IMPORTANT NOTICE

[George Boley]

BOARD OF DIRECTORS VOTE TO DISBAND BORN FREE LEAP'N LIONS RV CLUB DUE TO LACK OF INTEREST........
Dreaded words that none of us ever want to hear. Can you imagine no website or what it would be like with no rallies to look forward to, going without seeing our many Born Free friends? I heard someone comment at the last rally "This group really enjoys each other's company". I know Sue and I would surely miss it and to make sure it does not happen, we desperately need your help.

Born Free functions just don't happen, they are initiated by folks willing to take their turn at putting on a rally, being part of a committee or agreeing to be a regional Vice President for a term. We desperately need VPs as several nomination slates remain unfilled for the 2008-2009 terms. The Southwest slot for VP has been vacant for a year. Our current President's term is almost up and he deserves a rest. Even though we have been working diligently to find a chairman for the nominating committee, months later it still remains vacant. Hosting rallies is a lot of fun, Sue and I are working on our third. Please volunteer, so our club can continue to offer the great times we all enjoy and so we never have to hear the above dreaded words from our Directors.

You may apply to President Mel Wilbur. Many thanks.

George & Sue Boley, Leap'n Lions members

[SteveR]

We are new to the club and new to RVing so my questions and comments may be from ignorance so please bear with me.

From your note it appears that positions within the club are not nominations from the club at large but are self-nominations done directly to the current President. That seems a bit odd to me. Why would this site not be an instrument for nominations of our fellow club members? Perhaps one reason the club is short of VPs and other committee members is lack of visibility. This web site is our only source of club information. As such, we have been a bit confused as to the very low profile by club leadership. I don't remember ever seeing a posting about club activities other than rallies since we joined last October. I also noticed you have only posted three times to this board yet have been a club VP for over 2 years.

If the club leadership were more involved in this board perhaps the membership would be more knowledgable about club activities, needs, and plans. There may be a time when we are ready to be more active in the club but we are still wearing "training wheels" in the RV world and feel inadequate at this point in our learving curve to do much more than attend rallies and learn as much as we can along the way.

Just my two cents as a newbee.

[CHARLOTTE]

George....Of course no one wants to see our club 'disappear'or our website either for that matter. We most certainly do appreciate all the time & energy many of our Reps have & do put into planning our activities & Rallys. However, many of us that are new and/or fairly new to the club aren't aware of the 'organizing' part and how all that works, thus unaware of the need for volunteers.

Now that you have brought this to our attention perhaps those that are able will indeed become involved.

I was unaware of the seriousness of the situation so I will contact Mel and see if there is something I can do as a solo.

Thanks for alerting us....

[jobrien]

I know you can see who the current leaders are on the officers part of the forum, accessable from the main forum page.

But, this is the first time I have read anything about terms being up, or the need for volunteers.

Maybe it would be a good idea to list who the current officers are, and when their tour of duty is up. Also directions and qualifications for someone who may be interested in taking an office. A brief "job description" might even help.
It seems like there are many new people on here, and we are not aware of the organization structure and procedures.

I think this is a great board, lots of helpful people and many great ideas. I will be attending my first rally in NJ at the end of the month, nad I am looking forward to meeting every one.

John

[Mel Wilbur]

WOW!!! It looks like George has grabbed your attention. Are we looking for some officers and rally host, you bet we are. Are we going to "disappear"--NO WAY! As this forum is open to the world and I believe that club business should be just that, club business, I will answer some of your concerns via e-mail.

[Bogiesmom]

Wow!!!Sure glad I kept reading this thread. George sure got our attention!!

We have learned so much from your website and the members here in our quest for a BFT. You guys have been so patient and kind with your help and thoughts on our questions as we have gone through the deciding and ordering process.

We will be owners very soon, since we make the trip to the factory on Monday the 7th and pick up our brand spanking new 2007 BFT. We are sure glad you guys will be around to answer new questions as we learn about our new traveling/camping machine. We will be joining you as members of the "Leap'n Lions RV Club" as soon as we can get the application filled out.

[iowaride]

My husband and I read this forum for the good advice/information that we gain from long time club member/owners. We have only participated in one BF event and consider ourselves "newbies." We have to agree with the previous posts, that we know little about how the club is actually structured and run.

Mel stated that he would deal with club business via emails since the forum is open to the world. Perhaps, club business could be posted on a locked part of the forum that only club members could open with our password. That would help all the newbies, like us, who are unaware of how the club works and its needs, but are interested in becoming informed.

