Aof lifetime memberships "the truth"

[Kevin Martin]

i had lengthy visit with MR BLACK our AOF presindent, i do not speak for him, but will share some of our conversation from this evening. there have been no lifetime memberships revoked, nor has there been talk of doing so. this was confirmed by another aof officer this evening. it was confirmed there have been some horrible issues with mailings, etc.. wether it be wrong adressing, poor follow through, it is an issue!!! however some discussion has come about in regards to lifetime memberships awarded folks wrongly, and i think that is where this entire discussion started, and was misguided from there. it states in the aof bylaws that a maximum of one lifetime membership shall be awarded per calander year, however in 2004 connie payne personally pushed through 19 of them, and in 2005 tony staron pushed through another 5. this is where some issues are, as many of you having been awarded lifetime status , where given it wrongly and illegally for lack of a better term. it is not the view of the current board to remove these wrongly awarded lifetime members, but they do feel something should be done. i have recently asked for facts from connie on this forum and received "none", however i dug up my own and present them to you now. there is documentation for everyting im telling you tonight. this will be of topic im sure at this weekends nation meetings, if you wish to take these issues to task. jack, keith and all you others who have chosen to take concern on this topic, from what i have dug up tonight, i feel very confident you were misguided here, and have very little if anything to be concerned about, in regards to the lifetime membership issues. our current president has not issued any lifetime memberships while in office, knowing things were done wrongly before him. i encourage any of you with topics of concern to get to the meetings this weekend, or send something along with someone who is. i hear carl staron will be here, i look forward to seeing him, and i know jay reasoner (sorry if spelled wrong) will be here as well. those of you in the south with issues, and i know there are many of you, get some stuff to carl to present. its time to quit stirring the pot from your keyboard, and time to take some action. connie if your apology was sincere earlier this week, i beg you to stop this mud slinging, and make a possitive move for aof and all of boat racing. you know me well enough i will stand up for what is right and not afraid to speak my mind, but this all must be done respectfully. you sat with me personally and told me how great it was to see the current at the time aof board, moving forward, growing, and promoting, what has changed, you were blown away at how we were tackling things, told me many times, what has changed?? i will be the first to admit how poorly the paperwork, and mailing part of things have been, but i assure you it will be at the top of the list this weekend.

now either im being so snowballed by the folks i grew up racing with, and helped run AOF with, or the nasty things being tossed about are just that, nasty, misguided bull!! you be the judge kevin

[YankeeRacing]

Hi Kevin,
The other truth:

