Car Club guys, I need some advice.

This post is not about whther you think car clubs are gay or not. I don't care.

I need to know some cool stuff you guys do to keep your members active. We have poker runs once a month when the weather is good. Usually about March- September. We have elections tonight for officers and I would like to have some fresh ideas on stuff to do. ***ty bars and drinking beer don't count.

 

We do weekly garage nights. Take it in turns to go round to each persons garage/workshop. Drink tea, work on each others cars, drink tea, bench race, drink more tea and generaly annoy the neighbours.

 

I belong to a club that has a once a month dinner run, take the cars and the spousal units and go to a different place for dinner and drinks each month usually on a week night so it's not a late thing but a good chance to get together for a little low key socializing.


B B

 

[ QUOTE ]
Drink tea, work on each others cars, drink tea

[/ QUOTE ]


You mean you dont drink Guinness and shout "BRILLIANT" ?

 

We attempt to have a poker party once a month. But mosts the guys can't play cards for ****.....Somehow most everyone shows up though..

FONZI

 

One thing about a club...it needs to be friendly at all times...when it gets to the point that everyone MUST do things (go places, help with someone's car, run for a club office) then the club needs to disband becuz someone won't be able to do it all...

We have a low key "club" here in Denver...there are no rules, no officers and no meetings...there are yearly "dues" and an initiation "cost"...we meet once a month, usually at someone's house -- wives and G/F's included (mostly wives now!). The guys talk cars, in the garage, the gals talk shopping...nothing ever gets decided unless it's a few of us going on a rod run together somewhere.We each have a club plaque and we have club jackets...when several of us are together somewhere, it's a "meeting." The only purpose for our "club" is an iden***y...keeps it all nice and friendly and no one gets bent out of shape becuz he was "told" he had to do something or "be" somewhere when he couldn't.

The club "treasury" usually gets spent on a party...or given as a donation to some worthy cause!

R-

 

Only if its a friday.

 

The most important thing with a club is being active as a club. There are lots of runs to go to, but in club events are really important. Club only parties, Halloween, Christmas, etc, spring picnic to show off the new rides or work done over the winter, campouts, runs to other events as a club, I'm talkin long distance, not local. Garage tours of club guys and other car nuts or other clubs. Just keep busy as a club or it ain't fun if you only go to meetings and *****. Pat

 

I do what ever Mike(draglinkscc) tells me to do...hahahahaah

 

We have poetry nights once and a month and we have informal macrame pot holder making nights when the wives go out of town.

 

A M/C club I was a member of and still hang around has an informal Sunday breakfast. The only "rules" are that you will leave at 9 sharp!! Since it's a big club, there's usually two, maybe three groups heading out, each one somewhere different.
Once a month dinner runs are good, too.
Having a garage night is cool, but watch you don't impose on a member too much. Sometimes the aftereffects of a garage night can be a bit much (cleanup, staying too late, etc.), but I, myself, would have been overjoyed to have had a club willing to do SOMETHING.
Last club I was in meets once a month at a coffee house. That's it, period.
B-O-R-I-N-G.
Cosmo

 

A meth lab is a good way to raise money for club activities.

 

We dont do Any of that..The guys know that they are in A club..There are no Officers,No politics.If a member needs help on his ride....we all do our best to help that person out in ANY way.We Always Roll to shows together AS A CLUB and park together AS A CLUB.Basically....A bunch of friends hanging out together wearing the same shirts.

 

Knitting, it's not just for women anymore.

 

Nads= nuts which is what I think you are

 

Invitational junk yard runs. Not just the club but the club and friends.

Taco runs on Sundays. Again, we'll invite some of our Gear Grinder buddys, Lesabre59, Barnett, etc. Hoping to hook up with some of the other cool folks in the area soon.

We usually do one or the other every other week or so. Not really an official event persay, but we try to always hook each other up with parts as we can. This is an obvious and very apparent benefit to being "within the circle"

Like I always say, if we werent in a car club, we'd be hangin out talkin about cars.

Here's a pic from our Christmas junk yard run.

Left to right (HRH, me, Sandman, Andy, Sandboy, and Moe)

 

[ QUOTE ]
A meth lab is a good way to raise money for club activities.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, cool, i guess this would be old school biker gang style. sweet. no wonder i hear that many bikers did not work back in the 60's and 70's. the meth labs must of financed their whole club.

 

Yeah, what my prez said.

 

We include the significant others and the kids...you wanna kill a get together in a hurry? Tell the lady folk they hafta stay home.

 

Hey Root

A set bowling night would be cool. Kinda kickin this around here now. You guys got the cool 66 Bowl down there which is a neat old alley. I try to get in there everytime I'm in town. It's a good wife and kid friendly thing to do as well.

Just don't invite Monkey or Weef. Once those pants drop and those ***es come out your children will be scarred for life and your women folk will be so nauseous you won't get a decent meal for weeks!

