What’s On My Mind (the part I have left)

DUES ARE DUE
Are you an active member;
The kind that would be missed;
Or are you just contented
That your name is on the list?
Do you attend the meetings
And mingle with the flock;
Or do you stay at home
And criticize and knock?
Do you take an active part
To help the work along;
Or are you satisfied to be
The kind that just belong?
There’s quite a program scheduled
Which I’m sure you’ve heard about,
And we’ll appreciate it if you, too,
Will come and help us out.
So, come to the meetings often,
And help with hand and heart.
Don’t be just a member
But take an active part.
Think this one over, Brother;
You know right from wrong.
Are you an active member
Or do YOU just belong?

Reprinted from ‘SPLASH PAN’ winter issue 1961-62. Published by Profile Automobile League-P.A.L., The New Hampshire counterpart to the VAE.

I was under the impression that clubs, churches, actually any group relying on volunteers were having problems getting their member’s help with the projects, or starting new programs, was a fairly new problem. As you can see from the poem above, it was also a problem in 1960.

Of course, it was renewed in my mind before and after this last Waterbury event. I had no idea what needed to be done (which I have no excuse for except having a blind eye) because it always got done (and done extremely well, I might add) with little or no thanks to me.

It is a concern for those of us not getting any younger. I can think of several things we enjoyed over the years, that no longer are going on, because of lack of help. One was the summer baked bean suppers in Brownsville, Vermont. Every Saturday night in July and August we would go and wait in line for a wonderful meal of baked beans (3 kinds), potato salad, coleslaw, homemade rolls and pickles. All served family style with a choice of pie at the end. I was introduced to this when I met Gary in 1970. We looked forward to this for several years. Gary’s grandmother worked the suppers and most of that age group did a good share of the work. When these dear ladies and gentlemen could no longer do this, the suppers were cut back to just the month of July and now, I think, they have it just one Saturday in July. The point here is that the love of the suppers didn’t disappear – the workers did!

So, I would ask the VAE membership to be thinking of what you can do, to help make this organization, the kind of club that we are proud to hand down to our children and grandchildren and try to instill in them, a reason to ‘pick up the torch’ and carry it well into the future. Remember: MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK! And by the way, P.A.L. apparently had ‘ disappearing workers’, because it’s just a shadow of its former self – if it exists at all.