Canadian Yachting May 2023 - 34

wind
Shifts
Paul M. Rellinger, Editor-in-chief, The Port Hole
In a former life, I was a longtime member of the Kinsmen Club
of Peterborough, serving at the dawn of the new millennium
as the service club's president.
Club membership was fairly robust at that time. We numbered
about 80 active members. There was certainly no shortage of
enthusiastic help with the many fundraising projects the club
was involved with. When a job needed to be done, one phone
call and my fellow Kin came running to roll up their collective
sleeves and get it done.
I'm now long removed from my Kinsmen days but what has
transpired over the past 20 years in terms of the club's membership
is concerning. That was brought home to me recently
when I addressed the club about a project that I was involved
with. The club now has a roster of about 30 members and it's
a struggle to maintain that number.
Maintaining healthy membership numbers isn't a challenge
that's unique to the service club I was once very proud to be
a member of. Most all service clubs and volunteer organizations,
across Canada, are dealing with declining membership
numbers or, at the very least, are struggling to maintain their
numbers year to year. CPS-ECP isn't immune to that reality.
We can point to any one of a number of factors in explaining
the struggle that organizations such as ours face both
maintaining and attracting members, but chief among them is
people's priorities have shifted to a me-and-mine-first thought
process from what was once a much wider held for-the-goodof-everybody
approach.
This doesn't mean we're more selfish. Rather, it's more reflective
of life making more demands of our time. The pandemic
only heightened that as most all of us shifted our priorities,
Published by Authority
of the Board of Directors
Editor-in-Chief
Paul Rellinger
Canadian Power
and Sail Squadrons
Graphic Designer
Nour Bawab
Proofreaders
Louise White, SN
34 CANADIAN YACHTING | MAY 2023
with spending more time with family at the top of the list.
CPS-ECP relies on members to serve as volunteers for a number
of boating safety-related projects and the delivery of boating
courses. We would be done with that help. But maintaining
and increasing membership numbers remains a huge challenge
that we share with multiple organizations. This is especially
concerning in light of the simple fact that active members are
so important in the quest to attract new members.
All the promotional campaigns in the world won't do an organization
any good if members aren't having a good experience
and, in turn, sharing that fact with others. National can do
what it can, and I can write ad nauseam about the benefits of
CPS-ECP membership, but our best, and most effective, means
of growing our membership lies in the ambassadorship of the
rank and file.
Now, more than ever, is not a time to stay quiet. CPS-ECP's
present and future depends on shouting from rooftops the
benefits of membership, be they social or practical in nature,
or a combination of both.
Reluctance to do so threatens to see us trail well behind in the
bid to compete with the vast array of causes and organization
petitioning people for their time and talents. There's nothing
worse than regretting not doing things we should have done
when the floor collapses beneath us. We have to take it upon
ourselves - now - to spread the good word. Our future as a
viable organization is dependent on that.
As always, your contributions to The Port Hole are always
welcome. Email your articles and/or photos to
paulrellinger@hotmail.com ■
Photographer
Louise White, SN
Published 6 times per year:
February, April, May, June, October,
December, Copy deadline is ten
weeks prior to publication.
Editorial copy and correspondence
should be sent to
theporthole@cps-ecp.ca
Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons
| Escadrilles canadiennes
de plaisance
26 Golden Gate Court
Toronto, ON M1P 3A5
1-888-CPS-BOAT
F. 416-293-2445
theporthole@cps-ecp.ca
www.cps-ecp.ca
48'
46'
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http://www.cps-ecp.ca
Canadian Yachting May 2023

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