Chip's Corner
Combined Efforts

I get the feeling that many people believe that the District 23 board is in the tracks pockets? This is not true at all; our only goal is to sell memberships for State Championship Awards purposes and impose efforts in legislative matters. If we were to shorten up the season to say an example of 10 or 11 races we would (A) lose tracks due to declining profits (B) lose riding areas, (C) lose memberships for funding, (D) lose clout with the DNR and State officials because of declining numbers of riders, (E) lose influence with the AMA. In other words take a huge step backwards! We are successful in the AMA and State government areas because of our growth. With declining memberships we would no longer be able to support a lobbyist at the State Capitol. It would mean all these years of building would be lost because of a few riders that don't envision our real purpose. Believe me, our District would start to fail. We have one of the very best AMA active districts in the country. It's taken 30 years to get to this point, and one wrong decision could destroy it all. If we shorten the season some tracks wouldn't get enough dates to keep their gates open. We need the tracks, the riders, and District 23 as a combined effort just to battle land closures and groups that don't appreciate our off road community. If AMA District 23 didn't support our promoters we would have no way of funding, as the motocross community funds a large portion of our efforts. End result, the riders would be fighting land closures on their own. Riders would be fighting the DNR trails systems on their own. The riders would be fighting opposing organizations on their own. Believe me, without District 23 board efforts you guys would be back to a 1970's status. We're all in this together; it's your money at work. Without a large group effort we are nowhere. We cannot survive without the tracks on the schedule; the tracks can't survive without our being here. It's that simple, we have to scratch each other’s back to make it all work. Also, let me point out that our Executive Administrator is the only person paid in this district. None of the board of directors makes a dime off your memberships. It also goes to promote our community, which keeps new growth coming in. The point is, we all need each other. One without the other would leave you asking yourself, “Where can I ride?” With no apparent answer for our future in mind!

Chip Donaho
Questions or Comments: Email Chip

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