Club memberships

[ferniesnow]

So far I've just given money haven't had the opportunity to attend a meeting or get a feel for whats required...but I will...

AB Beach Snowmobile Club & VARDA.....

I understand that Bogger....

The Fernie club has many members from out of town (about 40%). Some donate money in kind as they can't be there that often to help out nor to attend the meetings. They donate as they see fit; some in the hundreds to supply food for all our family functions, others for fuel for the SnowCat, etc.

We appreciate the donations and understand the situation.

 

[Altapeet]

People gripe and complain about the trails and burn the wood and generally do what humans do . But remember this ,if you take em all out of the sport for not contributing as much as you , you wouldn't have a club at all. Those that don't get out to the work bees and share in the labour end of it ,still buy a pass every year and still buy their club memberships.That injects money directly into the local clubs . If they want to complain about conditions ,so be it .Without them you got nothing at all cuz you cant keep a sport going without the cash flow coming in.

When I said early on , I let everyone else do all the work ,it was tung in cheek but as usual it got blown out of proportion as most statement on these forums do. I can't remember being asked to go help on a work day and no I do not sit and complain about the trails , I ride when I can I do as many poker rallies as I can .

You may not like that I don't contribute in a way that you approve of but losing you mind and call me, or others names doesn't do your cause any good.
It just makes you look like a bitter angry person who is volunteering just so you have bragging rights at the end of the day.

flame away....

 

[MOMMA]

People gripe and complain about the trails and burn the wood and generally do what humans do . But remember this ,if you take em all out of the sport for not contributing as much as you , you wouldn't have a club at all. Those that don't get out to the work bees and share in the labour end of it ,still buy a pass every year and still buy their club memberships.That injects money directly into the local clubs . If they want to complain about conditions ,so be it .Without them you got nothing at all cuz you cant keep a sport going without the cash flow coming in.

When I said early on , I let everyone else do all the work ,it was tung in cheek but as usual it got blown out of proportion as most statement on these forums do. I can't remember being asked to go help on a work day and no I do not sit and complain about the trails , I ride when I can I do as many poker rallies as I can .

You may not like that I don't contribute in a way that you approve of but losing you mind and call me, or others names doesn't do your cause any good.
It just makes you look like a bitter angry person who is volunteering just so you have bragging rights at the end of the day.

flame away....

I don't mean to flame or pick on you Altapeet but we had a situation a few weeks ago that is the exact opposite of what you are trying to say.
In our particular situation it is the same peeps who consistently DON'T buy a membership, who use our trails and our warm up cabin. These particular people stayed overnight several nights in a row, and complained that there was not enough wood stocked up. "you guys need to supply more wood"... was the comments made.... now if that wasn't enough, the place was left an absolute pigsty....... filth everywhere.... and a window was broken.

My hubby2b and I, along with a few more volunteers went and cut more wood, split and piled it, because that's what we do. We supply a warm up cabin for all to enjoy, it's just unfortunate that some people don't realize the effort it takes to maintain it. It's not about bragging rites, or a feeling of superiority. Perhaps you have a skewed view of club members. It's about contributing to our community, and contributing to our club. Building the sport, and keeping the sport alive.

Our club absolutely DOES NOT gain one thing having these types of people as riders in our area.

 

[Altapeet]

I stand corrected , not everyone pays to play . if i could go back and unpost my first post I surely would . The trails that I frequent are well looked after ,there is no cabin which perhaps is a good thing , Riding without a trail pass here is a big no no and am fine with that. I should have realized that no matter what my argument there will be a rebuttal ....plus I learned long ago that arguing with there fairer sex is futile . I surrender

 

[powderpilot]

Thanks MOMMA!!! Those are the peeps I was talking about too Do they travel between our areas or what???

The ones that don't contribute always seem to take the most don't they?

 

[Klingon Warrior]

President of the Calgary Club last 2 years, Safety, Search and Rescue for about 6 or 7 years before that, just over 100 members but would like to see that number grow, for a city of over a million, there is a lot of apathy around here. Lost our grooming at Cataract this year, but don't have a large enough voice to get anyone to listen at SRD, lots of people complain about the trail conditions but can't be bothered to join a club or association to help do anything about it.
Also a member of the Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club,{Sicamous}
Member of Snowmobile Safety Committee {Canadian Avalanche Centre}
Would like to see a lot more involvement in organized snowmobiling !!!

