New Manx Club - Time for an update?

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:22 am

I am a "non Manx owner" and have come to the conclusion that this site will likely implode into a small group of people that talk about Volvo master cylinder resevoirs, etc and things that do not really apply to my application. But it used to be fun to read and interact with all kinds of people and I am hoping that the new version of the forum will be more like the old. So I will likely pay for the new year if I am fat when the bill comes. That being said I would rather eat dirt than do paperwork and deal with lawyers. Hats off to you guys that can stand it. My off time is way more focused on doing fun stuff. Someday if I do attend a club event I will gladly through down my share of the costs as well. ps I wish there was a more obvious spell czech option for posting.

90volts · Post by **90volts** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:51 am

nice to know it is moving on but i am also concerned that money is going out to finance a local run rather than the national club. we just had an all make club start up here locally within the last year.i have gotten very involved organizing runs and events. almost everything has been covered by sponsors. and I am in no way a professional money raiser! LOL. I asked the treasurer if it cost anything like 5K to get the club going and she looked at me like i had 2 heads. she said more like 500 bucks. so not sure what the difference is but maybe there is a better way?

MojaveMel · Post by **MojaveMel** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:48 am

Thanks for the good questions. I'll try to answer those I can. Ultimately I'm going to refer you to the bylaws for definitive answers. We'll get them up as soon as possible. Now that they are finished someone else is working on getting them into linkable form, so I can't give you an exact time frame for their availability to membership. I'll post the link either here or on a new thread as soon as they are available. Local chapters will be encouraged and able to form anywhere in the world where there are a handful of buggy people. In the States they won't have to jump through a lot of local legal hoops. With that summary, I'll defer to the bylaws for the full details. Current status of the existing Manx Club is it belongs to Meyers Manx Inc.. I can't answer questions that belong to Bruce and Winnie, but do know they have agreed monies in the Manx Club account and those currently being collected for dues will come to the new Manx Club. Cost of incorporation: I suspect the actual filing with the State is what you are talking about for $500. There is a fable related to me about an Asian shepherd who was taking his flock south for the winter. A jeweler friend gave the shepherd money and asked him to buy gems because they were much cheaper in the south. When the shepherd returned and presented the gems the jeweler looked at them and exclaimed, "These are all just glass!" The moral of the story: If you want to buy jewels don't see a shepherd. For us "shepherds" that logic applied to legal incorporation. We didn't have anyone who had the expertise or knew corporate law so we sought a firm with expertise and presented our oft-edited ideas for bylaws. After exacting them into legaleze for the type of incorporation the law office added their sign-off to the new articles. In essence the articles of incorporation are the "Constitution" for the new club. We wanted to do it right (as much as possible) the first time. We trust you'll see the document is not a shallow cookie cutter piece of work. I'll go out on a limb and say I suspect there will be groups who plagiarize these bylaws. (I hope they would offer to reimburse us for some of our costs rather than steal them.) We on the steering committee all knew we were eventually opening ourselves to criticism when we began this work. Whether one wants to be critical or give us an atta-boy is up to the reader. The steering committee was comprised of seven from varied geographical areas who came forward to join Bruce and Winnie. Each had a desire to see the Manx Club continue. None of us received remuneration for our services. Alphabetically here are our identities: Mark Bryant Mel Folkertsma Bob Hunter Bob Kornoff Bruce & Winnie Meyers Greg Rardin Nelson Sparks Joe Spittler To file for incorporation the State mandates that officers be listed. All of the above, with the exception of myself, are listed as initial officers. (Hypothetically we needed an odd number so there are no tie votes on decisions. Bruce and Winnie together get one vote. We are pleased Bruce and Winnie agreed to stay with the club.) We are encouraging more regional runs in an effort to give the new club a diverse feel, more availability to members, and promote buggying in many geographical areas. Initially, Joe, Greg, BobH, and myself are going to coordinate runs. Joe, northeast; Greg, south-central; BobH, NoCal and Nevada; Mel, So Cal. Nelson and BobK are going to work on publications. Joe has double duty with both the paperwork aspects of membership and correspondence, and NE runs. He is already doing the membership duties. Everything deemed proprietary to Meyers Manx Inc. is being retained by Meyers Manx Inc.. The store will remain part of Bruce and Winnie's corporation. Anyone interested in buggies is welcome to join the new club regardless of brand identity. Whether he realized it or not Bruce created a generic term for buggies when he came up with the Manx. With so much name recognition I would personally think the old name should be retained. We might have an identity void if the old ID is removed. Once the transition has taken place the Forum site will become what we all make it. If folks want to talk about Volvo reservoirs that's up to them. The steering committee couldn't agree more: we are "hoping that the new version of the forum will be more like the old." Fresh vision can make it even better than what many of us remember. The bylaws are amendable. We tried to cover all the bases we could think of. Should we have missed something, or if future need requires change, the bylaws accomodate change. I'll defer to the bylaws themselves for a more detailed description. Hope that helps give a little clarification. Again, Bylaws will be published as soon as available in web form. Hopefully that will be very soon. Mel

rzeller · Post by **rzeller** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:18 am

