I hope that this year the MOA chartered clubs are not FORCED to camp only in one area. At Wisconsin, this was a VERY POOR requirement. If clubs want to camp together, so be it, but those who do not should be able to put their club setup anywhere in the site. We pay the same fees as those with no club affiliations. We should have the same rights!
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MOA Chartered Club Camping
- Thread starter Bfontaine
- Start date
redclfco
New member
The enforcer wears a badge
Did I miss the guy that was in charge of enforcing this rule?
I can hear the enforcement officer now:
"Uh sir, pull up those tent stakes, and let me see your local BMW club membership card"
You hand it to this big brute dressed in black...he says
"I see here that you are a member of the Minnesota club; you are in a "free" camping area sir, and you are a member of a local chapter. You can't camp in a free area when you belong to a local club. You MUST camp over there" with the rest of your group, or I am afraid you will have to leave immediately!"
He points to a less desirable spot (like right off the West Bend horse barn and shower area)
)
He looks at you with those cold blue steely eyes as his hand slowly reaches for his container of mace, and his other hand suddenly is sliding for the butt of his 45 Glock.....
Where do I sign up for that job? hahaha
Come on.. surely you can camp anywhere you want!
Did I miss the guy that was in charge of enforcing this rule?
I can hear the enforcement officer now:
"Uh sir, pull up those tent stakes, and let me see your local BMW club membership card"
You hand it to this big brute dressed in black...he says
"I see here that you are a member of the Minnesota club; you are in a "free" camping area sir, and you are a member of a local chapter. You can't camp in a free area when you belong to a local club. You MUST camp over there" with the rest of your group, or I am afraid you will have to leave immediately!"
He points to a less desirable spot (like right off the West Bend horse barn and shower area)
)He looks at you with those cold blue steely eyes as his hand slowly reaches for his container of mace, and his other hand suddenly is sliding for the butt of his 45 Glock.....
Where do I sign up for that job? hahaha
Come on.. surely you can camp anywhere you want!
Last edited:
rob nye
Ritalin Poster Boy
Hey now,
Welcome to the forum.
While I can't speak for policy for this years rally I can offer some background.
I believe Sue Rhin-Manke was the first rally chair to ban using caution tape or other means to stake out a large space for your fellow club members who were arriving later.
The problem was that people were arriving early not to help out but to secure a beach head in the prime area for their club.
The resolution was to ban roping off space, however to accomodate the clubs who wanted to be assured of camping together in Vermont we had a designated area where clubs could rope off space for their exclusive use. IIRC the club camping area was requested by the larger clubs some of which have tents and have catered gatherings for their members. This was also an evolution of what Sue did in Lima when I asked if we could bring the YB Toy Box and have a club dinner on site.
You and your friends can camp anywhere you want and your club can camp anywhere they want. The only restriction is you can't rope off space (except in the designated club area) if you want to guarantee that all of you will be together. Bringing in a trailer, renting a tent or designating a chunk of grass as exclusive is the same a roping off space.
I am a reformed taper and early arrival. Now I have enough quality gear along with my own shade that I don't care where I camp. I have also learned that if you are not trying to score the only 12' square shaded spot you won't have to worry about someone wanting to share tent pegs.
That and out in the less than "prime" real estate the neighbors are really friendly which can make the sub prime the new prime.
Bottom line is I suggest you contact the rally chair directly with your concerns. I am a past rally chair, not the current one.
Best,
Chartered Club Camping
The enforcer wears a badge
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did I miss the guy that was in charge of enforcing this rule?
I can hear the enforcement officer now:
"Uh sir, pull up those tent stakes, and let me see your local BMW club membership card"
You hand it to this big brute dressed in black...he says
"I see here that you are a member of the Minnesota club; you are in a "free" camping area sir, and you are a member of a local chapter. You can't camp in a free area when you belong to a local club. You MUST camp over there" with the rest of your group, or I am afraid you will have to leave immediately!"
He points to a less desirable spot (like right off the West Bend horse barn and shower area) )
He looks at you with those cold blue steely eyes as his hand slowly reaches for his container of mace, and his other hand suddenly is sliding for the butt of his 45 Glock.....
Where do I sign up for that job? hahaha
Come on.. surely you can camp anywhere you want!
Were you watching us at Wisconsin?? That is just about what happened to us! Sue's husband assured us that we could set up the rented tent in an area....after it was completely set up...Sue and friend came by and told us that we COULD NOT camp there.
The enforcer wears a badge
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did I miss the guy that was in charge of enforcing this rule?
I can hear the enforcement officer now:
"Uh sir, pull up those tent stakes, and let me see your local BMW club membership card"
You hand it to this big brute dressed in black...he says
"I see here that you are a member of the Minnesota club; you are in a "free" camping area sir, and you are a member of a local chapter. You can't camp in a free area when you belong to a local club. You MUST camp over there" with the rest of your group, or I am afraid you will have to leave immediately!"
He points to a less desirable spot (like right off the West Bend horse barn and shower area) )
He looks at you with those cold blue steely eyes as his hand slowly reaches for his container of mace, and his other hand suddenly is sliding for the butt of his 45 Glock.....
Where do I sign up for that job? hahaha
Come on.. surely you can camp anywhere you want!
