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ROA, Sean Cahill


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I don't know how many of the ROA members have heard but Cahill is out.Voted on by the Board of Trustees'and effective as of Nov. 18th.I can remember about two years ago starting a thread about Cahill running the ROA into the ground and you guys thought he was just the greatest thing since sliced bread.Well i for one am glad he's gone,couldn't have happened soon enough.I believe Ray Knott is back at the helm for the time being.Don't give up on the ROA just yet,better days are ahead.Tom

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Is this an appropraite time to have the Riviera group operate as the Reatta group, within the BCA? I would think that some of the other groups that are now not separate divisions could also be included. Loooking forward after my time, the BCA may need to consider a separate division for the various limited run, SUV models also. Think about it!!!

We had a very good turnout of Riviera owners at our NE Regional Meet in August. Many were not BCA members, but many are.

John

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I have only been a member of the ROA and BCA for about two years. I do not know about the politics that might be involved but have wondered why the ROA was not a division of the BCA. It could have been a clash of egos from way back, a difference of opinion, or just one of not giving up power. Whatever the reason, cooler heads have to prevail. If the ROA would be better as a division of the BCA or as a separate entity should be considered using all of the facts and considering all of the ramifications.

TWIT - "That's What I Think"

Stevo

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Organizing a small chapter of the BCA is a time consuming job. I can't imagine what it's like to try and organize a nation wide club with several thousand members. But it seems to me that the ROA is in serious disrepair. It would be nice to see the BCA branch out to a new Division for the Riviera's but it would also be nice to see these special interest groups return to the BCA. The placque on my 95's dash says "Riviera by Buick". How many Divisions does one marque really need?

JD

BCA 3757

ROA 10184

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This Merger option has been considered by all interested parties and still on the table for some. Before this could happen the dust would need to settle. If this would happen the ROA would be a division of the BCA . The basic format would be that the Riview would still be published, The ROA would have its own Board and Director and would do their own form of Judging . The big benifit would be that the Director would not have the burden of putting together a National Meet. This would be done by the BCA. There are many other benifits as well but these are the basics. The Members would need to be Members of the BCA as well. This is just a quick outline of what might/could happen and just something to think about. It may never happen. For now , as I said , we have to wait and see what happens to the present ROA . Dick Sweeney

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re: jscheib

I am a member of the BCA and the ROA. I worked in registration at the BCA Nationals in Rochester, MN in July. I had an imformal sign-in for ROA members, which totaled 58. According to some who were at Flagstaff, we had more ROA members at the BCA National Meet than were at the ROA National Meet.

Jim

65 & 84 Rivs

BCA 16029

ROA 9474

Assistant Director, Gopher State Chapter, BCA

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This is the first I'm hearing about problems within the ROA. I know the "RIView" is a couple of issues behind, but never heard or realized internal problems existed. Does anyone know at this time if this will have any effect on the 2007 ROA National Meet in Asheville, N.C. Although I have been a longtime BCA member, I have only been an ROA member for a couple of years and I was looking forward to the Asheville meet to be my first official ROA event. Is there anyone that I can contact about this ?? Thanks ahead of time.

Don Adams

BCA # 21957

ROA # 10055

1969 Riviera GS 49487

1998 Riviera SC 4GD07

1975 LeSabre Conv. 4BP67

1997 Skylark Cpe 4NJ37

Past-Director

Chicagoland Chapter/BCA

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We put together the Pre-War Division of BCA a couple of years ago and now have over 250 members worldwide. We had our first meeting, a dinner, and two tours during the 2006 BCA National meet in Rochester. (See the October Bugle) We are currently making plans for the 2007 BCA meet in Seattle and expect to gain many more members and have even more fun.

As an outside observer, I can asssure you that becoming a division of the BCA has great benefits and very little down side. The BCA board has been very helpful in getting us started as a new BCA division. I suggest you set aside the politics, ignore the big egos and get on with having more fun.

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When Ray was the ROA leader, it appeared that schedules were met, meets were well organized, and the newsletter was outstanding. As an outsider, I have noticed and overheard that things were not the same after Ray departed.

I would love to see the ROA become a division of the BCA. Mainly to attempt to keep all Buicks under one roof. It would be nice to get the GN and GS clubs organized under the BCA also....but that is yet another story.

The advantage to the ROA leaders and members would be at least two major savings in time and money. (1) No seperate National meet. ROA division should organize and judge the Rivieras. (2) No meet insurance, they would be covered under the BCA policy.

This would leave time and $$ to get the newsletter back on track.

I wish the ROA board well in putting things back on track.

