<VV> Chapter member - where?

[ScottyGrover at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/14/2010 12:41:43 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
Vairtec at optonline.net writes:

Bruce  wrote:
> Could someone tell me which chapter I should join, that is  within 200 
miles of my location , Mitchell, SD 57301?
>    

Yes.

The chapter of your choice.

It could be the closest  one, even if it is a long way away, or any other 
chapter of your  choice.

After all, where is a chapter located?

Is it where the  chapter address is?  If so, my local chapter is located 
inside a  small PO Box 40 miles from where it holds it meetings.

Is it where the  chapter holds its meetings?  If so, my local chapter is 
located  inside a small restaurant.

No, a chapter is located across the broad  region in which its membership 
lives.

Through the years, chapters  have come and gone, and chapters have 
altered their geographic base  depending on where the members live.  My 
local chapter has, over the  past 30 years, migrated northward in within 
its home state.

By  joining a chapter, you WILL receive membership benefits, even if you 
are  not able to attend meetings.  You will receive the chapter's  
newsletter and other communications.  You will learn of events and  
activities throughout the region.  You will perhaps discover that  while 
the chapter may not be based within 200 miles of Mitchell, SD, a  number 
of its members -- like you --live closer to Mitchell.  You and  these 
members will begin to interact more closely as a result of having  been 
drawn together by common chapter membership.

A great example  of this is CORSA's Special Interest Groups, which are 
very much like  chapters except that they are not tied to geography.  By 
having been  a member of Corvanatics, the group serving those with an 
interest in  Corvair 95 models, I have connected with like-minded people  
nationwide.  Many of them I have never met, while others I see only  when 
I attend a CORSA convention -- and we are like old friends, because  we 
have made that connection through the club.

The idea of  requiring CORSA members to join a local chapter is, in my 
view,  inextricably tied to the debate about requiring chapter members to 
join  CORSA.  It absolutely should work both ways.

Choose a chapter and  join it!

--Bob Marlow
 
I am both a member of CORSA and a member of my local club (CORSA  West).  
Due to physical problems, I can't attend more than a few meetings a  
year----but---I keep in touch through the Westwinds newsletter and nationally,  
through the Communique and--much more frequently, through VV.  I value my  
membership in both groups very highly--my best chance of finding information  
locally and getting help (Dave Statland's Mobil Service coming to me in his B/W 
 Corvan) when I can't do the work myself and talking with people like ME 
Tom  Blass and Ray Sedman. (both of which gave tech. lectures at the Ventura  
Convention.) On an international level, I've talked with some very 
interesting  people, most of whom know far more about Corvairs than I do (although, 
having a  CAD program, I was able to send digital images of fan and head 
designs--but that  was mostly on Fastvair.)
 
In short, even though I can't make at to meetings, I consider my membership 
 in both the international and local clubs easily worth what it costs me in 
 dues.
 
 
Scotty from Hollyweird
 
 
 
 
.