>>The Colorado chapter was in violation of the CC>CC
By-Law [Chapters] the very first moment it accepted
a member who was not a member of the CC>CC. I was
in violation, as was every other officer of the
Floridian Chapter of the CC>CC. Any chapter
officer who also accepted members into their chapter
who were not members of the CC>CC was also in
violation of the By-Law [Chapters] of the CC>CC.
This violation does not go away.<<

I joined national before I joined CCC. I didn't find out that the national bylaws required national membership until the controversy occurred in public when it did. We were, as I've found, in violation of the club bylaws from the very beginning. We accepted criticism from national for being so for a number of years, AND accepted being an official "non-chapter" after the national club announced at the reception at the convention in 1999 that national had lost a chapter. Given that, what you see from Colorado collectors is loyalty to a club. I don't know ANYONE that quit either the local chapter or national DURING the time we, as a chapter, were shunned and banished by national. A violation it was. A violation of a rule that didn't belong in a collector's club bylaws, it was too.

>>Do you not feel that you, I and whomever was in violation need
to thank the officers who were involved during our violation...or do you consider the results a victory?<<

I consider that we were collectively involved in a violation of unfair rules, and appreciate that the officers involved in changing the rules did so. Of course it was a victory! Ban a chapter without a real good reason would have resulted a flood of bad blood.

>>I lost, today, Bob. You and I stood
side-by-side (I unknowingly for not reading the C&BL
of the Floridian Chapter and assuming they were
exactly as those of the CC>CC). Me, the guy who
constantly suggests to others "assume nothing." I'm
not pulling you down with me, Bob. I ask nothing of
you....and I expect you ask nothing of me and
every one else who agrees that any chapter member
should be a member of the CC>CC.<<

I didn't get elected to office until last December, to take the position of Ben Kreigh, our local treasurer/secretary from the beginning of our chapter, who passed away a few months ago (and wasn't a national member.) I handled convention publicity in 1999, got publically spanked, then replaced without anyone telling me that it happened until months afterwords. It's not like I've been unwilling to donate my own time and money to make the CC & GTCC successful. I AM UNWILLING to force or require a local chapter member to join the national organization. This is a collectors club, not a labor union!

Bob