“I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.”   (Groucho Marks)

 Rod’s February report

Last month we were delighted to welcome two new members to our monthly area meeting. It’s always great to meet up with new people; we soon got chatting, and the easy way they fitted straight in with the rest of us got me thinking.

The fact is, until you turn up at one of these meetings, you can never quite know what to expect. Will you find an informal group of friendly people, chatting and laughing over a pint, who welcome you into their circle and include you in their conversation? Or are you about to go crashing in unwittingly on some fantastically formal meeting, with everybody sitting round in a deathly hush and looking daggers at you for interrupting?

I remember my own reticence about coming along to the local MVT meeting for the first time. Like Groucho Marks, I just didn’t really think it would be for me.

I’ve always been keenly interested in military vehicles, and have run an ex-army Land Rover for years, more recently adding a Jeep to the fold. It sounds silly now, but at the time I remember feeling very uncertain about just turning up at a meeting; it was almost as if somehow I was just playing at this, whereas these people I was about to meet were serious experts who would look down on my ignorance and amateurishness.

I should have known better, of course. Yes, on the whole these people really DO tend to know their stuff about their particular area of expertise – and everybody is an expert at something – or maybe they’re all just very good at bluffing. But what I found when I plucked up the courage to attend my first meeting was a group of friendly, interested people who instantly made me feel welcome and who weren’t in the least bit stuffy or dismissive. Looking back now I’m glad I made the effort, but I so nearly didn’t bother.

I was delighted, but not surprised, to see the new guys again this month, deep in conversation and exchanging tips, contacts and experiences with other members about the trials and tribulations of Norton engine rebuilds. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a great deal more of them over the coming months.     

If you’ve wondered about coming along to one of our regular local meetings but weren’t sure quite what you’d be letting yourself in for, I’d urge you to take the plunge and join us for an evening. We meet at the Welcome Stranger on the third Wednesday every month, and although the ‘business’ part of the meeting tends to start at 8.00 and take about half an hour, it’s all very informal and most of us try to get there at least an hour earlier to enjoy a pub meal, a pint and a natter.

Come along and introduce yourself, and see for yourself what we get up to. Like I say, you can never be sure quite what to expect until you give it a go.

Rod King, Secretary MVT Devon Area.