President's Message - June 2024
Welcome to the June – July 2024 issue of the Badger Star, the Wisconsin Chapter’s award-winning newsletter!
I would like to thank Mercedes-Benz Milwaukee North Shore for renewing their support of our Chapter as the Sponsoring Dealership for the next year.
Events
Since last issue your Chapter held two very successful events.
Thirty members learned how to improve their detailing skills at our May 4th Detailing Clinic at León International in Waukesha.
Turnout for the May 19th Car Show at the Corners of Brookfield was excellent as well.
Read about both the detailing clinic and car show elsewhere in this newsletter.
Our next event is the “Break-in-the-Weather” D-2-D. Read the event announcement for more details. Other upcoming events include Starry Nights on July 12th and German-American Day August 10th. We are also planning a Fall Color Tour along the Mississippi Great River Road October 18 – 20. Refer to the Event Calendar for more details.
I’m sad to say that the Black Forest Tech Session was cancelled due to low turnout. This has always been a popular and well-attended event, and it was depressing that it had to be cancelled. Your Board would appreciate it if you would share with us why you were not interested in the Tech Session. Your feedback will help us plan future events.
A final word on events. Please let me or any of our board members know what kind of events you would like to see us hold. This is your club and your input is what drives our event calendar.
Changes at MBCA National
I want to let you know about some recent major changes made by the National leadership of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America.
First, National made the decision to rename “Sections” to “Chapters.” No explanation was given for the name change. So we are now officially known as the Wisconsin Chapter of MBCA.
The next change, and perhaps the biggest one, was the implementation of a completely new membership database. This new database requires that all members update their membership profile to ensure that the new database is as accurate as possible. If you haven’t already updated your membership information you need to do so NOW. Read more about this change in the “Update your Membership Record” announcement elsewhere in this issue.
National is also proposing some major changes to the Club’s organizational structure. One of those is the elimination of the Regional Directors position and replacing them with Directors at Large. This change would eliminate the direct link between our Chapter and the National leadership. Other changes are also in the works, but I don’t have all the details; National is keeping a lot to themselves. We’ll pass along any updates that we receive.
Recent Wisconsin Board Action
At their May 9th meeting, your Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution calling on MBCA National to hold the annual dues at the present rate of $85.00/year for the next three (3) years.
National plans on raising the dues next year to $100. Your Board feels the recent increase to $85 is sufficient.
If you have an opinion about the dues increase, I urge you to share it with me or any other board member. All comments will be forwarded to National leadership, but we reserve the right to edit comments for brevity and content.
Event Refund Policy
Your Board of Directors adopted an Event Refund Policy during their January meeting. The entire Policy is posted elsewhere in this newsletter. Please take the time to read it, and direct any questions you may have to any Board member.
Webmaster Wanted
MBCA National has launched a new website, and your Chapter is looking for an individual to serve as Webmaster for our part of the new site. Experience with websites not needed, but a knowledge of Excel would be helpful.
I close these remarks by thanking each and every one of you for being a member of the Wisconsin Chapter. It’s our members who make this Chapter successful. I look forward to seeing all of you in person at an upcoming event.
Best regards,
Bruce Hamilton
PS – don’t forget to give us your 2024 event suggestions!
Sponsors
