BMKC BOARD PRESIDENT’S UPDATE ON POINTS FOR NON-MEMBERS:

Having raced with Blue Max for 26 consecutive years, I have seen a lot of changes to the make-up of the Board, and watched the club grow and shrink back-and-forth over the years.  The thing I like best about Blue Max is that it is truly a members’ club and very much family-oriented club.  Among other things, the Board recently voted NOT to allow non-members to receive points or garner year-end trophies and championship jackets.  A particular challenge the Board faces is to keep the cost of participation reasonable.  We actually lose money at each race, so it is membership fees that pay the freight for things like trophies and championship jackets at the end of the year.  The members also help to defray cost by volunteer participation in regular and annual maintenance and repair of our track facilities.  Having been a school board member, and officer of a great many volunteer organizations over the years, I see that commitment is an essential foundation for success.  At the same time, we also believe that inviting non-members to come and see what Blue Max is all about, is a potential pathway to growing our membership.  Presently the Club policy regarding awarding championship points to non-members is intended to strike a balance between respecting our existing members and growing our membership.  The current policy provides for tracking points for all participants, with a concurrent requirement that non-members pay more for race registration as well as commit to membership prior to the 4^th race of the season in order to vie for a class championship.  This year, since our 3^rd and 4^th races are a “double-header”, the commitment to membership will be delayed until one week prior to the 5^th race. This makes the deadline June 1st. This policy has been affirmed by the vote of multiple Boards, by the way.  The Board is always interested in considering improvements to the way the Club operates, and at the last Board meeting I invited consideration of a modification to this policy, possibly one where we have three “categories'” of participants, those being; 1.  non-members just interested in racing at Blue Max, 2. those non-members interested in racing for points with the intention of becoming a member before the racing season ends, and 3. regular paid members who love the Club and also want to compete for points and awards.  We would envision that such a potential structure would include different race and membership fees for each category of participants.  Any change in policy will be implemented prior to our first race of 2024.  I trust that this insight into the activities of your Board will be of assistance to the membership.  With the very best regards, Jim Waltz, President BMKC.

James P. Waltz, P.E., CEM, FAEE, DABFET, FCABE(UK)