The Spring Rally in Pahrump was a success but the attendance was small, which leaves me to believe that there is a waning interest in the club’s rally activities from our members and we are not getting new members to join GMCWS.
This issue was discussed at our recent Executive Board and general membership meetings, without any solutions brought to the table. The existing web pages and Face Book pages make it easy for GMC owners to get information about the coaches and the modifications that can be done, and this may be one reason that members do not come and check out the excellent presentations that our Tech VP George Beckman arranges for us. The presenters put a lot of work in their subjects, and it is most beneficial to ask the presenters about any difficulties or remedies that they found in the install or modification of the subjects. The one-on-one discussions are very interesting and informative, and usually add to the expansion of the subject.
The social aspects of our rallies are often overlooked. We make friends and share our thoughts during our rallies - not just about the GMC coach, but about a myriad of subjects. Our members are diverse and come from a large variety of professional backgrounds, and they all contribute to the knowledge base of our community. A carpenter can help with the cabinetry, a plumber with the water system, an engineer can figure out the best probability of success for a new upgrade. If you look at all the things that have improved our coaches since their inception, you will find the hand of many of our members past and present in getting them done. Getting to know these remarkable people is a blessing and a privilege. This happens at a rally.
Our lady members also contribute to the betterment of the coaches. Their input as to the layout, styling and décor is very important. We sometimes think the rally is just for the” guys”, but not so -- we have activities for the ladies and our First VP Carol Minnie did an excellent job at Pahrump with a great line-up of things to do. They had a separate building for the activities and the RV Park’s social director, Scotta, assisted Carol, which made it nice for the ladies to do their thing without the guys interfering.
All these things add up to a great mix of people that share one thing in common: the GMC coach. As we move forward in our endeavor to strengthen and increase our membership, we need to make nonmembers understand the importance of joining our clubs, since it benefits not only the club, but also their social interaction and technical skills. For individuals who are not yet retired and find it difficult to take time off from work to attend a rally, we try to schedule the rally over a long weekend so they can come and visit. We also move the rallies to all parts of our covered territories and encourage the local clubs to join us, since their members live close by.
I want to thank all of you who have attended the rallies in the past and hope you will join us again soon. I encourage you to speak to your GMC motorhome friends who are not yet members of our great club and invite them to join us.