Re: RC: AERC Revenue/Expense

[BMcCrary27@aol.com]

In a message dated 01/04/2001 9:03:10 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
lanconn@tds.net writes:

<< It costs $35+ to fill my truck tank with diesel fuel.  I think my AERC
 dues at $65 are a bargain.  I paid AERC dues for years and didn't even
 own an Endurance Horse, but AERC and EN articles inspired me to dream of
 faraway rides and marvel at the accomplishments of people like Julie,
 Lawton, and Matthew, just to name a few. I wanted to go there and do
 that. I pay $65 to belong to IAHA and can't even look up my points at
 their web site.  Other than a few articles now and then, they do very
 little for Endurance.....especially the local club.  I join because I
 like the promotion they do for the Arabian horse.  I belong to the
 Appalachian Trail Conference and have never hiked a mile on the trail
 but proudly display their decal on my windshield. Same reason.  I like
 what they do for the environment and their goals. When I'm too old to
 ride (I really want to go like Lawton) I will probably STILL pay my
 dues, whatever they are. >>

Hear, hear!!!  

It costs more like $50-$60 to fill my husband's diesel truck tank (30 gals.)  
We don't hear people complaining about the fuel bill, the new diesel trucks, 
or the cost of the huge fancy horse trailers with apartments, but mention 
AERC dues and listen to the fuss.  We just attended our first multi-day ride 
in at least two years, and I was astounded to see so many brand new diesel 
trucks and new multi-thousand dollar trailers.  I think they're great, and we 
all need some comfort when we travel and camp with our horses.  I don't deny 
that.  But it's like criticizing the farmer when your stomach is full.  Some 
people are complaining about the wrong things.
We also belong to a couple of horsemen's groups, not because we participate 
extensively in their activities, but because we want to support what they 
stand for.  An organized group of a sizeable membership has more political 
clout when it comes to fighting trail closures than a few non-cohesive 
people.  I would support AERC if I rode only one ride a year (which we did 
for several of the nearly 30 years we have been members), simply because I 
want to support a group that fights for something as necessary as public 
access to some of the greatest riding areas in the world.  If we didn't 
support AERC with our dues, there wouldn't be an AERC.  Then, we would all be 
just out there riding for fun, or some other organization would have to be 
formed to be the record keeper (which would be re-inventing the wheel).  And 
how many of us would ride endurance if there weren't that element of 
competition?  Would we ALL ride just for mileage or for fun?  Many of us 
would, but others would probably not.  Lots of things to think about, folks.  
Keep it all in perspective.  Is $65 a year REALLY that much of a financial 
burden?  I pay over twice that for an annual subscription to our local 
newspaper, and it really isn't all that great, either.

<>

I've already written a post on this subject.  I couldn't agree more.  
(Although my husband wears jeans to his office, but then his work is a 
"jeans" sort of business).  
I keep thinking of AERC's huge postage and phone costs and wonder if we can't 
cut down somewhere in that area.  Example:  the RM packet we receive before 
each ride (and we were managing three separate events for a few years).  Big 
postage cost and I didn't even use most of the papers enclosed, as I was 
printing out results on the computer.  So not only did the forms go to waste, 
but the postage was costly.  I asked the office staff if they could just not 
send them to me, but it was too complicated to sort out the RMs who needed 
the forms from the ones who didn't.  Perhaps if the forms can be downloaded 
from the internet and filled in by RMs, this would save much postage.  The 
forms would then be sent only to the RMs who do not use the computer.  I 
could support a higher rider fee, but then RMs would just pass it along to 
the riders, so what have you saved there?  Keep thinking about ideas to SAVE 
money, and maybe we won't have to RAISE fees.  But I certainly wouldn't vote 
to go back to a newsprint form of Endurance News.

Barbara
West region director