About the Lifetime members:
Short Answer
1. I did NOT do it
2. If I had, I would have been PROUD to have done it
3. If it was done illegally, SHAME ON YOU
Long Answer:
A group of Lifetime members including John and Albert Snell (Historical Director at the time), decided that once the split with NBRA that some of AOF history could be lost. The purpose of the Lifetime award was to go back in history and honor those who gave their energy to build the organization. I was ASKED by these Lifetime members to present a list of original AOF members for induction into honorable Lifetime Status. This idea came about in 2002. Several discussions followed for several years about adding so many names at one time. THE RACING COMMISSION discussed it at length. I have no idea how many names were on the list submitted for induction. I am thinking about 15. Some weren’t even alive anymore. A great organization respects its history.
The last 3 years or so, Lifetime and Hall of Fame members have been ignored. Some clubs have been ignored for that matter. I was told by Russ Bircher that things were now done “his” way now. ALL of the Lifetime members deserve a voice. We would not be discussing this issue today, if it wasn’t for their hard work and sacrifices. (yes, Keith, even or especially your Dad). I would have been proud to have offered their names, but it wasn’t by me, it was by way more important people to AOF than I will ever be.
And if you think this was so wrong, then where were you? Why didn’t you say something in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008? An Executive Director gets blamed for a lot. An Executive Director can only do what the Racing Commission (officers and Directors) allows him/her to do. An Executive Director MUST follow directions or be fired. Apparently my presenting this list for John and Albert Snell, and the Racing Commission approving them was ok then but not now? Or if I did it illegally, then why wasn’t I fired? AOF Executive Directors have been fired in the past.
I gave up a real job in 1992 to be the AOF Executive Director. I knew I could not work and help AOF grow without putting in a lot of time. My family’s income was cut in half for the love of AOF and the sport of boat racing, so I know about sacrifices. I also knew my place. I was not AOF. The members are AOF. You are AOF. What has changed, you ask, from when you were an officer? A lot, Kevin. You were an active vibrant part of the growth. You knew what was going on. There hasn’t been a legal AOF meeting in 3 years at least. No quorum. No notification of meetings. No voting. No rule changes sent out to vote, or if there has been, I certainly got no ballot. The lifetime members and legitimate clubs and members have had to fight to be heard. Their points weren’t even counted to my knowledge. Yes, there is an uprising. Yes, I agree with the uprising. AOF Lifetime members want to be heard again, and what is changed is that when you were an AOF officer, and I was Executive Director, you would have used your office to ORDER me to do my work or be fired. Plain and simple. This isn’t about personalities; this is about what is right and wrong. I love Rod Black to death. He would have NEVER let me get by without sending a newsletter. Why is he letting Russ? I don’t believe he is acting as a good President, and that does not mean I don’t love him.
I apologized the other day for anything I may have done to hurt another boat racer. I did it because someone has to step up and start somewhere to heal. I expected maybe someone else would have stepped up and given an apology.After all, we have all done SOMETHING at some point in boat racing. (Maybe yelled at an official when we jumped the gun?) It hasn’t happened. It is always easy to blame the other guy. In this case, apparently Connie is to blame for anything negative that has happened in boat racing? Just like getting blamed for ‘pushing through” as you said, 18 Lifetime members. Blame me, I didn’t do it, but sure wish I had and for that I WON”T apologize. Our Lifetime members and those “from the South” as you say, deserve better. This bigotry is exactly why NBRA was formed.
Why can’t we all just say, “I’m sorry, I love you, and let’s go forward.---TEGETHER” It is what we have to do to survive. And by the way, I am sorry if I missed your request for information. I really did not see anytime where you asked. But I am retired now, and I have to knit and sit in a rocking chair. I miss things on Hydroracer sometimes. I do still have a phone. I do still have email.
And by the way, a very informative LEGAL AOF meeting was held in Pineville discussing some of these very issues. I have obtained a copy of the minutes of that meeting if anyone cares for a copy. Just email me at YankeeRacing@aol.com and I will send you a copy of them. I think once those are read, people will see the real truth.
And for your information, a LOT of Lifetime membes were there in Pineville and even 4--- YES FOUR---- former AOF presidents. Now that is history.

[Kevin Martin]

connie

i do love you, i really do. as you say you love rod, we just disagree on how to get things done. i cannot find anything to support your claims on lifetime members, having had their status removed. ill tell you i have tried to find something. plastering things all over here i personally feel isnt good for any of us. taking it to a national meeting, now thats how i was taught to get stuff done. i did find that in those two years 24 lifetime members were appointed, and no matter how we feel personally about it, it wasnt by the rules. i too agree with you wholeheartedly this needs to pass, needs to be addressed at the meetings this weekend, and finally acted upon. we always worked well together while in office, now lets do things the "right" way and get to the bottom of this at this meeting!!! send me anything you'd like discussed , i will personally print it out, and bring it up at the mmetings, i challenge anyone else to do exactly the same, email me your concerns i will be sure they are heard, how far i get with them i dont know, but i assure you they will be heard. kevinpmartin_@hotmail.com. one question connie, if you didnt put through the lifetime members in 2004 , who did? tony? who?? i wasnt in office, rod wasnt in office, who was and who did?? it doesnt matter now, and we cant go backwards, but accountability would be nice!! kevin

