Why are the OCA regions so broad- it seems like there is about one per state? I see that there used to be a chapter in my area (greensboro, NC) but it appears that they are no longer active. I believe that they hosted a national event at one time, also.

 

It is a lot of work to form a chapter and keep it going. It takes hard working people and a strong membership to keep things going. They form wherever there seems to be a need and logic and these dedicated people reside. Chapters usually fail because nobody steps up for leadership positions.

 

Oldsmaniac,
Thanks for the reply. Were there more per region at one time?

 

That is very easy to answer. OCA doesn't form chapters, members form (and run) chapters. If nobody takes on (or keeps) the responsibility of running a chapter, there is no chapter. It is that simple.

 

What do you mean by "regions"? There are only seven OCA Zones. If you mean "chapters", there are 45 general chapters, but they are not "one per state". The state links on the OCA website merely direct you to the chapter list by zone. For example, there are four chapters in PA and five in NY - yet only two in Calif! The number and location of chapters is a function of national population density and the location of folks willing to organize and maintain the chapter.

 

Joe,
Sorry, wrong terminology, I meant chapters. Sounds like most volunteer organizations- hard to get people to commit to doing the work. i did notice that some States had more than one chapter.
What is a "good" number of interested Olds enthusiasts to form a chapter?

 

I can offer some insight from my own experience. We (NEOC) started an Oldsmobile club 14 years ago with about 10 people. We knew the interest was there and our membership grew to about 40 in the first year when we applied for OCA chapter status. There were 3 other chapters within 100 miles of us and we needed their permission and other further chapters to form the chapter. So, it all boils down to the heart of the people and their ambition to start and support their chapter. If you have a dozen or so people who are interested, go for it

 

Sixty9olds- you willing to work to get Mid Atlantic going again? I was a founding member of that group and bottom line is after ten years as OCA director, hosting two National Meets, six Zone shows and putting up with an ******* OCA president, I burned out. I don't have the time or energy now to re-establish it and the original core group is now scattered and some deceased, but I still have the Chapter Charter.

Case in point. Auto Fair is next weekend. Mid Atlantic Olds Club was a club fixture there for many years, but due to work constraints, I haven't been to an Auto Fair in 6 years. Every time I've planned to go, someone decided at the last minute we needed a maintenance shutdown that weekend and my plans got shot to hell. After several times going thru that, you give up.

I would love to see Mid Atlantic revitalized, but I just don't have the will any more.

 

rocketraider,

I am not sure, I was mostly curious about why the chapters are so scattered. The listing for Mid-Atlantic Chapter was listed as Concord on the OCA site- are they still in operation? Maybe we could start a club and see how things go, kind of like 68olds suggested. When did the Mid-Atlantic Chapter close in Greensboro?

 

Chapters are scattered all over because it's difficult to get enough people together in an area to sustain one. It's a lot of work and takes time to keep one moving.


MAOC is still a chartered OCA chapter, just kinda dead. It was never a Greensboro chapter per se but Greensboro at the time was the most centrally located point we could find with easy access. Its territory is defined as North and South Carolina and southern Virginia. We covered Roanoke-Lynchburg on the north, Asheville to the Coast east-to-west, and all of South Carolina. It meant some people still had to drive long distances for anything. When we met regularly in G-boro, we had one family who came from Asheville every month and another guy from Washington NC, and a family from Richmond VA would get to a few meetings every year too. It was an hour drive for me.

It became more Charlotte-oriented after 3 of the officers were from that area.

I see several NC people on here and have wondered if any of them have the initiative to get the Chapter spooled back up.

The aforementioned OCA president managed to **** off enough of our membership that a lot of long-time folks didn't renew either MA or national memberships. He was clueless about how much damage he ultimately did to OCA. Even after several years of new and friendlier leadership, it's been hard to get people interested again. But I think it could be done.

 

I have been a member of the Puget Sound Chapter for several years and only became active this year. Work and participating in other clubs and functions was a limiting factor for me plus the old guard in our chapter were not very friendly when I tried a meeting a number of years ago. All on the members I have met since I started going this year are great people, but yes like Rockeraider says if it wern't for the active 10 or so members that do everthing it would fall apart. Does not matter how big the group is unless you have lots of willing people participating it will at some point fail.
Another thing is age I would say that the average active member is in their early to late sixtys. Some are even older. We need more young people to become active and help carry the tourch. Also need a way to encourage them to come to the meetings.

 

Amen! Can't stress this enough.

The following is bound to not go over well with some people, but I'm going to tell it like it is. And if the shoe fits, wear it!
Unfortunately, there is a rather large undertow of people out there that are only concerned about what OCA/club/chapter can go for them, with no concern about what *they* can do to help. (IMHO, this is plaguing society as a whole) Either put up, or shut up.
As an example, a lot of people (some on this forum) went to a lot of time and trouble to try to accommodate Olds drag racers in OCA, and OCA meets. This took extraordinary efforts that have not previously been extended to any other special interest groups. What did OCA (and these people) get in return? More complaints. Like "why do I need to join OCA to race (at the OCA event)?". And "why isn't there money for winners"? I read all kinds of self-absorbed crap. And the result was poor attendance. B/l was "all talk and no action" (as a whole) from the racers. They didn't step up and help, and worse yet didn't participate when they were given a chance. Bear in mind, I'm referring to the group as a whole, and my hats off to those that did make the effort.
Sorry, but I'm sick of the "something for nothing" mentality.

 

I lived in the Las Vegas area for 23 years and never found enough owners/interest for a chapter there. Population is large but changes quickly (people move in and out). There is a relatively small number of car people, and widely divergent in the type of cars. Yet, when I moved to Albuquerque in 2004 I found a vigorous OCA chapter. Regular meetings, participation in a surprisingly large number of get togethers with other local car clubs. So, prevailing attitudes and interests are important too, not just population. I went to the Cambria CA show in 1984 and there was zero interest in the 66 W30 I brought. A change to custom wheels was also the most radical modification they thought worth considering. Again, different areas seem to have different kinds of interests. At the Texas show, there were lots of performance Oldsmobiles, and a large number of modifed class cars. Some other Nationals' attendees were more focused on stock classes. I guess what the "bottom line" is--try to attract the divergent interests somehow.

I am still hoping to get racers and OCA together. I think the race has to be noteworthy from the racer's perspective, and they may slowly get interested in the car show aspect. OCA should give the race cars the same show status as the other classes. Currently they think winning the race is the only reward the racers should get (other than a simple "participation" plaque). I feel the two aspects are different and race cars should be able to get Best in Class and move into Senior Class. Why bother to judge cars if the judge's and owner's efforts don't go anywhere. There have been major improvements in OCA management, but there is room for more reasoned, logical thinking on both sides. I think the racers have been only hurting themselves by not stepping up to the only organization that cares about Oldsmobiles. If they participate in more numbers, they will get heard more.

 

That is sooooooooo simple, I don't see why they don't get it. That is exactly what the "performance" Olds crowd did many years ago. *Now* look at their presence in OCA.
I guess those that don't want to get involved are a just a bunch of whiners.