Down to 67 members and bills to pay.
That's what Jim Moran and his crew were faced with, 4 1/2 years ago.
Today we are flourishing with a close to 180 members on our club's roles.
There is a story here.
I want to share it with all our members, new and old, for there is an important lesson to be learned.
When Jim took over the helm, we all knew survival of the NLMC was dependent upon hard work, cooperation and above all, a positive, can do attitude. We wanted our club to prosper, but knew it wouldn't be easy.
One thing was obvious to us: We had to stop the dissention to attract new members.
Over the years, our club has transformed itself several times. Originally an Indian M/C club formed by Ralph and Ruth Strong, it grew to accept European bikes, British Bikes, and Japanese bikes. However, at any given time, one bike seemed to be dominant. Indian, BMW and then Honda Gold Wings were the dominate bikes in our club. This worked out OK because all bikes were "welcome" to join us for a ride.
Unfortunately, a few members who rode the dominant bike, tended to get an attitude. They associated with other members who rode the same kind of bike and basically ignored members who rode a different machine. Some of them wouldn't be shy about saying any other kind of bike in the parking lot wasn't "a real motorcycle" and sometimes referred to them as crap.
Needless to say, this caused a lot of hard feelings and arguments.
This is what I walked into five years ago.
The "old guard" rode Goldwings, Silverwings and BMWs. They liked quiet bikes, Gortex and insisted on helmets. They're motto was "ride your own ride" and did so whenever they had a "group" ride. Spread over different zip codes and time zones, they kept in touch through CB radios and cell phones. Eventually, they would find each other and share a meal. They would then split up and head home.
When Jim decided to become a Road Captain, he didn't even know the club had a Road Captain. He won the next election and set up rides. Guess what? Nobody came! They didn't like the idea of organization in any way.
Well, that didn't set will with Jim. He decided to bring in new members and would invite riders to join in on the fun. I was checking Nasty out at Dunkin Donuts in Montville. This rugged looking guy came out and started talking to me. Before I ordered my coffee, he had me interested in checking out the club.
Jim brought in several new members, I brought in some and the new guys invited their friends to join in on the fun. Before you know it, we had a darn good looking line of bikes to ride with on Sunday afternoons.
This didn't set well with the old guard. They saw more and more bikes with loud pipes and riders without helmets show up on meeting nights. What happened next was ugly.
Thursday night meetings became contentious. Members argued over everything the new guys were trying to do to improve the club. We lost many good people because of it. Some of the new guys left in disgust. That was tough to take.
The old guard finally left in a huff, "knowing" we would fall on our collective butts without their "help". But, Jim had something they didn't have, a core group of stubborn bikers that were determined to turn things around.
Today, you see the results of our efforts.
Our formula for success is simple: respect the club and fellow members, show the patch, encourage bikers to check us out and give all our guests a warm welcome. Show respect for their ride and let them know we appreciate them joining us.
As long as we keep this in mind, the NLMC will continue to grow and flourish!
Gray Beard
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