Thank you for this Bill! This needs to be said, many times and loudly. If all the hangers-on joined up, even without joining Team 404, the mortgage issue would essentially be solved. And it would cost 'em less than pizza and beer one Saturday night.
It's been a pet peeve of mine for many years that these provisions are never enforced. As you are doing, we need to embarrass the slackers into doing their part. We also need to embarrass our member slackers into renewing on time, so the staff doesn't spend so much of their time and effort in removing members, only to reinstate them a week later. They still have to wade through 200+ of those every month; that's more than a quarter of our membership. We need to stand tall and be proud of our Society,...and "frown at those who are not"! Alex PS Fantastic job with this year's PESH expedition! On 10 May 2016 at 7:40, Bill Steele via Texascavers wrote: This would be a good opportunity to bring up something that most grottos seem to have a misunderstanding about. Numerous grottos believe that members don't have to be NSS members unless they are in a leadership position in the grotto. This is incorrect. This came up at the NSS Board of Governors meeting in Bend, Oregon in March. The rules are written so people can be grotto members and not be an NSS member for up to a year. After that, they are expected to join the NSS or stop being a grotto member. Here it is the relevant snippet regarding IOs (Internal Organizations, i.e. grottos, surveys, etc.): 5. The membership of IOs shall conform to the following requirements: A. All persons who serve on the governing board of an IO must be a member of the NSS except in the case of Surveys where representatives of state entities or other conservation organizations may serve on the board regardless of their NSS membership status. B. Full membership in IOs shall be open only to embers of the NSS. C. IOs may, at their option, have members who are not members of the NSS and who are limited to a year or less on this status. D. Membership in grottos (or chapters) shall consist of at least five members of the NSS who have designated that grotto as their Primary Affiliation. E. The formal name of a Student Grotto shall indicate that the organization is a Student Grotto (or Chapter), etc. Section C is the relevant section. So we should encourage grotto members to become NSS members. The NSS needs to raise money now to refinance the mortgage on its new office building in Huntsville, Alabama. Please go on and be committed to caving if you are a caver, and if you are not an NSS member, now's the time to join. And if you are a NSS member, then join Team 404. I am a member of Team 404. If 404 cavers allow $25 a month to be directly withdrawn from their bank account, the mortgage payment is met. All above that pays down the mortgage all the sooner. Tomorrow night I am giving the program at the DFW Grotto meeting. Before I do, I'm going to read the above about being an NSS member and talk about the benefits of membership. I may even paraphrase JFK and say, "Ask not what the NSS can do for you, ask what you can do for the NSS." You can admit that caving is a main interest of yours, become a member of the NSS, and join Team 404. I'll ask for a show of hands of who is not an NSS member. And I'll frown at those who are not. Cavingly, Bill Steele NSS 8072 (joined at age 16) -- Alex Sproul NSS 8086RL/FE NSS Webmaster & Acting IT Chair www.caves.org
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