Now I don't say this as a trueism---just something to throw into the mix.
   It may be this list that is partly to blame for the demise of "clubs". We get about as much information as we need right here. Have a question? Someone on the list knows the answer. Someone else has an opinion; and a third person is always there to tell everyone they are dead wrong. So who needs a club?
      Art


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---- Bob Dayle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> The 'demise of shell clubs' thread has been very informative. Several postings
> have suggested that they knew the causes, although this problem is hardly a
> one-size-fits-all situation. Although I have been associated with only two
> shell clubs in the past twenty years, their situations could hardly be more
> divergent.
>
> The rise and decline of the Hawaiian Malacological Society is fairly well
> documented within the pages of its Hawaiian Shell News, particularly if one can
> read between the lines. Their protracted zenith followed World War II by about
> the period of time it took for many of the core members to retire from the U.S.
> military. From my personal experiences with some of its key 'players,' dating
> from the early '70s to the early '90s, it seems that there were several 'camps'
> within the HMS fold: the 'collectors,' who sought out all manner of new shells
> and the associated experiences, the 'neo-conservators,' who felt that the
> former group was harming the shells' home (until Hurricane Iwa showed EVERYBODY
> what harm really was), the 'socialites,' who naturally sought out group efforts
> as a means of expressing themselves, and the shell sellers & dealers, who
> $ought $ocial $tatu$ for their $helling experti$e. The 'camps' were not
> distinct entities; many could claim loyalty to two groups, and some seemed to
> have connections to all. But, as mentioned above, much of this is to be found
> within the pages of the printed editions of the HSN.
>
> The noteworthy point of the HMS is that it sits in the midst of a motherlode of
> sea shells, yet it, too, has waned considerably from its heydays of the '60 and
> '70s, when it seemed to rain rare shells. In spite of their shell surplus and
> the 'new blood,' by way of the high military turnover of potential
> sheller-members, its worldwide membership dropped year after year. The previous
> CONCH-L posts did, indeed, name some of the causes: cliques, club 'customs,'
> enthroned pontificators of unsupported opinions-which-could-not-be-questioned,
> and precious few volunteers to consistently do the 'grunt work' of keeping a
> large club running AND producing a monthly, world-class newsletter. It took big
> egos and true dedication to make a large organization, which the HMS was at its
> peak, keep going year after year.
>
> At the other end of the scale, it seemed, was the Indianapolis Shell Club, of
> which I was the final vice-president. Its last real surge in membership
> occurred six or seven years ago,... when I joined. Its membership had already
> declined considerably due to attrition, member die-off (literally), loss of
> interest, far-flung residences and Indiana's sage decision to make ALL shell
> collecting within the state illegal (except fossils, of course, which are not
> REALLY shells, just mineral representations of... blah, blah, blah,...).
> Anyway, to summarize a long and insipid tale, old age, illnesses and
> inaccessibility to shells took their toll until, this winter, the last shreds
> of camaraderie fell apart and the Indy Shell Club was no more.
>
> My two cents...
>
> Bob Dayle
>
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