Bruce Palmer Book signing at Destination Eustis

[duffeycycles]

The AMCA supplies the insurance & is liable for discrimination lawsuits as the parent club

[quick993]

We can all agree that a horse ring is not an easy place to get around for elderly or phisically challenged members.Let s try to put behind us why this happened or who is to blame and move forward by correcting the issues at hand. A lot of us want to return to Eustis and if we all work together and respect each other, nobody in our group is perfect. We all make mistakes. We ve had plenty of time to learn from this one. Let s fix it and move on.

[Rollo]

Well said Steve. If folks will do that I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to get this back on track. I know all the history on both sides of this and the Blackhawk deal and both are unfortunate but maybe this one can be saved. One thing I don't think is logistically possible is to have every member vote for BOD members. To those suggesting it, I ask you to sit down and really think about the issue and come up with possible solutions. Trust me it is a lot more complicated and difficult than you think and someone is going to be left out and folks aren't going to be happy about it. If you can come up with a workable solution and do a proper risk vs reward or risk assessment then present it. But it can't be about your personal objection to a person or it has no merit. No point in blowing up the current system, no matter how imperfect, and replacing it with one that is no better. We would still have pissed off folks and a dysfunctional system. I am tired of the back stabbing, infighting and innuendo by a disgruntled few that goes on in such a public manner. That is not the way to get things done. If folks would heed Steve's call and act like gentlemen and ladies and in a civilized manner with respect for others opinions and find common ground I think a lot of this can be worked out.

Tom (Rollo) Hardy
AMCA #12766

[quick993]

I guess the next step is getting some of the Sunshine Chapter in the mix, any thoughts on how do to that ? Shelby do you have any plans on contacting them or are you expecting them to reach out to you ? I m just asking, because I will do whatever we need done to make this happen. I'm all in and I 'm sure that all my friends are with me on this. We need this to happen. I even think we can get a little support from the AMCA even though it s their policy not to deal with stuff at the chapter level.

[shelbyinparadise]

Response about Eustis discussion

I guess the next step is getting some of the Sunshine Chapter in the mix, any thoughts on how do to that ? Shelby do you have any plans on contacting them or are you expecting them to reach out to you ? I m just asking, because I will do whatever we need done to make this happen. I'm all in and I 'm sure that all my friends are with me on this. We need this to happen. I even think we can get a little support from the AMCA even though it s their policy not to deal with stuff at the chapter level.

Hello All, Steve, Roger, Tom, Eric, Bob and all other interested party's in this issue. We have just returned home from Eustis, Daytona and Amelia Island and are trying to get caught up with emails and Cherokee Chapter business with Pate Swap meet.

There has been so much happening behind the scene while in Florida, including several sit down meetings, phone calls, CAImag forum and emails from supporters and interested party's in resolving this issue. The Vintage Motorcycle Alliance, LLC was formed by AMCA Vendors to preserve the Eustis venue, after the Sunshine Chapter moved and the risk was any other promoter, quilt show, or other venue would rent the Fairgrounds and be lost to the AMCA forever. I would be the first to admit that there are a few complaints about the lack of showers at the fairgrounds and only God can control the Weather, but this is a swap meet location that has grown each year to be our best year ever.

What has to happen here is those that want to make your voice heard is vote with your feet and money. We will be opening up pre-registration for 2017 as soon as we can update the website. We will create a list of new vendors to share the number of "defections" with the proper AMCA leaders. I will work with Fred Davis and Keith Kiser at the national level and John Blood, the new president of the Sunshine Chapter, George Tunis of the Gulf Coast chapter and any representative of the Everglades chapter in South Florida who will work out these issues. I am still a Proud long time member of the Sunshine Chapter, and one of the Founding Member of Gulf Coast Chapter

The people who can make a change is not the leaders but the silent members who must be heard. Both the President and Vice President of the VJMC have made it clear they chose to move from the Silver Sands venue after an unacceptable Vintage Motorcycle Show conditions the first year and become our allies in this event with the National VJMC Vintage Bike Show in our Expo Hall and will work to be inclusive in any solution. They bring in a lot of the younger people to our event which we advertise as a International Trade and Vintage Bike Show.

I hope some people will realize We have put our money where our mouth is in this issue for the last 5 years, to keep the fairgrounds as an option and the comment about the AMCA provides insurance for national events, would be surprised how cheap the required 2 million dollar policy cost us for the event. The fairgrounds did not close as first reported and we have the new contract for 2017 in hand.

I do want to thank all my supporters that do understand what Charles, Tom and I have done to preserve the venue for our friends and fellow vendors. Lets fix this for 2017. Put the past behind us and work to make it better.

We also want feed back on the 2 days vs. 3 day event, the VJMC does a nice Sunday morning ride and we would like to see all the vendors have more than two full days of selling, pack up and leave Sunday rather than leave tired and night driving. This is a Vendor friendly Event.

Shelby www.vintagemotorcyclealliance.com or shelbyinparadise@compuwise.net contact us and let your voice be heard