Mel, You've answered a lot of the questions I've had since last year. Additionally, I think your most recent update goes a long way toward showing transparency in how the club will look and identifying those behind the nick-names. Thanks. I really look forward to seeing a south-east group come together and possibly having some meets/runs like on the west coast. I can't wait to get a look at the bi-laws. Bud

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:47 am

Mel, That's one heck of an update, and I sincerely appreciate all of the information that was included in your last post. I have to admit, when it first surfaced that the club was in the early stages of breaking away from Meyers Manx Inc, I just assumed in my head that it was going to be called the "Manx Club" and I did not give it a second thought. But recently, I did begin to wonder how many currently active members own a Meyers Manx vs those that own other brands (is that ratio available for posting in this forum?). Guys have been "corrected" for assuming their dune buggy was a "Manx" (and rightfully so, I may add) because the brand name has taken on a more generic connotation as it has become directly (and mistakenly) identifed with a fiberglass-bodied dune buggy; the mistake is constantly made on eBay, for example. If I owned an original Manx, I would not be happy with seeing that mistake made constantly, either. If the new club is called the Manx Club, but it actively encourages all makes of fiberglass-bodied dune buggy owners to join, isn't that just reinforcing the confusion? How do other members feel about this? It would beneficial to hear from both Manx and non-Manx dune buggy owners, at least in my opinion. Other than the name, I would imagine that the club itself would have no other direct connection with Meyers Manx Inc (other than the obviously historical one), so this would be the perfect time to consider a name change.

90volts · Post by **90volts** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:30 pm

thanks Mel, good to know. it sounds slow but sure. it may very well be that the club i am involved with may have had the internal know how of the legalese (there are quite a bit of corporate types involved) and thats how they kept the cost down. glad to hear the process has been thought out. manxclub is a recognized name so i see it as a plus to retain it. if someone calls my buggy a manx it doesn't bother me. there are worse things they could call it i guess

i'm not out to educate people on what it is or is not. i just focus on the fun factor so a name doesn't make a difference to me.

LIGreenManx · Post by **LIGreenManx** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:02 pm

With the talk of Manx and Non manx I have a thought what about the regitry will that now inclued all the members or will it be solely to Manx owners? or maybe another can be made with all the buggies and only include email address because there is a lot of info in the regitry how it sits. I own a non taged Manx and with the seperation of the club and Meyer's Manx Inc I think those of us with a untaged Manx should recive some sort of offical letter or maybe a new ID plate (for a non taged differnt from the origanels) with new #'s so that if and when we sell the buggies they can be kept track of other then word of mouth. Both would be the best. I only have a email from Winnie. All and all buggies are buggies no matter what they are called and the club should open its doors to all buggy owners with this the club will thrive and expand. I also would like to know what ideas Joe has for events for the Northeast (NY) Ron

Siggymanx33 · Post by **Siggymanx33** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:41 pm

Thanks for all the hard work that you are doing in keep the club alive. I look forward to seeing what some new energy and ideas can do to re-invigorate The Manx Club. Anyone that's been around a while knows that a majority of the names on the list are the people that have been the positive voices for trying to keep this club going. I think it's important to note that everyone has their own seprate reasons for enjoying buggies. Some folks live for the runs. Some live for the build. Some live to collect memorabilia. Some just to drive their buggies to do errands. Some people just like to cause conflicts. Hopefully we can keep the positve, positive and work out the problems amongst ourselves? Anyway, I spoke to Winnie this week and ordered a bunch of things that the most recent Manx Mania said they were closing out? I asked about the license plate surrounds and she said they were still a few weeks or months off? Is Meyers Manx getting out of the small item retail business or is there any effort to re-vitalize this in the future? (I realize I should have just asked Winnie this but I was driving while simultaneously giving credit card info, etc.) With regards to changing the name......why? I personally joined the club to celebrate all things Meyers Manx. While I respect and enjoy all buggies, the part of the hobby that I enjoy is the heritage, the history, the quirkiness and uniqueness of Meyers Manx Dune Buggies. I also understand that some could care less about what buggy name brand they have and they would rather drive the wheels off of it. That's cool too. That's what makes the world go round. I think the club has always done a great job of welcoming all buggies and the biggest gripe when the club went to the pay only policy was that the MM membership could no longer help "newbies" get involved despite what type of buggy they had. A name is just a name. Thanks again to everyone that stepped up. I appreciate it.