[YankeeRacing]

thank you Kevin. (btw, I love you too).
I am sending you a copy of the minutes of Pineville. I talked to Charlie Walters that day. He TOLD ME that the most of the Lifetime members and Hall of Fame should not count. I am not the only one he told that to.
Charlie (comp vp) told me directly on the phone that this was discussed in a previous meeting, and they would be doing something about it soon.
Other issues to bring up:
Why haven't the Lifetime members or Hall of Fame gotten a ballot in 3 years? (Wait, I finally got a handwritten (by Rod) last year AFTER I complained.
Why haven't many of us gotten notice of a national meeting. (Oh, wait, I finally got notice last year a day AFTER the meeting. Again, hand written by Rod). I told Rod that my family has missed very few national meetings and we were disappointed as we were planning to attend. By the way, Terry is a DIRECTOR so he should have been informed and gotten a ballot. Rod apologized and said that if he had known that we would have come out to Spokane, he would have made sure we had a notice before, not after the meeting.
Why did Carl Staron have to prove with cancelled checks that he had paid sanction fees and insurance and sent memberships from his races? Rod still does not beleive that Carl paid these. Even with cancelled checks.
Why were the wonderful people, the Heberts, etc treated so badly by Russ concerning the races in Pineville? Why were they treated so badly, that all moneys, applications, etc were STOPPED? AOF is not about treating people bad, or at least it wasn't in our day. And why, when I explained to Rod that he had better apologize, he sent a falf asked apology, that was not accepted by the Southern AOF racers. They were treated so poorly, I am amazed that they even considered another AOF race. Evidence of some of this is right here on Hydroracer. When I discussed this with Rod I told him that to make this better he should have given them a few free sanctions. Rods' response was "there were a lot of mistakes made concerning the races in the south, they just need to get over it!"
Why, was a sanction turned down for the last Pineville race by the national office? Why did they come to me to fill out the paperwork and order the insurance? I actually told the organizers that I would be happy to fill out the paperwork, get the permits and order the insurance, but I wanted to talk to Rod first, which I did. I know exactly what the sanction said, because I filled it out and it was done 31 days before the race. You will see copies of this at the meeting.
Why did Becky Nichols, a young girl, break an AOF record to have it rejected by Russ because he said she wasn't a member. Why did I have to remind Rod that Becky is a J diriver. She only has to pay $35 for a full membership? Screw around with the adults, but leave the kids alone.
Why is everything a fight to get recognized?
Why did Howard Picerall, the Technical VP send information after information to be rejiected by Russ. You call him yourself and ask him. It happened.
How has AOF had a legal meeting without a quorum for the last 3 years. Why haven't we voted on anything? Did you? How come I am told, by Dave Loomis, that there is a new 2009 rulebook with all of the changes but I wouldn't have a copy of it. I still have that email, if you like I can send it to you.
Where and how can there be a new 2009 rulebook when no one voted on any changes? And how, without a quorum could these changes even be brought up?
How did the dates of runnng for office change without anyone knowing about it. The rulebook posted on the website says Sept 15 and October 15. How did this get changed to 30 days later? Things cannot be changed without a legal meeting. Also, AOF says everything adopted by Jan 1 or forget it til next year.
Does anyone know how to read?
Connie

[Kevin Martin]

thank you

printed and ready to take with. keep you posted. kevin

[YankeeRacing]