 

The club I belong to has a monthly meeting every month that mostly tell people whats going on in the area and who is going where at what time. During the winter we have a monthly get together besides the meeting, usually a lunchin get together. Last year the club had a pine wood derby race for us "older" kids. They got a couple sets of rain gutters and nailed them to a saw horse to form a two lane track about 20' long. Cars had a few cl***es they could race in, a boy scout rule cl***, a "modified" cl*** that was boy scout rules that may have been too heavy, a "cheater" cl*** was an anything goes as long as there was some wood on the "car". There was a powder puff cl*** for the ladies, and a show cl*** for cars that didn't work very well or were too big for the track. We had a registration for the cars, just like a car show. There was participant judging for little trophies in all cl***es, plus a best: paint, best of show, youngest racer, oldest racer, neatest race car, and most original design, plus awards (die cast cars) for cl*** race winners. We had it at a local Moose club and they served a lunch. We had 44 cars registered. What a blast. Gene

 

Kissing booths with member on member action. Gay ***....lots of gay ***. Polar bear surfing in the most dirty part of lake michigan. We have annual strong man compe***ions where each member must pick up the heaviest member and walk 40 yards. We have soccer games where our Moms have to drive us to the field and have ice-cream for after the game. And seriously, we have football games. Ask Bobbleed, he knows. We also have basketball games where the cheaters take on various opponents. There have been quite a few injuries to other teams recently so we stick to HORSE. Oh....and we have a band....like a real band...a marching band. I play the trumpet. Car Clubs are exciting and fun. Ask Dennis Gage, he knows.

 

Tech Nights- Someone brings his old carb/distributor/wiper motor/whatever and whatever supplies he needs to fix it. Between all of us, we usually have enough experience, testosterone and tools to correct whatever's wrong. Sometimes someone just brings a 120 V welder and we practice welding s**** metal together.

Movie Nights- We meet at someone's house (spouses, GFs and kids are invited), watch a car-theme movie and drink tea. Usually, California Kid, Am Graffitti, 2 Lane Blacktop, Hot Rod Girl, etc., or some old '60's vintage drivers' ed. flicks .

The key is to do something- anything- other than just conduct a business meeting. Hope this helps.

 

O.K., ALL great ideas, and we haver tried most all of them..... BUT, as President, I allways find myself being the one that does most all of the work and the sounding board for everyone to ***** about why Soandso wasn't there.

How do you guys keep up the "Moral" and the participation?? I want to keep it fun but you also have to ask.... Why are you part of the CLub if you are never around....??

 

I belong to a club that has a lot of history. The club has been in existance for 35 years and over the years there have been a lot of bad *** cars built by our members. We have 32 members and we put on four events each year a rod run, hot rod dance, hot rod drags and a fall chili cruise. With all of these events there is a lot of planning and work that goes into each one. With all of that said, you have to find a way to make things fun and interesting because all of the political ******** will drive you nuts and discourage members from participating.

We meet twice a month and we have one meeting at an Eagle's hall and the other meeting at someones home. It is nice to see other members garages and there is nothing like a group of guys standing around your project and picking it apart!

Another idea is to have meetings at an interesting location like an old hot rod shop, parts manufacturer's facility it's like a field trip for hot rodders.

What ever you do you are not going to please everyone all of the time. Pick a few different things and try not to be too repe***ive or things get boring.

Just my $0.02

 

[ QUOTE ]
***ty bars and drinking beer don't count.

[/ QUOTE ]

Damn, that just about covers my club's whole schtick. Well, that and the ***** hiding contests.

 

Thanks for the input.

Yeah, I figured I would get voted back in last night and I did... So that's why I was asking about the different stuff.

We have garage crawls, poker runs and then the Big Kahuna Hot Rod Luau in June.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Kissing booths with member on member action. Gay ***....lots of gay ***. Polar bear surfing in the most dirty part of lake michigan. We have annual strong man compe***ions where each member must pick up the heaviest member and walk 40 yards. We have soccer games where our Moms have to drive us to the field and have ice-cream for after the game. And seriously, we have football games. Ask Bobbleed, he knows. We also have basketball games where the cheaters take on various opponents. There have been quite a few injuries to other teams recently so we stick to HORSE. Oh....and we have a band....like a real band...a marching band. I play the trumpet. Car Clubs are exciting and fun. Ask Dennis Gage, he knows.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't wait to *** back up for the cheater show this summer...gotta remember the chaps!

 

[ QUOTE ]
O.K., ALL great ideas, and we haver tried most all of them..... BUT, as President, I allways find myself being the one that does most all of the work and the sounding board for everyone to ***** about why Soandso wasn't there.



[/ QUOTE ]

Human nature. It'll never change. Don't fret over it.

Usually the DOERS get burned out over time. You will too. Don't feel guilty when it happens. The only way a club can last long term is to have new DOERS come in to take over the reins.

Our club was very active in the 70's. We still get together once a year to BS and catch up.

I think clubs have a life cycle. Prople get older and priorities and interests change.

I'm very grateful I joined way back when. I might still have non-functioning perpetual projects...garage art.

 

I think too many activities can screw a good thing right up. The Vipers have no rules, no manditory meetings and we only get together as a club twice a year at Bakerspatch Raceway at Famoso. No rules, but we DO have standards. We were friends before we started the club and we tend to hang out a lot now. Still.

We do get together for our party at the track, some of us are involved in the restoration of a historic race car, we help eachother with projects. Some guys do more than others, but it's OK. Eventually, it all evens out.