I may be about to open a debate that could go on for some time to come but
since the driving season is about to come to a close for the great majority of
the North American enthusiasts this will give those of us in NA something to
"Triumph" about.
Recently it was announced that the VTR meet for next year would be combined
with The Roadster Club's Summer Party and that other national Triumph
organizations would be invited to participate and encouraged to hold their
national meets at the same time and near by TRF. At least that's how I
understood the announcement. Think of it, that would be one heck of a large
gathering of Triumphs by any measure. We can debate the merits of a "National"
being sponsored by a commercial interest rather by than a local club and we
all have sides to take on that issue but that's not why I bring up this topic.
It's my sincere hope that a dialog on that subject is reserved for another
time.
My concern, and this is the punch line, is that in my opinion we have too many
individual special interest Triumph Clubs in North America. Each of the clubs,
then compete for membership, resulting in too few members for any one club to
be really healthy enough to carry the banner for what we all enjoy, namely our
Triumphs. I would encourage as many of us who can to support and even promote
the thought of combining some of the smaller clubs into the larger National
Organizations and specifically VTR for the betterment of all of the clubs and
each of us individually. If you agree, talk it up among your fellow
enthusiasts, encourage them to join or many cases re-join VTR. My
recommendation would be to rally around the VTR as it is the successor club to
the factory sponsored TSOA Organization and has almost from the beginning been
a club who's appeal has been to all Triumphs and would be the logical choice.
The current leadership of VTR is trying very hard to appeal to everyone and I
think they are doing an excellent job of it. The quality of the Magazine and
of the articles is excellent and to have the services of Mr. Mike Cook and his
wealth of historical knowledge and factual information is a benefit that can
not be expressed in dollars and cents. Membership is a good deal folks.
If you disagree, that is also your choice, be vocal as well.
No one has prompted me to make this promotion on behalf of VTR and few if any
of the current VTR Officers even know who I am. They may even be upset that I
have done so although I hope that they are not. What has prompted me to
recommend this is an overriding sense that a single club representing all
Triumphs would be a much healthier situation for our common interest. Special
interest groups along the lines of one model could still function within this
framework and maybe even better than they presently function. Lets face it,
the glue that binds us together are the cars and our interest in them. While I
may favor one model over another what I really do enjoy is seeing the
enjoyment derived from the hobby of LBC's.
Let the discussion begin, I've got my seatbelt firmly fastened.
Jerry Van Vlack
/// triumphs@autox.team.net mailing list
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|