90volts · Post by **90volts** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:09 pm

[QUOTE="SiggyManx#33"] I think the club has always done a great job of welcoming all buggies and the biggest gripe when the club went to the pay structer was that the MM membership could no longer help "newbies" get involved despite what type of buggy they had. [/QUOTE] which is a good point. will the forum be again opened up to non-members?

LIGreenManx · Post by **LIGreenManx** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:14 pm

90volts this is off topic but i like the artwork of your buggy.

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:47 pm

Maybe this is common knowledge around the world but > The first mass produced vacuum cleaners sold here in UK were made by The Hoover company and to this day people still call all types of vac-cleaners ''Hoovers''. In fact a much larger percentage of UK people still say ''Hoover the carpets'' rather than ''vacuum the carpets'' even though they may be using a cleaner made by Dyson or Kirby etc. Go into any electrical store here & ask for a Hoover & 99% of the time they will assume its a vac-cleaner your after rather than a washing machine or one of the many other electrical appliances that Hoover make

. Now I always thought that the name ''Manx'' (Manx Type Buggy) in USA was a bit like that old Hoover story and kinda represented all types of fiberglass bodied buggies in USA whereas the Meyers made Manx's are (as we all know) the authentic ones. Have I been wrong all these years with that assumption? ps, I still get asked > ''Do You Sell Nortons''

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:03 pm

[QUOTE="mel hubbard"]Maybe this is common knowledge around the world but > The first mass produced vacuum cleaners sold here in UK were made by The Hoover company and to this day people still call all types of vac-cleaners ''Hoovers''. In fact a much larger percentage of UK people still say ''Hoover the carpets'' rather than ''vacuum the carpets'' even though they may be using a cleaner made by Dyson or Kirby etc. Go into any electrical store here & ask for a Hoover & 99% of the time they will assume its a vac-cleaner your after rather than a washing machine or one of the many other electrical appliances that Hoover make

. Now I always thought that the name ''Manx'' (Manx Type Buggy) in USA was a bit like that old Hoover story and kinda represented all types of fiberglass bodied buggies in USA whereas the Meyers made Manx's are (as we all know) the authentic ones. Have I been wrong all these years with that assumption? ps, I still get asked > ''Do You Sell Nortons''

[/QUOTE] Mel, I agree 100%. They're all a result of Bruce's creation and calling all fiberglass buggies a Manx is a tribute to him. But don't call them a Meyers Manx unless they are. Are they asking for Garden gate, featherbed, slimline, wideline, long stroke or double knocker Manx Nortons?

MojaveMel · Post by **MojaveMel** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:02 pm

LIGreenManx: The Manx registry is considered proprietary and will be retained by Bruce and Winnie. Providing tags for cars without them also falls to MM Inc. Some of us have also brainstormed the registry idea. It'd be neat to have a registry for all types of buggies. The wall we hit is how to police it. Anyone could post anything, owned or imagined, and there are enough pranksters out there I am sure joke/false entries would happen. Those who subscribe to the current Manx Registry know if they try to contact someone listed in their area often the info is out of date. The contact is no longer there. I am on several registries, one for my military unit. I've tried to contact old buddies and not one of the contacts is still valid. Relying on update from the person originally posting doesn't seem to help. Anyone have any ideas on how to keep a registry up to date and confirm accuracy of the info posted? Having a bunch of bad or outdated info has the effect of negating the whole idea behind having a registry. If you google "Dune Buggy Club" guess what comes up on top? Changing the name might alter that prestigious spot.

MojaveMel · Post by **MojaveMel** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:42 am

The bylaws are up on a sticky near the top of the General Discussion forum. With that I'll consider my duties as spokesperson for the committee complete, and let others step up to handle any questions.

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:32 am

Hi guys, Winnie?s most recent update (dated March 12, 2008), along with the .pdf file of the "Manx Club" by-laws gave me, as a current Manx Club member, all of the information I need to help decide my future status with this club. Without going into too much detail, I found it telling that the new club does not seem to be separating itself very far from the one-and-only stated goal to "to preserve the legacy of the Meyers Manx and the sustainability of the Manx Club." I was hoping that this new club would provide a more balanced platform for all fiberglass-bodied dune buggies without showing a bias toward one particular brand. For the record, I did send a letter to Winnie Meyers (mailed directly to her on November 9, 2007), personally thanking her for her first update, along with offering my services for any possible club-related events that may take place here in the southeast, and to pass my offer along to those that find it useful. I sincerely, and I do mean sincerely, do wish all of you and this new club the best of success. Later gators, (Joe, you can edit or delete this posting now?????????..)