I have been a paid up member of acmoc since the very start,so this is only my 2cents worth.I am by no means a financial wizard,leave that to my younger brother.I am also a paid up member of hcea from the start.I look at hcea and they have a show grounds,they have restored equipment that has been donated,different funds you can donate to.If I had to pick which one of these two club that I throught would end up in trouble it would have been hcea,only because they were going in all different directions,buying land,restoring equipment.Getting back on track with acmoc I think the move to making models is a complete failure.You take a poll about what the members would like to see built as a model and say 300 say they would like to see this model built,ok great you go about making it and the least you can have built is say 1000.Well boys and girls the 300 don’t pay for the 1000 you have to have built and pay for.Maybe it’s time to drop the toy making business and see what we can do going forward to get ourselves back on more stable $$$ grounds.What has been done in the past is done,let’s move on.I am nearing retirement and am looking for something to do.I have been thinking of what we can do to get new members.I think our greatest ascent is Cat and the vast dealer network they have established,and that boys and girls is something we have to use to the club’s best interests.I don’t mean to be long winded but I think ACMOC is a great club with a lot of members that have a vast amount of knowledge to share with others.

"hicrop10" wrote:

I have been a paid up member of acmoc since the very start,so this is only my 2cents worth.I am by no means a financial wizard,leave that to my younger brother.I am also a paid up member of hcea from the start.I look at hcea and they have a show grounds,they have restored equipment that has been donated,different funds you can donate to.If I had to pick which one of these two club that I throught would end up in trouble it would have been hcea,only because they were going in all different directions,buying land,restoring equipment.Getting back on track with acmoc I think the move to making models is a complete failure.You take a poll about what the members would like to see built as a model and say 300 say they would like to see this model built,ok great you go about making it and the least you can have built is say 1000.Well boys and girls the 300 don’t pay for the 1000 you have to have built and pay for.Maybe it’s time to drop the toy making business and see what we can do going forward to get ourselves back on more stable $$$ grounds.What has been done in the past is done,let’s move on.I am nearing retirement and am looking for something to do.I have been thinking of what we can do to get new members.I think our greatest ascent is Cat and the vast dealer network they have established,and that boys and girls is something we have to use to the club’s best interests.I don’t mean to be long winded but I think ACMOC is a great club with a lot of members that have a vast amount of knowledge to share with others.

The model program has been dead since I have been on the board the last three years. The costs have skyrocketed and the promises from the casters have floundered. Contrary to your beliefs the models have historically supported the club. On all but a few models the un-solicitated pre-sales to the bigger model collectors and vendors paid for the entire run. The inventory has always been paid for and supported the club as they sold. Another issue with models now is that the popular models have all been made and the choices available are not as popular. Simply put the models have run their course and the club has to have other means of support and no longer can support the BB for free.

From Issue 150 Second Quarter 2020:



The President's Letter / Board of Directors Report does not mention this report, except to say that "finances are starting to stabilize ...". A small rise in memberships versus an operating loss of $101,006 in the last year is not stable.

If this report is what has been worked on for the last 18+ months - you get what you pay for.

I am totally confused by the line which lists "Plant, property and equipment" with an evaluation of $928,725. followed by "accumulated deprecation" of $775,818 and "asset impairment" of $10,575. My limited understanding of accounting indicates that both deprecation and impairment are accounting practices relative to fixed assets.

Looking at past Treasurer's reports there was an occasional line concerning fixed assets usually in the amounts around $30,000. I am not aware of the organization having any assets other than a couple of computers and maybe some office furniture. What assets did the Club own valued at nearly 1 million dollars? What do we own that has a current value of $152,332?

The final line on the report is "No assurance is provided on these financial statements" Emphasis added. Is this report just made up?

Keep on rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic and send out the same message as the guy driving the Edmund Fitzgerald: "We are holding our own".

Old-iron-habit,I stand corrected.I was just never a big fan of a club making models,I have quite a few of custom models and I know they are not cheap to make.I would like to see our membership grow more,and maybe look into reproducing more of the parts needed to restore these older cats,such as carburetors for the 10’s,15’s.What about the patterns that we got from George Lorge.Bottom line is I think Acmoc is a great club with some very knowledgeable members who are willing to help others.

Thanks to all involved for providing the ACMOC Treasurer’s report in the last Magazine. We wish that it would have shown that we have buckets of money buried in the yard just waiting to be expended but that is not the case. It does give us a good thumbnail sketch of our financial condition and where most of the money is spent.

It will be a struggle but perfectly doable to continue and improve our ACMOC. To use the words of hicrop10, we need to continue to look forward, not backward. The BoD has acted regarding various membership costs and benefits and all appear to be getting the club headed in the right direction. The rest of us must be willing to pitch in and not leave it all up to the BoD.

ACMOC forever!!

Being a past Director I find it very unusual for a donor wall show up with a lot of donors making a very fine contribution with out any previous mention of a project such as this.
I feel that this project should have been announced before publication or at the least explained in issue 150. In other words, whats going on here?? Or, did I miss out some where along the way??