Thread: April

Thanks.


Well April is history with today the last day. I am so looking forward to a great Summer of fun on the boat and great fishing. I haven’t made any jigs this month and that was unusual. Pretty satisfied with the Tickle Me Elmo design so no need I guess.


We held our club meeting and no one was willing to assume the roles of President, Vice President, Treasurer or Secretary. I said that I was afraid of commitments, because once you accept one you have to produce even while gainfully employed. Been thinking about that ever since and may well need to take an office. This club is chock full of those that show up, eat the meal and wander off to their truck and gone. Almost no one was helping put away stuff and clean up. The member who allowed us to use his home is nearly 90 years old, too. Table tops and picnic tables and chairs all needed to be put away, and I found myself doing it alone.

So this is a two edged sword here. You want to help the club, but you know you will just be disappointed in how everything is received.

The club has a shack behind an old bait shop. The bait shop closed long ago and the property was sold and the new owner wants the shack gone. There is a park next door but the county does not want us to move it there. This shack isn’t much and I see no value in paying to have it moved to a new site. Looks like it would fall apart on the highway as it went along.

A member has offered to enter into a lease agreement with the club for some vacant land not very far away. It is a wet area and I need to walk around it some to see what is there. The cost- $10 a year. We would need to clear trees and brush, install a culvert pipe and driveway. A well and electric are needed as well as some sort of shelter. I see this as a more or less permanent solution to the needs of this club. They have about $10,000 in the bank and I think we should go for it.

Problem is that everything is a vote with these folks and there will be plenty of votes against doing this. Instead these folks would want other members to continue to provide a place and food for them. Most refuse to do anything at all except stare at you as you set out the food. Average age of members is approximately 137 years. That is a big strike TWO.

That very kind member also has another location for us, with that same exact deal, just a tad further down the road. Again clearing, culvert, electricity and a shelter needed. There are some very wealthy members but will they cough up some cash….who knows. I think we could secure the land, the lease, and the club’s future by at least starting. I do not think we need well and septic right now and a generator could supply electricity. I would want to spend some money getting the land cleared and perhaps a pole barn of some kind setup.

This club is not active in any manner. Just old grumpy men who used to go fishing. I am certain that there would be lots of complaints coming my way should I accept all the positions in one fell swoop. It would allow me to grow the club as currently new members get inducted about three times a year. Meetings are few and far between. Only a handful are willing to cook meals. Dues are a mere $40 a year.

The only thing the club does have is a rich history. There have been members long ago dead that did all sorts of wonderful things. Tournaments were popular and meetings well attended. There is a pavilion located on that county park land that a member donated. It is beautiful and it’s rafters are full of bronze plaques commemorating past members who have died. I want to secure those before the county takes them down and recycles the bronze. Setup some sort of monument in the new site so that the current members can all see that the club will continue long after their own demise.

I need to spend some more time thinking about this. The solution is adding new members willing to do something to be a member. This can be an issue if the new members are also the wrong members. I have seen clubs come apart because of a handful of new comers determined to get their way, and of course I might be just that kind of guy myself here. I am a new member, but wish to keep many of the traditions going.

The club was put together by a handful of rich attorneys and doctors in town. That county park is named after one of them because it was he who donated the land. They have since built restrooms a boat ramp, picnic areas, etc. There are a large amount of plastic kayaks stored inside a fenced in area where some kind of group is allowed to use that land. Just not us, the club whose member donated the land. It exists on Newnans Lake, within the city limits of Gainesville. Newnan was a Colonel from Georgia who came down and shot up some Seminole Indian villages and then left to go back home. The lake had scattered groups of skilled indians who carved out canoes for trading and sale I guess.

I am sure that the skeeters are thicker than thieves in either of those proposed locations. The spot I think I would prefer is adjacent to a canal and might even have some of them cotton headed copper rattlers roaming around. Water Moccasin City. I bet we could move away from the snakes into an open area, but I will have to scout around and see what is up. The member who owns the land owns a lot of land. Mostly small parcels here and there and no one has ever wished to do anything with these properties. Maybe there is a reason. Maybe this is a project too large for me to take on. I must say however that it does seem to be something I would do.

I joined a gentleman only club some years back. The members were almost all business owners and we got together, drank beer and ate various meal and such. No one needed to volunteer to save the planet or spend money for charities or such. Just have fun. They made me president and I immediately changed some things. Prior, the president collected dues and placed them into his personal checking account. At the end of the year, he kept whatever was left over. I opened a bank account for the club and left a balance for the new president.

I also fought like hell to switch us from mailed letters to emails. These are free, letters expensive, but they acted like I was skinning their best cat. I also eliminated the dancing girls. All it would take was one guy to go home and tell his wife and BAM. No more men only club as she would call all of her friends and tell them what was really going on. I also did my best to get rid of the girl bartenders. One member called me and cussed me like a dog and threatened to call for a removal from office vote, but then pulled the chicken switch when I recognized him and told the others that he had something he wanted to bring to the floor. He just stood there and glared at me.

My name was mud for most of my term. Later many came up to me and thanked me for the things that I did, as all of them were finally seen for their benefit to the future of the club. That club is now thriving with lots of new members. I withdrew because the dues were adjusted to more than twice as much and I cannot see any value in remaining a member. $350 a year for meals at nine meetings. Meetings that I most likely would mostly miss anyways. Nah….

So I know how things go when you try to screw everything up. People refuse to do anything themselves, but by God they are not gonna let someone else do anything either. The old sometimes is bad, and sometimes the new is what is bad. Making decisions based on what is best for the club is the best way forward. So I am considering whether I should involve myself, or stay popular with the others and just do the minimum, just like they do, and wait for it all to fall apart. I would be able to stand up to the criticism if I was truly making solid decisions. No matter how unpopular, securing a site for meetings will be the best choice. No one wants these people at their home. I mean only one member has had them and after a few times I think he is done.

Anyways…… clubs can be so confrontational. A wise man that had lots of experience once told me that if I thought the men clubs were bad, go visit the womans clubs. Them gals get down right nasty. Hah Hah Hah that was eye opening and from what i have gathered so far, quite true. It would be a challenge for me to take on the club and make decisions unpopular, but I might do it anyways. I want to go scout that land before I say anything at all. I do not wish to be president of a club that has no place to meet. I just need to pray some and do some hard thinking.

Sounds like you are going to have your hands full. New members may be better recieved if they get some of those older fellas back out fishing to "Mentor" the new guys.

What a challenge. Sounds like you have a club full of non-participating members (free loaders).
I would suggest soliciting some help for the club to move forward. If there is no help offered then I would have to wonder if I wanted to be a member.
The club may have a rich past but the future seems less promising.

Alan