Hey Oliver Farmer,
Perhaps HPOCA is not as big of a player as you think, we currently have about 6,000 members, of these only about 10% actively go to our events, which leaves 90% who join basically to get the magazine. Of the 10%, as to those who volunteer their time and services a good estimate would be about 1% of our total membership. These volunteers are top notch, you can&#039;t ask for any better, but with the work we do, I would not be comfortable asking them for more. If you wish to volunteer I can assure you that your time and service is more than welcome! As to article 3 of our mission, we are here to &#039;aid&#039; the collector, and we do this. That does not mean we have the resources to be able to build a data base capable of answering any question that anyone could ever have on anything Oliver associated companies ever produced. It does mean that our members do try to the best of their ability to answer questions asked of them concerning Oliver related equipment. I don&#039;t think you really know what it takes to build a data base covering all these products. I spent over 100 hours myself assembling info on just 1 tractor, built for a portion of 1 year. Now, figure that for many models over a period of 73 years, and you can see this is a daunting task. We are a small organization, we do the best we can with whatever resources we have. If you volunteer, and get into the internal workings of the organization, you will see what a fantastically wonderful job our members do. Than you will understand why I would not be comfortable asking for more. This is a non-profit organization, the bulk of the labor comes from our volunteers.
As in any family, there will be some disagreements. The most active of our members are like an extended family, and yes we do and will disagree from time to time on issues or methods, but we never take this personal. This is one of the normal ways that human beings resolve issues. I can agree that this has been made a little more public lately than it should be, but it is part of a natural process, that eventually works out issues.
As to the &#039;big people in the association&#039; it does not exist, we all pay dues, we are all equal. The so called &#039;big people&#039; are only those who have taken advantage of the opportunity available to serve in the association, they do it free of charge, on a volunteer basis, and this is readily available to any member, any member can be a &#039;big people&#039; just contribute your time and efforts.
See y&#039;all at the Winter Get Together in Wentzville, Mo.
Later, Andy