Here is the June 2016 ACBS Newsletter from the ACBS Executive Director, Peter Stephens.
The June 2016 ACBS Newsletter has a strong message about membership in the Antique & Classic Boat Society, plus news about many events happening around the organization. The message is here. You will see the complete newsletter including events by clicking on this newsletter link.
As your Executive Director, one of the most enjoyable aspects of this job, besides increasing my circle of friends, is to see the numerous activities the ACBS chapters put on each year! The spring newsletters are full of recaps of winter activities and events to come this spring and summer. This truly is an amazing organization: thousands and thousands of individuals drawn by the love of our hobby, enjoying great boating and our mission to preserve, restore and educate the public about classic boating. You all are to be thanked and congratulated on your support of ACBS. Without the chapters and the many volunteers, this would be just another shrinking hobby related organization. Your Board appreciates the time and commitment it takes to plan and organize your activities! We thank you for your efforts!
From time to time, Woody Boater and other respected forums have run very thought provoking articles on millennials and the state of the classic boating hobby. The car hobby also struggles with many of the same issues. While we don’t propose to have all the answers yet, we have taken a number of proactive steps to reach out and position ourselves as a viable and realistic hobby to millennials and on up the age scale.
Our good news is that we are slowly building membership. We are up almost 3.0% over last year. President Jeff Funk and the Board gave us an aggressive goal of over 7% growth for this year. New members mean new boats, new energy and spirit and a renewed sense of our mission. This summer, take the time to talk and offer rides to the families and young people. Let me add this is not just about numbers, we need to enjoy what we are doing daily, in our chapter events and with our fundraising. In other words, have some fun on the water this summer! Just share the enthusiasm with someone new and you could change their lives by introducing them to our hobby!
As an example of having fun, our recent Board Meeting and Opening Day of Boating events in Seattle was spectacular. I personally had never seen such a great boating event. Hundred & hundreds of boats all prepared to go through “the cut” to salute the Commodore to start the boating season. The Pacific Northwest Chapter’s theme was “The Great Escape” so chapter and Board members, dressed as prisoners in black & white stripes, were “chased” by ACBS member Steve Snider and friends in the “police chase boat”, complete with siren! Hopefully, none of the pictures will surface of us in our special costumes! Thank you again to the Pacific Northwest Chapter for a superb event and great hospitality!
More great news about ACBS and growth, we just added another chapter! We are extremely proud to announce that we now have a chapter in Scandinavia, encompassing Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. We look forward to hearing about their boating events and sharing photographs on the new ACBS website!
Please submit your photos and stories to the ACBS website. This is going to become one of the best ways we communicate as an organization. We also hope to ramp up our efforts on Facebook this summer as well.
Don’t forget our marque clubs, museums, sponsors and advertisers. They are an important part of our organization. Please support them or visit them on your summer trips!
I’ll see you on the water or on the dock!
Peter Stephens
Executive Director, ACBS
Here are some of the past monthly newsletters: