Growing up in the East Bay in the 50’s and 60’s it seemed like every community had one or more car clubs. And some of them had great names: The Push Rods, The Cruzers, The Cam Twisters, The Road Kings, and so on. The members would mount a plaque with the club name and logo in their back window for all to see. A few of the clubs were specific to a make or type of a car, but many were open to a variety of vehicles.
Doing a little online research I came up with 162 currently active car clubs in California. Of those, 36 clubs are not designated for a particular brand, model or style of car. The Roamin Angels is one of those 36.
So what happened to all of the other general vehicle clubs? A more important question is why is the Roamin Angels Car Club still around after 60 years? Of course there are a number of reasons. Great leadership, active hard working, giving members who are willing to put in the time and effort that it takes to keep things going. How about the attitude the club has about giving back to the community? Being willing to change with the times doesn’t hurt either. Having a car club that is still going strong after 60 years is something that past and present members and officers can be very proud of. Unfortunately, we have lost several key members in the last few years. It is no secret that the Roamin Angels membership is dropping some. And even some of the current members just plain physically are unable to do what they used to do. In talking to other car clubs this is not just our situation, but something that many of the other clubs are facing. In order to attract and retain new members the board of directors and several individuals are diligently working together to come up with ways to confront this situation. The bottom line is if we want to continue to be successful, we need to keep the club fun and rewarding.
Next month we will take a look into some of the things that are currently being worked on and a few things that we can do to carry us into the future. But in the meantime, lets start with an easy one. Name badges. “I don’t need a name badge, everyone knows me”. Not only does “everyone” not know you, but how often have you beat yourself up trying to remember a name that should just pop into your head. If we want to be welcoming to new members, you can’t do much better than doing them the favor of wearing your name badge. It just makes everyone more comfortable. And this doesn’t just go for Roamin’ Angel’s events.
Car shows, Cars & Coffee, anywhere that you might be having a discussion with someone about what it is that you like about the club. Keep several membership applications in your vehicles. This is the kind of thing that will help build our club and make it into the kind of organization that you enjoy being a part of.
Don’t have a name badge? Contact membership chairperson, DeeAnn Bellows at info@roaminangels.com . Feel free to contact me at 530-478-0999 or at jackandpeg48@gmail.com with any comments or suggestions you might have. Phone or email – no text please.