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I love Rivieras so this topic is of interest. I did not know anything about ROA until I sat at a table before judging with some BCA/ROA members. What I understood is that "Ray" started the organization several years ago as a defacto corporation - a one man operation and althoughthere was a board of trustees, they were rubber stampers because ray put all his blood, sweat and time into the Riview and the running of the club. Then Sean came along as a Protege' and when Ray had enough and wanted to retire he gave Sean the club.

"Gave Sean the club"

That right there scared me off. The ROA is not like the BCA. It's a privately held concern from my outsider's point of view. Some of the BCA'ers I sat with said "Well you gotta' join just for the contacts - the parts and services - it's worth it just for that" Well maybe but I don't know.

About 8 years ago I was a WP Chrysler Club member and a chapter friend said the Plymouth Owners Club was the same way - strong oversight from one or two members, who were really dictators - determining club meet locations, magazine content, officer selection.

I don't know enough about ROA to know if Ray ran it that way but come on - common sense says to pattern a club after a successful national organization such as AACA, BCA or the Cadillac LaSalle Club.

I also belonged to the Oldsmobile Club of America and it's Toronado division/chapter. You had to be an OCA member and the Toronado chapter was started and run by one guy and when I came into it, he was retiring and others took over. I got a great informal newsletter from the Toronado chapter and they had a news column every month in the OCA national magazine. How about that? A column for the Reattas, the Rivieras, the modifieds.

The guys I sat with said they knew several Riviera owners who were in the ROA and would have nothing to do with BCA and vice versa. What would a Riviera owner not get out of the BCA? Rivieras are one of the top collected Buicks of all time, especially the high style years (63 to 73) and the 79 to 85's are sleeper collectors.

Too much politics and strange bedfellows, lawsuits and bad feelings. Someone needs to take a leadership role and work the phones and use this opportunity to get the ROA on as a division. I was chastised once for saying the ROA was already a division because I saw it listed under club affiliations in the Bugle.

I would join the ROA as a BCA division but have no interest in joining a corporation that caters to Riviera interest.

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Jake and Barney,

You make some very valid points. The ROA was a "one man show" with Ray at the helm, but it was an extremely well run organization under his leadership. It is sad to see all of his hard work fall apart like it has in the past three years. I have no real opinion either way on a stand alone ROA versus being a division of BCA. I can see no reason for not keeping a close working relationship as the 2 organizations have in the past without a merger. I do like the idea of having both a BCA and a ROA national event to attend every year, so a single BCA national event that includes Riviera's holds no appeal for me.

There are some well intentioned and highly respected ROA members trying to get this mess sorted out, and I think they will do an excellent job reorganizing the ROA. If the transfer of power and all ROA property and archives goes smoothly, the ROA should be back on it's feet in short order. If this becomes a protracted legal battle, a Riviera division of the BCA becomes a very good alternative. Doesn't matter to me, 1 club or 2, I'll still be a member and be willing to help!

Tim McCluskey

ROA 9686 and BCA 39,089

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The heart of the problem is the "one man show" concept of running any club. While there are lots of people who are very organized, the fact is no one can do it all themselves. Something somewhere is going to suffer. Especially if the one man is still gainfully employed.

JD

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John,

I agree it's too much for one man. Sean may be a very nice young man indeed but that was taking on a lot. We see it often, in any club, that one demonstrative personalty runs the show and others stand back and enjoy the benefits. Those situations run their course and some clubs just don't make it.

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Guys,

I would hope the "New ROA" would reach out to the members and divid up the duties of running the club, planning the meets and publishing the Riview. There are control freaks and micro-managers out there that must involved in every aspect of the operation, usually to the detrement of the organization. Dick Sweeney has a motto in his address from a Dirty Harry movie, "A man's got to know his limitations." Single handedly trying to run a national car club has got to be a limitation.

Tim McCluskey

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This is not the forum for ROA board members to reach out to their membership. The ROA members need to decide what they want to do, stay independent, become a division of BCA, fold or do something else completely.

Many ROA members are not now and never will be members of BCA. I'm guessing here, Dick Sweeney help me please, ROA has in the neighborhood of maybe 3K to 4K members internationally. ROA leadership needs to communicate with the whole membership directly.

My guess is that this is going to take some time to settle out. I have not seen any more discussion of this topic on the ROA email list so I don't know if it is being censored or just not discussed there.

I am hoping to see something official form the ROA leadership to the members soon about the who, what , where, why, and how regaurding of the future of the club.

