February 16 CVGP Meeting - Suggestion.

Dear Fellow Prospectors,

In response to the Feb. 16th CVGP meeting notice concerning selection of new 
club officers that we E-Mailed to you earlier this week, I received the 
following response and suggestion from one of our members which I replied to 
by saying I would present his suggestion to the rest of you:
_________________________________________________________
"Ron: I know it is totally frustrating when a good thing is created, by
caring folks, and the rest of us just tag along for the ride. I also know
first hand the responsibilities that go along with being an officer of a
club. I have no intentions of being an officer of our fledgling
prospecting club. I have many reasons for this, but my reasons may not
hold water against others..

I would offer this suggestion, since the "club" is not part of GPAA now,
that we dispense with all the club formalities, and just benefit each
other by corresponding on the internet, phone or mail. Each of us can
tell our stories, and get together as we see fit." 
___________________________________________________________________

After reading this members suggestion a few times (a member who has attended 
our meetings a total of 3 times since March, 2000), I could not help but 
respond to it with the following:

1) As an officer of the CVGP, it has been far from a "frustrating" experience 
!  If anything, it has been very Rewarding to see a club grow from a handful 
of people at the 1st organizational meeting in Feb. 2000 to a membership 
which now numbers close to 200 and monthly meetings with average attendance 
of 40-50 members not to mention seeing all the new friendships that have 
developed within the CVGP with all this revolving around the common interest 
of prospecting.

2) Yes, as in any club, there are those that APPEAR to just "tag" along for 
the ride or try to get information from others without participating or 
contributing to the overall club goals and efforts or not attending meetings. 
 This may be true with certain members or it may be because certain members 
are new to prospecting and have nothing to contribute yet or have 
difficulties attending meetings due to job, personal and/or family time 
conflicts.  However, there are also those members that have attended 
practicaly every meeting and have continually contributed their thoughts, 
opinions, financial (and food & goodies), etc. support.   This is a club were 
you can be as involved as you want to be...there are no quotas of any kind to 
be a member other than your interest in prospecting !   

3) Sure, the responsibities of officers in some clubs can be overwhelming.  
However, as anyone that has attended CVGP meetings can see, we have tried to 
keep the organization and meeting structure as simple, loose and as informal 
as possible without all the "parlimentary" baloney that usually bogs down 
other clubs.  As Secretary/Treasure of the CVGP for 2 years, I can vouch that 
I have not spent more than 3-4 hours a month maintaining the 
membership/attendance list, writing the monthly newsletter, maintaining the 
club checking & petty cash account, etc.

4) Last year, ALL of the members had an opportunity to vote on whether or not 
the CVGP should be part of the GPAA.  By an overwhelming margin, THE MEMBERS 
voted not to be part of the GPAA !   Quite frankly, I do not see what bearing 
this decision has on our local prospecting club particularly since it was 
made very clear that this vote had absolutely nothing to do with a CVGP 
member becoming or continuing to be a GPAA/LDMA member on an individual 
basis. The CVGP, your club, decided what was in the best interest of the 
club.

5) The main goals for the existance of the CVGP are: 1. Develop claims in VA 
for VA prospectors (via a Claims Committee and member input), 2. Promote 
prospecting in VA (and assist those new to prospecting) and 3. Provide a 
means for those with the common interest of prospecting to share ideas, tips, 
methods, etc. relating to prospecting and NOT JUST SHARING STORIES !   Can 
all this be done by just corresponding haphazardly with each other over the 
internet, phone or mail ?  I doubt it and I believe the majority of the 
members doubt it as well nor would they want to do it this way.   Can VA 
claims be developed and financed (e.g-leasing) by just chit-chatting over the 
internet, phone or mail without a club and an active claims committee ? 
Nothing will ever replace face-to-face contact and interaction between those 
with a common interest and goal hence the purpose of the CVGP meetings not to 
mention the side benefit of fellowship that results !

Finally, if you all feel the way I do about the "Golden" opportunities that 
are still to be realized with the CVGP, I urge as many members as possible to 
attend the CVGP meeting of Feb. 16th and to consider being an officer.  We 
will either continue to have a CVGP club or we won't after this next 
meeting....it's as simple as that....the decision will entirely be made by 
those that attend the Feb. 16th meeting !

Thanks for listening to me express my opinions and thoughts from this "Soap 
Box". 

(P.S. - the officer terms are 2 years and you DO NOT have to sign any binding 
contract in blood !   If you can't serve your full term for any reason, 
including an in-grown toe-nail, we can always hold a special election for 
someone to replace you) 

Regards,
Ron Pope
Secretary/Treasurer - CVGP (Central Virginia Gold Prospectors)