 

[snoqueen]

I don't mean to flame or pick on you Altapeet but we had a situation a few weeks ago that is the exact opposite of what you are trying to say.
In our particular situation it is the same peeps who consistently DON'T buy a membership, who use our trails and our warm up cabin. These particular people stayed overnight several nights in a row, and complained that there was not enough wood stocked up. "you guys need to supply more wood"... was the comments made.... now if that wasn't enough, the place was left an absolute pigsty....... filth everywhere.... and a window was broken.

My hubby2b and I, along with a few more volunteers went and cut more wood, split and piled it, because that's what we do. We supply a warm up cabin for all to enjoy, it's just unfortunate that some people don't realize the effort it takes to maintain it. It's not about bragging rites, or a feeling of superiority. Perhaps you have a skewed view of club members. It's about contributing to our community, and contributing to our club. Building the sport, and keeping the sport alive.

Our club absolutely DOES NOT gain one thing having these types of people as riders in our area.

Thanks again MOMMA!! We have those riders around our area too....called "the ride for free club." They want all the perks like a nice groomed trail, firewood stocked in the cabin, etc....but don't pay one cent to the club. Then they complain yet that the groomer isn't operational, or they can't warm up in the cabin!! Where do they think the perks come from? That the groomer can run on air and the firewood gets stocked automatically when they show up??

Without money for memberships and donations and the volunteers to do the work....we have NOTHING. Also, some don't even realize that by NOT buying a membership we are losing valuable riding areas everyday!!

 

[zal]

I'm the President of the Peace Valley Snow Riders. Like Tee said, we're only 2 yrs old and learning. We have made huge progress in our area IMO but that is because of the members. With our group, we have 45 members and only about 10 that help. But I believe there are 3 types of people. Volunteers...people who buy a membership and help. Supporters...people who buy memberships and don't have time to help. Free loaders...the ones who ask what does the club do for me. Without the volunteers and supporters (who make up the members), we would not be where we are today. Free loaders, well there is nothing you can do to change them. I don't even worry about it.

Thank You to All the Volunteers and Supporters for our Sport. Every contribution helps out.

 

[ferniesnow]

.....I believe there are 3 types of people. Volunteers...people who buy a membership and help. Supporters...people who buy memberships and don't have time to help. Free loaders...the ones who ask what does the club do for me. Without the volunteers and supporters (who make up the members), we would not be where we are today. Free loaders, well there is nothing you can do to change them. I don't even worry about it.

Thank You to All the Volunteers and Supporters for our Sport. Every contribution helps out.

Very well put and places an academic twist to the picture.

I like that....Volunteers, Supporters, and the Freeloaders

 

[moyiesledhead]

In our particular situation it is the same peeps who consistently DON'T buy a membership, who use our trails and our warm up cabin. These particular people stayed overnight several nights in a row, and complained that there was not enough wood stocked up. "you guys need to supply more wood"... was the comments made.... now if that wasn't enough, the place was left an absolute pigsty....... filth everywhere.... and a window was broken.

That right there is why our cabin is locked! Sad but true.

 

[kootenaycat]

Member of 2 local clubs here.

 

[Thumper-darryl]

Currently President of the ASA
Past President of the Calgary Snowmobile Club

Great question.
Various clubs across Canada and the U.S.A. require volunteer hours in order to use trails or lands managed by those clubs. I would LOVE to have that here, but we don't.
Over the last 20 years or so of being actively involved with clubs, two things I have learned are, 1-ask a busy person to help. It seems that busy people are always able to help while lazy people are --well lazy. 2- Things will always get done by the "same ten people"
This is good timing for this question as I have an article on this very topic in the upcoming issue of Snoriders magazine. Check it out.
ISMA,CCSO, ASA, Clubs . Learn how all these fit together to keep you riding, and be VERY clear that with out those volunteers from local, provincial, and national groups you would NOT be sledding .
If you are not willing to actually help out at the very least purchase a provincial membership. When we are at the table working with various Government agencies the first question asked is "how many members do you represent?" Numbers do count.
I am blown away at the amount of work put in by volunteers at the club level. It makes me proud to be part of the ASA.

 

[Summiteer]

People gripe and complain about the trails and burn the wood and generally do what humans do . But remember this ,if you take em all out of the sport for not contributing as much as you , you wouldn't have a club at all. Those that don't get out to the work bees and share in the labour end of it ,still buy a pass every year and still buy their club memberships.That injects money directly into the local clubs . If they want to complain about conditions ,so be it .Without them you got nothing at all cuz you cant keep a sport going without the cash flow coming in.

When I said early on , I let everyone else do all the work ,it was tung in cheek but as usual it got blown out of proportion as most statement on these forums do. I can't remember being asked to go help on a work day and no I do not sit and complain about the trails , I ride when I can I do as many poker rallies as I can .

You may not like that I don't contribute in a way that you approve of but losing you mind and call me, or others names doesn't do your cause any good.
It just makes you look like a bitter angry person who is volunteering just so you have bragging rights at the end of the day.

flame away....

Last rally we had in Whitecourt we sold over 400 day passes, mostly to local people... I'd wager that most of those people ride the trails all year, the only reason they buy a pass at the rally is because it's mandatory...Parasites.
We've sold just under 300 trail passes so far this year. There are that many people on our trails on a nice weekend.

 

[xfirexp]

I'm a member of the 100 mile snow safari in N. WI I help out when I can

 

[ferniesnow]

Currently President of the ASA
Past President of the Calgary Snowmobile Club

Great question.
Various clubs across Canada and the U.S.A. require volunteer hours in order to use trails or lands managed by those clubs. I would LOVE to have that here, but we don't.
Over the last 20 years or so of being actively involved with clubs, two things I have learned are, 1-ask a busy person to help. It seems that busy people are always able to help while lazy people are --well lazy. 2- Things will always get done by the "same ten people"
This is good timing for this question as I have an article on this very topic in the upcoming issue of Snoriders magazine. Check it out.
ISMA,CCSO, ASA, Clubs . Learn how all these fit together to keep you riding, and be VERY clear that with out those volunteers from local, provincial, and national groups you would NOT be sledding .
If you are not willing to actually help out at the very least purchase a provincial membership. When we are at the table working with various Government agencies the first question asked is "how many members do you represent?" Numbers do count.
I am blown away at the amount of work put in by volunteers at the club level. It makes me proud to be part of the ASA.

Keep on Thumping....Thumper-Darryl! You the man.....

 

[crowsfeet]

I am a supporting member in the crowfoot mtn club. Maybe i'll try a little harder to take it to the"next level" but honestly I had no idea that more volunteers were so desperately needed in my club. I see from the previous postings that this is most likely the case as it is in all your other clubs. Thanks Snow an Mud!

 

[ferniesnow]

I am a supporting member in the crowfoot mtn club. Maybe i'll try a little harder to take it to the"next level" but honestly I had no idea that more volunteers were so desperately needed in my club. I see from the previous postings that this is most likely the case as it is in all your other clubs. Thanks Snow an Mud!

I applaud your decision.....and give you some rep!

 

[Thumper-darryl]

Our provincial Government is FINALLY considering compulsory trail permits for riding on crown lands. This will have a HUGE impact on the "non-joiners" who currently ride for free on the backs of volunteers.

On a club ride last week with the Grande Prairie club we come upon a lady rider hopelessly stuck after missing a corner and winding up over a bank into the trees. We got the sled out and got them on their way. They were heading to warm up in the club shelter. I asked if they were part of the club, to which the ladies male companion said they were going to join. They acknowledged the great trails and shelters but were currently not members. Hopefully they were true to their word and joined the club.

We all need to pressure the non-joiners to step up and contribute.

 

[Thumper-darryl]

Just noticed a post from the Peace Valley club. The ASA welcomed this club to the fold last year, and we recently received a trail project funding application from them. Going through the application where they documented all the volunteer hours I was blown away with the hours put in by this small, new club. We were pleased to approve their funding application and look foreword to see great things from the Peace Valley Snow Riders. Things like this make my job with the ASA worth while.
Darryl

 

[powderhoundbrr]

Member and volunteer for 2 local clubs. And that means I have to buy 2 memberships to the BCSF which is bull!!!!!!