Page 4 - January February 2002

President’s Car...
This is
the first issue
of the Presidents
Car in my final year
as President. I would have preferred a much happier subject to start the final year but, as they say, the gauntlet has been thrown down so I will pick it up!
I refer to the contents of the two adver- tisements that have appeared in the cur- rent issue of the Roundhouse magazine - yes, I saw them both before publication and I allowed them to go through! You may ask why I did so. This is after all a hobby magazine and as such, especially in the format they were written, not the vehicle for such comments.
A letter to the editor for inclusion in the “letters page” or indeed a letter to myself would have been a much better alterna- tive, however I felt that the readership should see the contents for themselves. The advert from M. G. Sharp I take great exception to. It is not for a trader to say which members are “playing God” and interfering with their “livelihood” - that is the trader’s chosen profession, to sell Model Railroads, and the NMRA is ex- tremely grateful that he does. Is the NMRA the only association that buys American trains? I think not, nor do we owe him a living as he implies - does the O Gauge Guild owe the limited number of O Gauge traders a living?
I take the position of President very se- riously indeed, as do the other members of the B.O.D. with respect to their posi- tions. The B.O.D. did say at the Conven- tion in October that they would pursue the matter regarding traders attending the Winter Meet, and so we have; I have spoken to Rod Welch on two occasions, and he has been spoken to on other oc- casions since then by other members of the B.O.D.
Yes, we could have stipulated that the Winter Meet will be organised in a par- ticular way, and you can guess the out- come of that approach. We would have had no Winter Meet at all, the losers would have been the membership as a whole. Therefore I take exception to the remarks of Mr Eaglesham that “the B.O.D. do nothing at all” - this brings me to the most important point in my re- sponse to this matter. Neither myself nor any other member of the B.O.D. can AP- POINT an NMRA member to take on the
Geoff Meek
responsibility of organising an official NMRA Meet - we have to rely on a vol- unteer/s. Both myself and the other members of the B.O.D. are very grateful and indeed fortunate that we have members who will take on this respon- sibility. Maybe Mr Eaglesham doesn’t know what is involved in organising such an event - I’m surprised at John Hey, who does know! The statement that “I should be entitled to have a stand” is arrogant in the extreme to say the least, no one has the RIGHT to a stand at any meet, let’s get that straight.
What would John Hey’s reaction be, to be told that a meet that he has attended regularly over the years, suddenly says that the space he occupies is required for something different, do we get ad- verts in the following edition of Round- house in complaint?
There are a great many matters that re- quire attention before such a meet can be organised. Before all else is done, you have to find a suitable venue and these come in all shapes and sizes, cost is in- volved as well, - I know, believe me - you require a team of assistants to do a varied amount of tasks, that’s not easy either, there are a hundred and one matters that have to be taken into account.
The British Region does have a docu- ment that sets out to “help” the organ- iser in putting on a Divisional or Regional meet, there is nothing in this publication that says the organiser will VET anybody, similarly there was noth- ing in the October issue of Roundhouse as Mr. Eaglesham states in the advert. The “Meet Organisers Guide” is exactly what it says, some notes of help, and guidance - “they are not meant to be a rigid set of rules that must be complied with to the letter”.
The member who is organising the meet because he has volunteered to do so, must be given the freedom to “organise”. The B.O.D. accept the offer in the first place, and as I’ve said previously are ex- tremely grateful, they do not and have no intention of “vetting” every detail of that meet, or indeed any other meet. They can of course offer arguments for
and against any particular phase of the event, and often do, but at the end of the day its primarily up to the meet organ- iser. In view of what has transpired, the document will be reviewed by the B.O.D., and traders will receive a copy in due course.
I sincerely hope that this matter will be laid to rest. We have one of the finest as- sociations in the country to further “American Modelling” and it has come to a sorry state when matters like this are aired in such a manner. At the end of the day it’s a hobby, and as such should be enjoyed by all who take part in it. The harm that this has already done to the hobby is irreversible, and I can imagine the comments in numerous British clubs up and down the country.
On to a happier topic, I have just sent out the first cheque in regard to the “Ap- plication for Funds” scheme that I an- nounced in the August 2001 Roundhouse. The award has been sent to the “Seaboard Southern” South East- ern Division of the NMRA (BR). The cheque will go towards the permanent layout in N scale that the Division is building, with our best wishes.
The B.O.D. has arrived at a suitable pol- icy for the Application for Funds scheme, it is this:
THE B.O.D. WILL CONTRIBUTE ONE THIRD OF THE COST OF THE BASEBOARDS AND TRACKWORK IN RESPECT OF A PERMANENT LAYOUT, BUT NOT FOR ELECTRICS, SCENERY OR ROLLING STOCK. THE DECISION OF THE B.O.D. IS FINAL ON SUCH MATTERS.
I look forward to receiving some more applications, and am hopeful that the scheme will prove beneficial to the vari- ous Divisions within the British Region.
Lastly I am pleased to announce that the Calder Northern Division has agreed to put on a Late Summer Meet on SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 9th 2002 at the Rainhill Vil- lage Hall full details will be published in the Roundhouse in due course.
Don’t forget, keep em rollin’.
4 ROUNDHOUSE