Oh no, now you made me think. I hate when that happens.
Remember how we had so much trouble with a website so we voted to use Hydroracer Exclusively for AOF business? I am not sure, but I think we were one of the first paying customers.
(Your ideam maybe).
Now this year I find out there is an AOF website. Did you know that? I sure didn't and neither did a lot of others. How did this change when it was not voted on?
And, I tried in vain to contact any and all contacts on that website earlier this year. ALL of them did not work. NONE. ZIP. That includes emails and phone numbers.
Others complained too. I guess that is fixed now, but we had old members who TRIED to join AOF the last 3 years and could not find a working address, email or mail to do so. Ask this story of Steve French, the brave soul who is running for Tech VP. He works for the post office and could not get through to even send his resume.
Who changed whate we voted on? Is this a "I can do what I want regime?" Your vote counted then, just because Rod and Russ and Jon Pifer decided it was best to spend money on a website does that make it ok? We voted not to.
Also, to Jack about your membership. Carl has tried to send the paperework to the national office using the address on the ballots. Apparantly Russ doesn't know his own address, because the ballots and mail are coming back. Kevin, you can confirm this with some of your Spokane members.
History of Lifetime members as I can remember it. Remember, I just had a birthday yesterday and I now have a great grandson, so memory not what it should be:
Albert Snell was Historical Director. He gave me a list to PRESENT to the national meeting in 2002. He new it was a stretch to add that many names, but it was his request. This went out for discussion in one of the newsletters, and I am pretty sure on the rule change ballot as a discussion item. (Remember how we would send out discussion and clarification items, not action taken, along with the actual voting issues?)
It was discussed and tabled at the meeting. Nothing was done until I think, 2004. The awards are not by law items. They are approved by the commitee of awards, or whatever the president at the time called it. Probably Tony. I usually wrote Ton'ys agenda, so I know he always asked for volunteers for different commitees. They took these things under consideration.
These would have had to be approved at the meeting by the Racing Commission in the private meeting that was always held to hire the executive director, accept records, etc.).. This was approved.
The next year, Albert Snell and some of the others said, hey wait, wer forgot 5 more. Again these were approved.
Right or wrong, it as done. Legal meetings. I personally think that it as a good thing. As you can see, right now 5 of the main offices are held by Washington members who have NO IDEA of the history of the Lifetime members.
I can also tell you that with much talk lately with Rick Morris, a founder of AOF the Lifetime members do play an important role in keeping the philosophy of AOF. Without these Liftemers roaring right now, the rest of the country would be ignored and then forgotten. The lifetime members could be considere like a Supreme Court. Every organization needs a checks and balances system. I can remember when some of them used to sit in a meeting with old minutes and old stories. When we woud try to pass a rule at the national meeting, we could be interrupted by one of the Lifetimers who would show us why we should or should not accept the rule. Maybe we tried it before and it was unworkable, or we passed in 1973 to NEVER do that, etc. etc.
This uproar by the Lifetimers is NOT a bad thing. It is a wake up call to let the 5 officers from Washington realize that there is more to AOF.
ok, I have a headache. I will think more and get back with you. Don't you wish you would have left me sleeping?

[Jerkizoid]

Kevin for President!

Here I go again, wasting lifes limited seconds, minutes, hours, and in my case, could be a small bucket full of em left! Didnt someone say lets move on and not get stuck on the past?

[Guest]

The Fix

A Hug, and a Thank You would go a long way.

[Kevin Martin]

yup, im gonna go away for the winter, paly with my fourwheeler and forget about all this. when its time to dig the boat out, im hoping to be refreshed, and ready to go!!!enjoy your winter you all, see you in the spring kevin

[mdaspit]

send me anything you'd like discussed , i will personally print it out, and bring it up at the mmetings, i challenge anyone else to do exactly the same, email me your concerns i will be sure they are heard, how far i get with them i dont know, but i assure you they will be heard. kevin

Thanks-
You can take this for me.

I am a nobody.
I am new blood.
I am added money.
I am one boat closer to a full field.
I am years of potential AOF memberships and entry fees.
I am new boats, and motors, and props.
I am a promoter of boat racing.
I am an enthusiastic volunteer.
I am respectfull.
I am a guy who will find new race sites, and sponsors.
I am a guy who will bring in new racers.
I am the guy who will help other new guys when my turn comes.
I could be a hundred strong.
I am Texan...and I stand with the Lifetimers who made this possible for me.
If you won't respect them...you won't get us.

