RAMS Club 2007
"The test of success is not what you do when you’re on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." - General George S. Patton, Jr
RC Clubs are analogous to the aircraft we fly. They both have potential and kinetic energy. When energy and effort are invested, they both soar. When left motionless, they both sit and collect dust.
The Riverside Aero Modelers club has been in existence since the eighties. It was AMA Sanctioned in the early 90’s. Since that time the RAMS club has seen it ups and downs. Membership and participation has always followed suite. It wasn’t until the last couple of years that a few members had a much grander vision for the club, a vision that saw the potential for excellence. When presented with these ideas, a majority of club members were enthusiastic about the possibilities.
At the time our club had a paved runway, a dilapidated concessions stand, two shelters, an outdated website, and patchy grass (when we had enough rain).
Photo taken is 2002
Several members sat down and began discussing ideas for the club. The ideas [this time] however, were on a much grander scale. We elected to dream big this time.
That big dream I mentioned meant a big time commitment. We didn’t start out by doing everything at once. We started one project at a time. Once we set ours goals, we made our game plan. It began by repairing and sealing the runway, and then we repaired and “upgraded” our concessions area. At some point we decided we were tired of patchy grass, grub worms, and chickweed running our field. With a little inspiration from Joe Nall, we decided on planting Bermuda. This was a little trickier since Bermuda needs that “extra mile” of preparation and care to flourish, not to mention the cost associated with the seed itself. We passed the hat around for a few weeks and thanks to many generous members we had our funds. Prior to seeding we hired out a bobcat to level areas around our runway. Once the ground was leveled and prepped, a few highly motivated club members worked tirelessly to prep, seed, fertilize, and water the Bermuda until it began to grow on it’s own. In a bit of serendipity, our greens keeper was able to purchase an old golf course mower with an 18’ reel deck. That was huge for our club because now it only takes 1-2 hours to mow vs. 8-10 hours on a riding mower.
Phillip Grimes on the reel mower
The next task was putting “a new face” on our club by creating a new website that incorporated newer web technology and up-to-date information. The new Webmaster volunteered to put together a new clean look that highlighted the many positive aspects of our organization.
Unfortunately, It was during this time that our usual group of malcontents decided for themselves that they wanted no part of the changes (despite the fact the club voted for all the changes).
After much heated dissent, this group made the decision to split from our club. This action resulted in a great deal of tumult and chaos due to the vindictive nature of their departure. Our club reached an all time low.
We discovered in a short time however, that once this small group of miscreants departed, the club was free to reach it’s goals.
The remaining majority of club members banded together and set even higher ambitions. Our new goals included hosting our own first annual RC swap meet, increase membership, and recommence improvements to our field. Within 4 months of our informal summit we hosted our first annual swap meet with great success Followed by a record-breaking fly-in.
2007 RAMS Swap meet headed by Jeff Blodgett and CD'ed by Tony Simmons
We then re-chartered our club with the IMAA. We were on a role! However, two successful fly-ins later we were once again met with adversity. Our region was stricken with an abnormally long period of drought resulting in the loss of some of our prized greens. Luckily our club is located in farm bottomland with a trickling creek nearby. We gather up our resources, dammed the creek, and began watering the grass section by section with a gas-operated pump.
Ken & Phillip rigging the water pump
This was an arduous process though due to the sheer size of our field. Once again serendipity visited us. One of our members who owns a plumbing company volunteered not only his machinery, but the materials as well, to install an irrigation/sprinkler system. For nearly a week, several members showed up after 5:00 and worked like madmen to get our new irrigation system in place. Trenches were dug, pipe was set, and a new dam was built for the water reservoir. Now that we had water, we re-seeded with another round of Bermuda and poured on the nitrogen. The grass came back with a vengeance! The RAMS Club does want to acknowledge Butch Pendergrass for his incredible generosity towards the irrigation system. Not only did Butch provide his Ditch Witch, he was gracious enough to provide the materials as well. The entire club owes Butch a debt of gratitude for his support.
Butch Pendergrass starting the irrigation lines
Our last task was the building of a new shelter. Once again many members had banded together. They located, scavenged and donated materials. 3 weeks after the start of construction, we completed our shelter and last major goal for the year. We all stood around and gazed in wonder. Our club looked the best it ever had in its history. We quickly realized the club didn’t just have a nice looking field though. we had a winning team and the feeling of achievement that went with it.
Butch Fortin, Tony Simmons, and Larry Cantley working on the shelter
Despite the fact the club completed some tremendous goals, the club did not break the bank in doing so. Many members from many different occupations donated their time, money, and resources towards the improvements. The greatest donation of course was the sweat equity provided by many generous and enthusiastic members. Because of our hard work, commitment, and diligence, the club has quickly evolved into a showcase field. An even greater achievement was the coming together of the members to boost the club moral to an all time high. Yes we have a wonderful field to fly at but the greatest reward has been a compelling bond of fellowship between the members. The RAMS Club members wish to acknowledge the generous support of it’s main sponsor, KING RC (of King, NC). It is because of their support, our club has been able to flourish as well as it has.
During the past year, our club has learned some valuable life lessons.
• Team work and fellowship bare the sweetest fruits.
• Never let your detractors distract you from your goals.
• Dream big and follow through. You can accomplish anything as long as you’re willing to take the first step and follow through
• A winning team is forged by fellowship, achievement, and victory over adversity.
2007 Group photo
Written by,
RAMS Webmaster,
Chris Sanders
Winston Salem, NC