tow'd, siggy, etc. The requirements aren't difficult.

[allen pierce]

90 Volts said... actually i was asking about the members who are on the steering commitee who are representing our interests presently before the elections take place.

Mel replied... A bio of each candidate will accompany the ballot.

Uh, was that a leap of confusion? How did the steering commitee members become the canidates? I would hope that the steering commitee members (who are still unknown)would recuse themselves from becoming any initial candidates, because of the possible perception of an inheirent bias because they created the bylaws.

[MojaveMel]

My apologies. I zero'd in on "before the elections take place," and initially thought he was asking for our ID and qualifications now like we were going to be on the ballot.

[allen pierce]

OK, Whew ! Thanks, Mel. I understand how easy it is to mis-read things, I do it too. And, I guess I wouldn't have any real problem with a steering commitee member being a candidate. It should, after all, be open to all members to run for club office. I just remember a couple of times in my past where the steering commitee of a newly formed club thought that idea was a good one. So, will the steering committe members be stepping out of the shadows, into the lime light? Inquiring minds want to know (who they are). Sooner is better than later. It could go a long way to providing some transparency to the current process.

[MojaveMel]

They are watching. I have had responses from committee members on both sides. My favorite one, "It's like the National Enquirer out there and we're Brittany Spears!" In the end it is up to each whether they make their ID public. I don't know that any of us wants limelight lest we detract from the whole. In actuality we want to speak with one voice. We think that is important. It simplifies things if we are allowed to swap options and viewpoints among ourselves and then reach a consensus without anyone lobbying or trolling for information. We trust you can understand that.