Hi, Haus.
Would you by some strange chance be a member of Chapter 18? That is my home chapter - - - - when I am home.

Just my 0.02.

I'm ashamed to say I don't know. Perhaps that means I'm simply a member of the parent club (if that's possible)?

Chapter 18 would be my local one. I'm located in Brisbane and my Caterpillar fun happens on the Darling Downs, south of Toowoomba.

Paul.

Well I received that letter today and I have been doing some reading tonight. I admit that I have not been as active on the this platform lately. But I am not sure what to think. I have been a member for a number of years now. I did meet a bunch of members in 2016 at a factory tour event. I brought my dad with me and had a great 3 days there. I was more then happy then to pay for that event. I am not sure how a club went from holding events like that to struggling so much. I have been a paying member for sometime. I got a membership to support the cause. I got a lot of benefits from the forum then. Life has been busy for me, with not a lot of time to spend on my projects lately. I am 41 I will have lots of time to find the bits that I need to make my projects whole as I would like to. This club has been a great resource to find the bits and pieces to make some of my 70+ year old Caterpillar equipment whole again. I have bought at least a dozen show shirts from the club store. I have never been to a show, but wanted to show support and be proud to be a club member. I am in Canada and to travel to one can be expensive. But I was reading though the minutes for the last year or so. I have to admit some things shocked me. But there is a cost of doing business and if product is not being sold at a steady rate the costs start to add up. Profits get small. I have bought models from the store as well. At least six not including the terracers that were included. I asked the forum once if there was any thought to being able to reproduce a model that had been produced before. I have seen some that I would like to have but would have to pay a high price for off of EBay. I would rather buy from a club that can use the money to promote a way of preserving history. (I am a Heavy Duty Mechanic by trade) most of the guys I work with have seen my collection and have a respect for it. It is what I always like to say where my trade came from. It is also fun to joke around with the new guy about starting a Diesel engine with just rope and no electric starter. The guys that know better get a good chuckle out of it. Sorry a bit of a tangent there. The answer I received then was that they could not because they could only produce a certain amount and that most members already had one. But what about newer younger members like me? Well enough about that. My membership comes due early in the year and I don’t think I will be renewing it.

Check your emails. There is now a follow up to the ill-conceived mailer, this time a few less signatories.

Hi, 657cat.
Sorry to hear that you are considering not renewing your membership. You get to run your own life and I would defend your right to do so. How-wevver, I personally would also NOT let a small bunch of malcontents deter me from being a part of an organization that has as much to offer as this one does and sharing my interests with MANY like minded people.

May I suggest that you give it some more thought?

Just my 0.02.

Hi Deas.

I probably will renew. It was late last night when I wrote that.

Hi, 657cat.
We'd be glad to have you stay. You have contributed good stuff to several discussions over the time I've noticed you posting here. Thank you for that.

Just my 0.02.

NickyWalnuts wrote:

Check your emails. There is now a follow up to the ill-conceived mailer, this time a few less signatories.

Thanks for that I got this email  also,
amongst other things they quote  there are 400 international members and some  1750 in the US  !!??
 

Lol BarStart kept her T shirt vows to some of us from 15! Glad you can maintain some humor in these unsettling times. JM