CVC February 2013.pdf

Our club is now beginning its twenty-second year.
In the coming months I plan to talk about the
graying of Central Valley Corvettes and discuss
such issues as demographics, who is retired, who is
still working, what type of Corvettes we own, and
preserving the future of CVC.
But as the new year unfolds, the message this month
will be about membership. We don’t always tell
you at the start of the year who left the club and
who joined, so let us begin there. The good news is
we picked up four (4) new members, Don and
Sharon Condley and Tom and Emily Piercy. The
bad and sad news is we lost nine (9) members. The
sad news was the passing of our dear friends Sheryl
DeMello and Michele Carli, plus there were seven
people who decided not to renew their membership
in 2013 including Dave and Mary Case, Sherry
Dixon and Mark Mangrum, Lee Rabner and Betty
Haron and Diane Tjerrild.
We started 2012 with 83 members and now in 2013
we have 78 members for a net loss of six percent
(6%). What has been happening is a slow, but
steady decline. Just a decade ago, we saw
membership levels as high as 107. But shortly
thereafter, our roster began dropping into the 90’s.
About three years ago we slipped into the 80’s.
Now for the first time, we have eroded into the 70’s.
Comparing the high water mark of 107 to our
current membership of 78, the club has atrophied by
twenty-seven percent (27%) in roughly the past
eight or nine years. Some of the decrease can be
attributed to the dark economy and part of it to our
devoted members that have passed away.
While seventy-eight still represents a healthy
number, it is something as a club we need to
eventually get serious about. Perhaps we need to
put together a recruiting committee. The goal
would be to come up with avenues to reach out to
Corvette owners and sell them on the benefits of
being in CVC. Maybe we need to look into
relaxing our policy of being a mandatory Corvette
owner to be in the club. If a member sells their car,
perhaps we give them additional time to locate a
replacement Corvette. Another possibility is to get
someone interested in joining the club with the goal
of getting them to purchase a Corvette sometime in
the future. Perhaps we should contact our previous
members and ask a few questions about why they
left and use that information to make CVC better.
While some of you may disagree with this concept,
the bottom line is CVC is getting older and
contracting each and every year. Next month, when
I tell you how three out of every four members are
over 60 and that six in every ten members are now
retired, you will see a clearer picture. I don’t want
to divulge everything this month, because part of
the challenge of being your President is to come up
with fresh material each and every month.
The idea of being in CVC is fellowship, enjoyment
and appreciation for America’s only true sports car.
But sooner than later this is a topic we need to
prioritize if CVC is to survive a long happy future.
Craig