[ram95]

Dialing 1-AOF-GUN-FIGHT....if U kno yer parties ext...

Pow...ka-blammm..pop.pop.pop.pop.pop..pop..clik.cccklik. kazatch! pop pop pop pop pop...ka blammo blammo,,, WHAMMMM...bump bump bump... BLAMMO BLAMMO KA-FRIKKIN BLAMMM OHHH!!!

Ya know.. I enjoy these little skirmishes on HR cause nobody gets cut off mid-sentence or told to "hurry up... get to the point". Nope, everyone gets to say their piece... as long as they kin type. I sure am glad we have Hydroracer. Too bad everyone can't afford a pc and an internet connection.

BLAMMMO BLAMMO KA KA BLAMAMAMAM OH.... zinggg splat!!

[mercguy]

ah heck...........

yup, im gonna go away for the winter, paly with my fourwheeler and forget about all this. when its time to dig the boat out, im hoping to be refreshed, and ready to go!!!enjoy your winter you all, see you in the spring kevin

I wuz just gonna put another bag of popcorn in the microwave!

[blueskyracer]

I was really wanting to know "Who Shot J.R."

[YankeeRacing]

Pow...ka-blammm..pop.pop.pop.pop.pop..pop..clik.cccklik. kazatch! pop pop pop pop pop...ka blammo blammo,,, WHAMMMM...bump bump bump... BLAMMO BLAMMO KA-FRIKKIN BLAMMM OHHH!!!

Ya know.. I enjoy these little skirmishes on HR cause nobody gets cut off mid-sentence or told to "hurry up... get to the point". Nope, everyone gets to say their piece... as long as they kin type. I sure am glad we have Hydroracer. Too bad everyone can't afford a pc and an internet connection.

BLAMMMO BLAMMO KA KA BLAMAMAMAM OH.... zinggg splat!!

You are correct about Hydroracer. It is a good thing we have such an outlet.
Now, I trust that you are not chiding the message of all this. If so, you have too much time on your hands. Go read the thread started by John Runne about APBA elections. If you are not serious and caring about this AOF problem, then choke on that popcorn. (that was meant to be funny).
You see, I happen to beleive that AOF has a good thing going. Grass roots racing at affordable prices. (About $300 a week end). A GREAT way to get a boat race when a boat race might not otherwise happen.
AOF is a democracy. ALL members count. For whatever reason there are times when a small group decides the majority and membership should not rule. Remember the problems in APBA a few years ago? That involved a lot of lawyers, but in the end the majority ruled.
AOF had a group of about 20 people come to a meeting once and demand it was going to be their way and we should ignore the votes and wishes of the majority. I stood strong then, standing up the rights of the hundreds of other members who had paid thier dues and voted. Not that it ended up a bad thing in the long run. NBRA was formed that day and they are going strong. BUT, in my book, the same thing could have been accomplished by waiting a year. Get your voice heard for a year, then get your votes and take over. Isn't that what we do in the good ol USA?
Now for the last 3 years you have a group who has tried to take over by illegal meetings and elections. By NOT counting the membership and only those they choose to acknowldge.
AOF is steeped in history and this so called takeover won't be successful. Those old members, the Lifetimers won't let it happen, and just like in the APBA case, the law is on the side of democracy, not a group of bullies. I guess I grew up thinking that everyone counts.

[Jerkizoid]

Connie Pain

I, like many others I am sure, dont want to dignify your last post with a reply.!!!
It's counter productive and does NOT PROMOTE RACING I'll bet you didnt even go to the meeting!
The only bullys (your words) found amoug our family of racers are a few (very few) possibly munching on sour grapes and sipping cold stale espresso AND using this forum as their 'Bully Pulpit' with NO intention of racing next year or any year there after! Now stop already!

And furthermore, I dont love you! I do envy your memory and praise your wisdom to include all types of boats within AOF, you were there when flats were welcomed 10 years ago!

Kevin, drinks on me Saturday!