My take on the DB club

[Guest]

I belonged to the DB Club for several years. The people were pretty nice and everything, but their average age was OLD and mine wasn't so old. The problem was that I joined the club and planned to participate in its activities as a family activity (at the time, my two kids were about ages 4 and 6), but every time I'd go to a club activity, the oldsters made it very clear that they didn't like young children, and that they really weren't welcome. So I quit the club and now we just drive our DB by ourselves (more fun, actually, because we don't have to sit around waiting while the oldsters BS among themselves, delaying the beginning of the event for HOURS after it was advertised to begin!) So much for the club advertising itself as family-friendly! My question is, if the oldsters in the club don't want to interest the younger generation in DB cars, then who's going to preserve these cars in the future? They'll probably all just get hot-rodded.

[Guest leadfoot]

Crowell -<BR>First, forget about stigmatizing the DB Club members as OLD. It's just as shortsighted as their view of your kids.<P>Second, your expectations of the DB Club as a local activity organization seems to be unique to CA and MI. In most of the rest of the US the DB Club is a national marque club with an annual meet, a quality club magazine, and resources. A couple of years ago I let my DB Club membership lapse for no particular reason. <P>For me, the AACA is a national car club with a network of local clubs, blending the best resources of a national organization and specific local car activities. And yes we do have the geezers who don't like younger members. But not all AACA members are like that.<P>I know that the AACA has a weak presence in CA and the west in general. But there must be other local and regional car clubs that you can join for activities. And maybe you ought to ease up a bit on those OLDsters and try to get to know them.<p>[ 07-05-2002: Message edited by: leadfoot ]

[Guest]

Leadfoot, I fail to understand why you accuse me of "stigmatizing" the members of the Dodge Bros. Club as being "old". I said nothing that amounts to a stigma. I think you should try to deal with the (true and correct) criticisms which I made, not try to kill the messenger. The simple fact of the matter is that the DBC promotes its activities as "family friendly", but they're really not. They would be more honest if they just admitted that the club consists mainly of old people (65+) who don't like kids, who want to nit-pick the cars of new members for authenticity and who are only interested in associating and talking with other oldsters, not younger members. Personally, I think they feel threatened by younger members. They made me and my family feel rather unwelcome. The West Coast part of the Club has many activities, but they're not as advertised. For example, if a tour is supposed to start at Noon, the oldsters will stand around talking until 3:00 or so, refusing to begin the tour until then. If anybody asks why the tour isn't starting at Noon, as advertised, you receive no answer except a bunch of dirty looks. Then they get mad at your kids if they become bored sitting around for 3 hours with nothing to do. As I say, I'll never re-join because we have a lot more fun touring by ourselves and the people we meet while doing so are much more friendly than the DBC members.

[Guest]

Bill,<BR>All clubs have their share of ?Grumpy Old Men?, but they are the very people who have years of knowledge and experience to help us keep our cars running. They also might help you with that unavailable spare part (of which they probably have five examples!) acquired through many year of collecting.<BR>Why not rejoin the club to keep the car on the road, but carry on touring by yourselves and remember we all may be old one day.<BR>A ?younger? DB club member.<p>[ 07-07-2002: Message edited by: alvis ]

[Guest]

Hi Bill,<BR> I wish you could have been at the DB Club's Kelowna Meet last summer. We had small children down to baby size in attendance and they had a wonderful time. In Mt Vernon Ohio at the 2000 Meet we had one young family with a three month old baby who enjoyed all the activities. This year at Belleville Illinois the children in attendance were bit older, but children none the less. At none of the Meets did I hear one word of complaint about them.<BR> Yes our Club does have many older members who bring a lot of experience to our activities. Many other members are in their 40's and 50's and we may outnumber other age groups at these functions probably because we are at an age where we have a bit of extra time and possibly a few extra dollars. We also are developing a following among younger folks as interest increases in preserving and enjoying these older vehicles and the unique history of Dodge Brothers.<BR> Touring with the DB's is one of the best ways to enjoy this hobby and DB's are great touring cars. My wife and I have driven to three National DB Meets in our '29 roadster (one trip was 5000 miles round trip) and agree wholeheartedly that touring alone allows you to meet many people who under other circumstances wouldn't give us the time of day. Driving to and from the Meets is an added bonus to getting to know the wonderful people we encounter at the Meets.<BR> Some of my first experiences with the Club were not all positive either so I volunteered as a technical advisor and later when I was asked to stand for a directors positon I agreed in hopes I can make a positive contribution. <BR> I appreciate seeing your comments and if I can be of any assistance at all please contact me through our Club website.

[Guest]

Bill:<BR>You've obviously got a bee in your knickers and nothing we can say will change that. However, I do not know of any DB-Club- sanctioned activity that is exclusively in California. We are a national club with only one official region at this time, and that's in Detroit. You are criticizing a group of guys in California (some of whom, but I bet not 50% of whom) are Dodge Bros Club members. What they do, whom they invite, and the times at which they deem to start their events are beyond the control of the Dodge Brothers Club, as represented on this website. Take your gripes up the the organizers of the California group.<P>Speaking for the National Dodge Brothers Club, and for those that regularly contact and visit me, the editor, and attend our national meets, I would imagine the average age of this club to be in the high-40s. <P>Aside from that, whom you call "geezer" I call a man with an enormous amount of personal experience with our cars, a valuable resource to those of us too young to remember these cars originally. At the official DBC meets, you will find me in the company of these geezers from dawn till dusk trying to gather up all the information I can before it's too late. <P>Nevertheless, I presume you are the type of guy who needs a great deal of personal attention and probably have not taught your kids the proper manners for being around old cars, owned by young or old alike. It sounds as if you expect us all to babysit your kids as they jump from runningboard to runningboard with sticky fingers. For you, it's likely this club will not work. Good luck finding any club that will work. Try turning your kids loose at a hot rod show if you want to see young men turn to beasts. But to judge a group of people who just happen to own Dodges in Calif as if they represented the Dodge Bros Club is highly unfair and unrealistic.