[pigeonfarmboy]

Location is obviously going to be the biggest obstacle we face. A list of committed members would be a great thing. A list of people who are willing to dedicate the needed time to keep up with this monster is probably a better idea. I can attest from experience, the person put in charge of handling this location is going to have to be very flexible with personal time. No offense, this is something most of the guys here can't offer due to family and time obligations.

I have an issue with the clubhouse being located somewhere none of us live. (I don't think anybody lives in Ft. Wayne correct?) Fort Wayne also adds a ton of distance for some of our most dedicated & potential members from down South. Security would be non-existant. Even if we had wifi cams setup, you guys know how long cops take to respond when we phone in "our toys are being stolen" right??

Not only that, I can't speak for you guys, but I want a super-dedicated person to act as "president" assigned to that location that lives nearby. Ed for example at the St. Louis location would likely need to be in charge of treasurer duties handling rent/utility payments through the club. I think I'd be the next closest so I'd be putting alot of time & money helping Ed and making sure the site would be well fitted for growth & playtime.

Not to downplay any of your ideas about kids and the future but that's something we don't even need to be thinking about at this time. Getting this thing off the ground is going to take priority over anything like that. Like I said, it's good to have ideas but we're really far off from that point at this time. (Kids can't ride Space Mountain if Disneyland doesn't exist.)

JD hit the nail on the head with his statement about non-member rates. What's the point of becoming a member if you can just pay whenever you want at a much cheaper cost? The whole point of the dues of this club will be to invest in a permanent facility. Indy is fun don't get me wrong, but tearing down every time sucks. It's going to be more expensive for the first batch of members but that's an unfortunate fact we must get past. We're essentially taking on a risk and there's a chance this won't be able to flourish. That's why fellow enthusiasts are needed to commit to the cause. It won't always be this way, but at this time we need to approach planning a different way than the clubhouse being an operational entity.

The scariest part of all this to me is the lack of participation in this thread by people I would think of as very interested parties. I'm no nazi when it comes to people keeping their lives glued to the computer screen but there's some that haven't said a peep that we want to hear their opinions too.