Larry

ROA 4632

BCA 35012

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I have called upon the leadership for some direction. It is understandable that there may be a black out period involved here and we must bare with these restrictions. I will pass on whatever I can find out. I am of the opinion that all will be settled in a positive manner. Thanks for your understanding. Dick Sweeney

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Guest imported_65gs76limited

I've never had much luck getting on the ROA site,even wih Mooney on the other end of the phone helping me.So who's running the ROA and as long as it's not Cahill i'am in for a renewal.You should somehow get the word out to all the present and past member's of the change.I'am sure we lost member's due to Cahill's crap.

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Let the games begin.... Looks like they already have. Went to the ROA site yesterday as Dick suggested and saw a listing for what I think is the "NEW Adisory Board". Should have printed it last night when I saw it. Went back twice today to access and print it, and the first time I tried to access the ROA Advisory Board listing under the "About the ROA" sub listing-- the internet responded with an un "unable to open page" on the first attempt---- went back half an hour later and the "ROA Advisory Board" sub link has now been totally removed. This does not sound like this is going to be a cordial transition of control shifting to the "NEW" Board. Nor does it seem like this is going to be settled quickly for the best interests of the club. I sure hope I'm wrong. The "new" board needs to assert themselves in their new positions and right the ship and get us back on course. If what I saw was indeed for the "new" regime, and I remember correctly, there is going to be a new address for the ROA, to Altoona, IA, with the Pentico's name listed?? I also remenber seeing Darwin Falk's name listed as one of the officers, and Ray Knott as taking back the responsibilties for the "RIView" publishing. Don't remember the other listings of who is in the other postions. Hopefully, this problem is corrected in the very near future for the good of the membership and the survival of the club.

Don Adams

ROA # 10055

BCA # 21957

Past-Director

Chicagoland Chapter/BCA

1969 Riviera GS 49487

1998 Riviera SC 4GD07

1975 LeSabre Conv 4BP67

1997 Skylark Cpe 4NJ37

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Randy,

Just got a message from Chris K. stating that he was waiting for some clarification from Sean before the "Board" page goes live again (it had been up for a short while, then taken back down as you stated). Seems like old times, doesn't it? LOL!!

Tim McCluskey

ROA 9686

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As I recall Sean was (is) a young enthusiastic type guy. Certainly he can be talked to regarding the overall needs of the organization and be asked to play a role and be involved without it going to litigation and hard feelings. As was stated previously, it's a lot for one person to handle. Even Ray wanted to reire at some time.

Is the Riview 6 times a year or twelve?

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Hello everyone!

The ROA website is now listing the "Board of Trustees". It has been up since I checked earlier in the day. I wish the board and the interim director the best of luck in getting the ROA back up and running like a RIVIERA again!

Sincerely,

Tim McCluskey, ROA 9686

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Here's a few theories . . .

1--When Rivieras were introduced as a separate model line of Buicks, rather than as a version (i.e., "hardtop") of an existing model like, they were too new to comply with the BCA 12 year rule. Hence, the owners of new Rivieras went off and did their own thing, club wise (I highly suspect the same thing happened with the then-new GS, GN, Reattas). The BCA would not let them be in their judged shows at BCA National Meets, so they were undeterred in finding a way to show off their new pride-and-joy Buicks.

2--Under the umbrella of "Buick", there are some different demographics of owners. I would suspect that Riviera owners would be a little more youthful and more open to other things than "assembly line correct" as such. This could explain some of the possibly "bad taste" from dealings with particular BCA members (or whomever) in the past?

I highly hope that whatever might happen or transpire, as time progresses into the future, with the ROA will be mutuallly benefical for the group and its members.

NTX5467

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NTX5467,

I think that is exactly what happened. The 1st gen Riviera owners in the 1970's saw that they had something unique and put together a club which eventually evolved into the ROA. They had meets and get-togethers and really were never courted by the BCA to become part of the larger organization. The original ROA did a wonderful job of being responsive to it's members, so it just grew into a fairly large independant group.

The other item that drove the success of the ROA was the inclusion of all Riviera's, not just a few select years. With production years from 1963 to 1999, there are a heck of a lot of Rivieras and Riv owners out there, easily more than the GN's, T Types and Reatta's combined. I think as the new leadership gets the ROA back on course, both the ROA and BCA should benefit. Is it too early to look at a Lucerne division?

Tim McCluskey

ROA 9686

BCA 39,089

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Willis and Tim,

Thanks. I was always curious how 2 organizations could have evolved without the ROA being a chapter or otherwise affiliated with the BCA. I can certainly understand the feelings of the original group years ago, but now, it is clear the perception has changed. It won't be too much longer and the newest generation of Rivieras can be shown.

I hope the ROA members that "would never join the BCA" will understand that the BCA was an organization that emphasized the preservation and recognition of the older Buick and that is a rolling number/year. Things have changed. The BCA is more inclusive then ever before.

I think I will join the ROA now.

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