<VV> Why I ran for the CORSA Board 28 Years ago

[peter koehler]

I have read most of the comments here on VV about the BoD 
and the dues increase and mandatory CORSA membership etc. 
I would like to express my feelings specifically about the 
mandatory membership rule. My first exposure to the 
"organized" part of the Corvair Hobby was toward the end 
of the 1970's. I was introduced to the Chicagoland Corvair 
Enthusiasts car club and eventually joined them. At first 
I was the "sponsor" so they could use a GM facility for 
their meetings. I guess you could say that one thing lead 
to another and the rest is history.

My first exposure to CORSA was not the greatest. I had 
heard of a National Convention in Michigan (1979) and 
since my wife was a native we packed up our infant son and 
headed to Detroit in our 1960 700 sedan. With no seat 
belts. Try that today! When we arrived at the host hotel 
in Southfield we were turned away at the registration desk 
because we were not CORSA members. There was no effort to 
recruit me so I could join the festivities. Just beat it - 
you're not a member and only members are welcome. So we 
drove away in our little 1960 Corvair.

About this same time there was a lot of chatter about 
making CORSA membership mandatory for insurance reasons or 
whatever. Sound familiar? My good friend Larry Claypool 
wanted to get elected to the Board so he could help direct 
this discussion. His first attempt failed because not 
enough CCE members were also dues-paying and voting CORSA 
members. We fixed that for the next election in true 
Chicago style. We bought votes. I joined CORSA 
specifically so I could vote for Larry. I guess now they'd 
let me go to their conventions...

The following year there was still a lot of chatter about 
mandatory CORSA membership and all of the related banter. 
So I decided to run for the Board so I, too could voice 
the opinion that Corvair enthusiasts should come to the 
decision that CORSA membership is a good thing for them. 
They should not join CORSA because there was a rule that 
said they HAD to. Maybe I was younger and more of an 
idealist back then. But look at it this way: We are a 
group of people who profess to be rugged individualists. 
We like Corvairs because they are different. We don't 
people telling us what cars to like. Heck, there was a 
Yale educated Lawyer (Barrister, for my Canadian friends) 
who told us flat out that these cars were no good. They 
were dangerous. Don't drive them! You will get hurt! Did 
we listen to him? No. We made up our own minds. And that 
is what Corvair people like to do. That is why I ran for 
the Board 28 years ago.

I found my reason to join CORSA. We should continue to try 
to help non-members find that reason. In the interim we 
should find an alternate path to fiscal responsibility. Is 
a dues increase the only answer? No, but it may have been 
the best solution to the current situation. Not being 
privy to all of the data I would not want to profess to 
know the answer, but I'm sure the BoD is working every 
angle. Mandatory membership might be a simple solution, 
but it is a very complex set of issues. I think we should 
keep searching for a better fix.- Respectfully, Pete 
Koehler; former Board member, former Executive Committee 
member and former CORSA President