Some friends of mine and I once decided to start a sled club based out of Valparaiso. Our club tackled the baddest hills and made the meanest ramps throughout the city. A few minor injuries sure, but the memories well out weigh any scars.
Sadly though as we grew older and moved on to lives full of university courses and full time jobs, we stopped holding those SledClub meetings (although we still meet up for the warm drinks that always followed). Along with the memories though, the idea of a neighborhood sled club will stay in my mind.
I encourage everyone interested to begin forming their own sled clubs. I hope you all have better luck and keeping your sled club alive! Here are some guidelines and tips I found on WikiHow.
How to Start a Successful Club:
- Decide what kind of a club it will be and think up a catchy name. The club should have a topic and the people in your club should be gathering because they share a common interest.
- Figure out where and when your club will meet. Is it just once a month or twice a week? It's important to have these details ironed out so that your members don't get confused. Make sure everyone can get to the meetings easily.
- Begin recruiting members for your club. Most members should be among your friends, but a few people you don't know well should be allowed to join so that it will become more popular.
- Establish a "government" in your club. You'll need: a leader (president), a deputy leader who's in charge when the leader cannot make it (vice president), a secretary, and, if you'll be collecting "dues" (donations from the members that *usually* go towards the club in some way, such as to go on field trips and other fun things), a treasurer. Add as many sub-groups as you want. You can really go nuts here!
- Now that you have order established in your club, you'll need to have some rules. Get together with all your members and make up rules that everyone thinks are fair. These rules should have imaginative punishments to go along with them when they are broken (i.e., if you yell at the esteemed leader, you will be kicked out of the club for two weeks). These rules are subject to change; make sure the best ones are kept.
- Start with your meetings. Make sure that everyone attends them often by reminding them (by e-mail, phone, or in person) when one is coming up. Accept new members as often as you think is needed- it's boring with all the same people all the time!
- Enjoy being the head honcho.
- Have a special club birthday and have a sleep over or something to celebrate write down when the club first ever began to help remember
Tips:
- If you are going to collect dues, be sure that your club members see where they are going. If you have a "clubhouse", it's a good idea to use the money to keep up repairs. Another good use is for "field trips" that all members can go to.
- Make sure that all your members are going to stick with the club.
- Make sure that you have time to stick with the club, and go to the meetings as often as you can. It's not a good sign when you're not going to meetings and may result in your club disbanding, so be sure you have time for the club before you start it.
- Join a pen pal program to find more people for your club and spread it around the country (like an ad).
So start your own sled club, get out there, and start having some fun in all this snow!!!