Were you watching us at Wisconsin?? That is just about what happened to us! Sue's husband assured us that we could set up the rented tent in an area....after it was completely set up...Sue and friend came by and told us that we COULD NOT camp there.
redclfco
New member
BFontaine,
Sorry that happened to you, I am sure there must of been somthing else going on that precipitated your having to move.
From what I know about the rally management (which isn't much I'll admit) they are there to help all have a good time. Hopefully all works better for you at Gillette!
Sorry that happened to you, I am sure there must of been somthing else going on that precipitated your having to move.
From what I know about the rally management (which isn't much I'll admit) they are there to help all have a good time. Hopefully all works better for you at Gillette!
shandeland
Club President
Rental tent?
BFontaine,
Did you use the Sherpa service to rent a tent? If so that may have been the issue. When we rode into the camping area I asked my wife where she wanted to set up and followed her directions to a open tent site. No one told us where to camp. Our neighbors were great and we made new friends. The next day I found out where a cluster of our local club members were camped but that was less than half of them.
As far as I know Shepra tents stay where they are set up and any other tents can set up anywhere there is open space in the camping area.
Steve
BFontaine,
Did you use the Sherpa service to rent a tent? If so that may have been the issue. When we rode into the camping area I asked my wife where she wanted to set up and followed her directions to a open tent site. No one told us where to camp. Our neighbors were great and we made new friends. The next day I found out where a cluster of our local club members were camped but that was less than half of them.
As far as I know Shepra tents stay where they are set up and any other tents can set up anywhere there is open space in the camping area.
Steve
sherpamayberry
Ex-Camping guy
If someone was setting up a rented tent, it wasn't mine. I do all the setup and tear down, and I do not let any of my tents move.
I also set up pretty early to try to avoid other early arrivals from parking themselves in the middle of the Sherpa Camp area. This year I hope to set up on Tuesday.
Sue
Friend of the Marque
Ah yes ...... BFontaine .... I do remember your situation.
The problem lies with the BIG tent that you wanted to erect, and not about where your club could camp --- and club camping, in general.
As rally chairman, one needs to make decisions that are best for the whole rally. One of these decisions in West Bend was that if a club wanted to have a big tent for their members to congregate in, then those tents needed to be in a specific area. Other clubs who were affected included the Airheads and Veteran BMW Riders.
Thanks for understanding, and taking a minute to look at the big picture.
The problem lies with the BIG tent that you wanted to erect, and not about where your club could camp --- and club camping, in general.
As rally chairman, one needs to make decisions that are best for the whole rally. One of these decisions in West Bend was that if a club wanted to have a big tent for their members to congregate in, then those tents needed to be in a specific area. Other clubs who were affected included the Airheads and Veteran BMW Riders.
Thanks for understanding, and taking a minute to look at the big picture.
Club camping
Ah yes ...... BFontaine .... I do remember your situation.
The problem lies with the BIG tent that you wanted to erect, and not about where your club could camp --- and club camping, in general.
As rally chairman, one needs to make decisions that are best for the whole rally. One of these decisions in West Bend was that if a club wanted to have a big tent for their members to congregate in, then those tents needed to be in a specific area. Other clubs who were affected included the Airheads and Veteran BMW Riders.
Thanks for understanding, and taking a minute to look at the big picture
Having been at most Nationals since 1978, we have always been allowed to set up a20x20 tent anywhere in the camping areas. We usually take a site where there is no shade since we have our own and set up our personal tents around the club tent and do not take up more space than any other group of campers. Our club is made up of 100% of volunteers so we try to set up in a camping area central to those areas where we work during the rally.
The other big picture is that we are BMW riders and enjoy camping near folks that may not be in a chartered club but we have formed friendships with over the last 30 years.
Ah yes ...... BFontaine .... I do remember your situation.
The problem lies with the BIG tent that you wanted to erect, and not about where your club could camp --- and club camping, in general.
As rally chairman, one needs to make decisions that are best for the whole rally. One of these decisions in West Bend was that if a club wanted to have a big tent for their members to congregate in, then those tents needed to be in a specific area. Other clubs who were affected included the Airheads and Veteran BMW Riders.
Thanks for understanding, and taking a minute to look at the big picture
Having been at most Nationals since 1978, we have always been allowed to set up a20x20 tent anywhere in the camping areas. We usually take a site where there is no shade since we have our own and set up our personal tents around the club tent and do not take up more space than any other group of campers. Our club is made up of 100% of volunteers so we try to set up in a camping area central to those areas where we work during the rally.
The other big picture is that we are BMW riders and enjoy camping near folks that may not be in a chartered club but we have formed friendships with over the last 30 years.
grafikfeat
New member
rob nye
Ritalin Poster Boy
When you set up your club party tent do you try to save space around it for club members that are arriving later?
If you do then you really should be in the designated area.
If you don't save space and welcome anyone who wants to came nearby into your club then I agree that you should be able to set up anywhere you want.
If you are one of the handful of people who have been showing up on Monday and putting a tent down in the shade along with taping off a large "compound" for your club then apparently you can't do that any more. Yes I have seen people stringing tarps up in the shade.
I love my parawing. Shade no matter where I am and an instant clubhouse.
My name is Rob and I am a reformed land grabber.
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