Membership Directory

KAT

KAT

LOVES Wooden Canoes
Received my latest copy of the Journal last week and I was surprised to find in the Membership Directory that I am the only registered member in all of Manitoba.

Most people I speak with about what I have in my shop either look at me quizzically wondering why I bother with ancient canoes and the other half love looking at them and seeing them finished but otherwise have no interest in owning. I put out my Wooden Canoe magazines at work in the lunchroom for co-workers to peruse and even have a canoe for sale posted there as well.

If I started a Chapter I could have 100% attendance at all gatherings and meetings. :rolleyes:

Karin
 
Membership in Canada as a whole is only 8% of overall WCHA members. I'm always a little surprised by this given how entwined the canoe is in Canadian culture. Wish we could attract more.
 
I know Doug has been a past member and Builders member. Last time we spoke he suggested I start a chapter as he knew a few people with an interest but it hasn't gone further than that. He no longer updates his blog but is on Facebook.

I also noticed Andre isn't a member. Kind of odd considering his involvement with the Assemblies and such.

There is plenty of canoeing going on up here, but it is mostly tripping and these days everyone is going light, our friends the "gram weenies" shelling out for Kevlar and carbon fibre boats. It is even difficult to find w/c canoes around these parts, although Doug has a good collection. Ontario is the place for volume of boats.
 
I follow Doug on Facebook... one of the few things I do with FB an more.... He restores a lot of canoes! Not sure when he has time to build his own WC boats...
 
Ya, pointing up, that's the guy.


Wait a minute, Kat, what membership directory? Did I miss something?
Was the full list published? Usually it's just the new members listed.

And it's easy to have a membership lapse, I just re-upped today, don't know if it was current or not.

Received my latest copy of the Journal last week and I was surprised to find in the Membership Directory that I am the only registered member in all of Manitoba.
Click to expand...
 
Dan,
With the last issue an additional publication was also in the package. All of the current members are listed with contact info in the additional publication.
Dave O.
 
I let my membership lapse years age when the price for Canadians was raised beyond the difference of currency and when listing on the builder's directory began being charged.

While I can magine that some people think that it is appropriate to charge for a professional listing, I earn so little as a professional canoe builder and restorer that I began to feel exploited. I was perfectly OK with paying regular membership, and I was happy to be a member. But then the rates just kept being added on.

The WCHA should really be doing everything that it can to support those plying this trade. God (and my wife) knows that I'm not getting rich at this.

I've restored a lot of wood canoes over the years, I could have attracted many of my clients to membership if there was a complimentary issue of Wooden Canoe that I could hand out. Or, better yet, a one year complimentary membership to those who commission new canoes to be built or who have classic canoes restored.

Oh, and the vast distance from here to where any WCHA activities occur only adds to the peripheral feeling and is a major deterrent for greater participation. Start a chapter, you say? I'm busy working on everyone's canoes...but I have ended up being in the center of whatever wooden canoe community there is locally. If the locals were "joiners" then we might have had a chapter...

Thanks for the shout out, Paul. You're right, I have no time at all for my own canoes.

Karin, the offer to work with you on a local group still stands!. We could have an annual outing on the river outback, a BBQ, and an open shop tour.
 
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Hi Douglas and welcome back, your involvement here has been missed and I hope that you will continue to participate again. The price for Canadians was raised beyond the difference of currency because it costs more for postage to Canada. Several alternatives were explored for resolving this issue and none of them were practical. The WCHA has always struggled to balance the often conflicting needs of professional builders, amateur builders, collectors, and everyone else who likes wooden canoes. I'm sorry that you felt exploited but no one I know is currently getting rich from their involvement with wooden canoes.

This web site and publishing the Wooden Canoe Journal are substantial expenses for the organization so the decision was to raise the rates for the professional builders since these can provide a significant marketing benefit for most of them. I believe that complimentary issues of the Wooden Canoe Journal are available to you and anyone else who would like to hand them out for promotional purposes. Contact Annie at http://www.wcha.org/contacts/ and she can probably arrange to send you some. I know that the idea of offering complimentary memberships for professional builders to give away to their customers has been discussed by the board of directors but I don't know if this is available yet.

Distance is an issue but hopefully this forum can help reduce that. Starting a WCHA chapter can be as much or as little as anyone chooses to make it. Many remote chapters are simply a point of contact for anyone in the area who has a question about how to get more information about a wooden canoe. Hopefully you, Karin and others can work something out. Feel free to reply here if there is anything that the rest of us can do to help,

Benson
 
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Hi Benson, Thanks for the kind response. I think that I'll follow up with your contacts.

I have never really "left". I've just been so busy with work and life that more active participation here has been a challenge. And, to tell the truth, after a long day working on canoes, more talk about canoes isn't my first thought for recreational activity. I had hoped to attend last summer's Assembly, but cost (travel and lost income due to time not working) and distance prevented me. The "Modern Classics" theme appealed to me.

I highly recommend any promotional materials, or other incentives be made available to us to hand out to clients! They would be very appreciative as most of them feel like they are alone in their interest. If this is an option that is available, I would also encourage your membership people to be more proactive in promoting this.

Perhaps "exploited" was too strong of a word, but I really couldn't think ot any other that describes how I felt at that time. The exchange rate back then worked out to about .75 CDN:US. In one fell swoop my membership fees jumped dramatically. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was about double. One can't underestimate the significance of the exchange rate on membership. Even today, my membership, as a builder, would be $107. An ad in the journal would significantly add to that.

I don't have any aspirations of getting rich, I'd just like to be able to pay my bills on time and take my wife on vacation from time to time. (she just told me that any holiday time at all would be nice).
 
In support of the Builders, the Board made available 5 complimentary memberships each to be given to folks who purchased a new or restored an used canoe. Unfortunately, very few builders have taken advantage of the offer.
 
Hey Doug

We can kick around the idea, Prairies Chapter? I could give a shop tour but it would be really short, but the boathouse is more interesting. We may have the only Morris and PeCaCo this side of the Ontario border. Possibly getting an Old Town this Summer too, not sure yet what it will be. I did hum and haw a few days last year when my renewal came up, but I think I went for 2 years, get a year off type of thing. Selling a couple of boats would help though.

I won't be attending an Assembly for quite some time, all my vacation time is spent out tripping.

I'll have a look see about what it requires to form a chapter when I get time, got a 15 foot Tremblay in the shop at the moment that needs to get done so it can be sold.

Karin
 
Rob, I guess that if I were all paid up I might have known that. I would have followed up on that sort of thing! Still, with just 5, how does one choose who oto paass it along to?
 
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