Sharon and Bill Harrington
East coast of Iowa
2002 24RB 7.3 Powerstroke
Trek 2300 WSD, Bianchi Road

[gwb36]

Finding people to serve as club officers is a problem in every club I have ever been a member of. Especially a club of fewer members.

Tongue in cheek, maybe we should make this club like a BMW motorcycle club I know of in which every member is a president.

[KTnLen]

The Club Bylaws, as well as the Club Officers and Sleap'n Lions lists, are in a password-protected "Member Login" tab on the home page.

http://www.bornfreervclub.org/

Why not have a member forum tab for Club Business there?

As for George's initial point, and as amplified by others, we are both still working full-time, so it is difficult to be away together for more than a few days at a time. We can choose one rally a year to attend, and that's about it for now.

Even then, I (Len) am often working as we travel, with mobile internet, Blackberry, and laptop. It's the nature of the beast until I retire. I'm happy that my good wife loves to drive the rig. On business, I try to have another colleague come along who is willing to share the driving duties.

Notwithstanding, we are glad to help when we can. Len C sends.

[whemme]

Actually, the website has information about the structure of the club, it's six regions, and the type and terms of the club's officers. This info can be found under the Home Page button called Club History and then scroll down toward the bottom for a discussion called Club Info.

Maybe it is somewhat hidden but it is there. Maybe this information about our club should be located under it's own separate Home Page button - would that make it more visible and easier to find???

Also, the info there that is not discussed are the two club officer positions of President and Secretary/Treasurer and that probably needs to be rectified.

[Mary Ann]

[quote="George Boley"]BOARD OF DIRECTORS VOTE TO DISBAND BORN FREE LEAP'N LIONS RV CLUB DUE TO LACK OF INTEREST........
George....very sorry to read about the problem with leaders for board jobs and rally leaders. Like most others who have commented, I don't feel qualified, because I'm new to RVing, and I am single (widow). I've loved all the Rallys I've attended, including the recent Umatilla Ralley you and Sue led. Because of the advice provided, saying go to the homepage to learn about the officers and the way the club works, I tried that. Got there, and logged in with my regular password, which I always use on this forum, and after 4 tries, each not accepting my password, and no option for asking for a correct password being sent to my email address, I gave up. Do we need a different password? Maybe others are experiencing the same thing. I'm going to homecoming as I did last year, and it is a great way to meet other BF owners and the staff at the factory. I'm looking forward to that, and am going to Alaska with John and Jerry. This will be my first caravan experience and because my home is so distant from Skagway AK, where the trip ends, I may not get home in time for the Nashville Rally. I was at Branson, and the rally was awesome!
Mary Ann and Sasha
24BFRB

[KTnLen]

[quote="...... Because of the advice provided, saying go to the homepage to learn about the officers and the way the club works, I tried that. Got there, and logged in with my regular password, which I always use on this forum, and after 4 tries, each not accepting my password, and no option for asking for a correct password being sent to my email address, I gave up. Do we need a different password? Maybe others are experiencing the same thing.

Yes, Mary Ann, and any others having login issues, there is a different password for the Members Area. You should have received the login information with your membership, but if not, you can always contact the board administrator, bfadmin@bornfreervclub.org
or club secretary, maryafind@yahoo.com

Len C sends.

[Trisha]

What does the job of an area vp require, and can a single person do it? Many singles aren't volunteering because they feel intimidated by the job mostly done by couples. Is it a lot for one person? Or can one person handle it easily.

I would imagine hosting a rally is even more of a 'team' job than being a VP or officer.

If someone can chime in to which jobs would work for singles, and which would work for 'temporary teams', maybe we can be more creative with the workload.

Whatdya think?

trish

[George Boley]

Good Morning Trish,
Singles are more than welcome for any officer's position, committee or host's job. In each case where there is a couple, one seems to volunteer and the other becomes an unintended participant, so the work load ends up being shared. But depending on skills, a single certainly could handle most jobs. A VP is responsible for a rally each year in their region. Nowhere does it say the VP has to personally do it, only see it gets done. Rallies can have co-hosts to share the work or just ask for help as we did for the Florida Rally. We had so many volunteer, we had to turn people down. We have put together a packet to assist people that want to put on a rally. Part of it tells you how many items or ounces of certain items you need per attendee. As you can see, we continue to try to make it easier.
You have a great day. Sue and I hope to see you again soon. George B