I've been a member of
for over ten years. I've let my membership expire a few times, but for the most part I've always been a member.
For me, there's two parts to why I am a member, local and national.
On the national level,
has always had the
best tech archive for our Jeeps.
has helped me out so much over the years, the annual membership fee has paid for itself over and over again by how much this forum has saved me. From troubleshooting help, to build ideas, it's an amazing tool to have access to.
on a national level also supports Blue Ribbon, Tread Lightly, and donates matching funds to each chapter to put toward a land use donation. I support those efforts, and it's nice knowing my membership money helps out those causes. National has matched the NWC numerous times over years on local NW donations as well. PNW4WDA, WOHVA, Yacolt Burn Trails, LaDee Flats, it literally adds up to thousands of dollars going toward local land use efforts.
Then there's the local level, the NWC. The NWC isn't a traditional club, in the sense where we have monthly meetings, trips, and do parades together while holding hands. (I think a few members tried the last one once :gag
. We're too spread out, and most of us are too busy for that. We have a solid core group of members here though. I've met a lot of people through this club, many of which are friends. Hell, I was a groomsman at a members wedding. We may seem tight knit from the outside, but that's just because most of us have known one another for years, and put forth the effort to become involved with the chapter. We're not going to hold your hand and beg you to come out to our event, that's your choice. I don't really want to wheel with 15 rigs anymore, "quality over quantity." Don't bring junk out to our runs, be "that guy" and you'll fit in fine. There's plenty of Facebook circle jerk clubs that cater to the alternative. (I don't do Facebook, so I'm sure you can tell my opinion of some of the other "clubs" out there.)
My goal for the NWC in 2018 is to get back to the basics, and that's wheeling. We're all here because we modified our Jeeps for offroad, so lets use them. We'll be putting together a "Runs of 2018" calendar to give people some runs to plan for. I want our events to be known for covering ground, conquering obstacles, wheeling hard, and having fun doing it. When you see an NWC hoodie/sticker on the trail, I want it to make a statement, pull over cause we're passing you.
I'm sure we'll try and make a cruise in show or two though-out the year, maybe SOLV clean up in April, cater toward a noobie run in the spring, etc.
Seriously though, we got a good group of people here. Hopefully in 2018 we'll get some events going that can get us all out together enjoying what we built our Jeeps for.
So, if you want to be a member of the elite XJ club, go
RED.