It seems to me these are like alternate jurist (or a backup quarterback). They go through all the motions of the real thing, but only come in in the event of an emergency.

Let's face it, there has been some midterm turnover on the BOD and we ain't getting any younger. I think having a couple people on the side that know what is going on and can step in in the event of a vacancy is good practice for the club.

It would also be nice if these people could backup the current board. Let's say we let Jay take a vacation (just hypothetical of course, we'd never do that). Perhaps one of these people could do some of the day-to-day stuff while he's gone.