Thor Gas Club/Motor Coach Club New Post

[rvbunz]

Jack,
Thanks for your support, and I will call on you for assistance once I get the info in from FMCA, and the final direction we should go. I will PM you my phone number and we can talk. Again thanks for your support.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by mikebreeze

They shouldn't discriminate against us gassers! The Thor Motor Coach Club should be open to all Thor owners.

Mikebreeze,

Thor is not discriminating against anyone! The Thor Diesel Club was NOT started by Thor!

Here is a history lesson for those who do not know the background of the Thor Diesel Club (TDC) and FMCA Chapter Clubs in general.

The original name of the TDC was Mandalay Travel Club (MTC); at the prompting of the Mandalay Luxury Division, the Mandalay Travel Club was formed in October 2004 under the International Chapter of the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA), using the FMCA boilerplate “By-Laws” and “Standing-Rules”. The Mandalay coach owners formed the club and held all the club offices.

Now fast forward to 2010…Mandalay has gone bankrupt and Thor Industries purchased the company to include Fourwinds and others. The MTC approached Thor to get sponsorship as they had enjoyed under the previous owner. Thor would not sponsor a single motor coach and told the club that the only way they would consider sponsorship was to include ALL diesel powered coaches. This was put to a vote at the international rally in Goshen and it was approved by its members which created the “Thor Diesel Club”. This was not a happy time for some of the Mandalay owners and there are still a few that are disgruntled by Thor’s requirement to include all diesel powered coaches.

The Thor Diesel Club is an International chapter for the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) and it is run by its members. Thor holds no office in the club however it does provide some sponsorship and support our rallies with technical speakers.

As you can see the TDC is a young organization and they are still trying to get their feet on the ground that is why they did not want to include all Thor coaches at this time.

Any group of like minded people can form a club under FMCA and if it is big enough then maybe they could get some sponsorship from some vendor like Thor. It is not the other way around.

At the expense of repeating myself…Thor Industries did not start the Thor Diesel Club all they do is provide sponsorship to a club that was already operating.

If you care to read the history of the MTC/TDC please follow the link below;
http://www.thordieselclub.org/TDC_PDF/Thor_Diesel_Club_History.pdf

[cenfl]

Voted...look forward to participating either way.

[EDALLSAILS]

The question shouldn't be "Do you have a gas or diesel MH?" It should be do you have a Thor Motorhome. Do you enjoy traveling and camping in a unit MFG byThor?. The TDC has many members and has welcomed both Mandalay owners as well as the Current Thor diesel owners. Please note there is a BIG difference in the Chassis of a GAS vs Diesel unit. Difference in maintenance of the two units. So interest in units may vary a lot. Thor has been a terrific supporter of the TDC and from all appearances will continue to be a supporter. Safe travels...ed

[bronk]

I voted for an inclusive THOR club as I believe that broader representation (gas and diesel) would provide enhanced opportunities for rallies and other "get togethers" as there would be more members from a wider spectrum across the country and regionally. I would think that THOR would be very supportive of this initiative and endorse the formation and implementation wholeheartedly. I would join either, however. Thanks for taking the lead.

Bronk

[ginny47]

Voted for all inclusive. I will be glad to help if you need someone in Texas.

[Mike 1000]

Voted for all inclusive, but would join either way. I like the idea of larger group for reasons stated above (more to participate in rallies).

[rvbunz]

ginny47, Thanks for your willingness to help out. Trust me, when we get this thing going I will be accepting all the help I can get. I've neber started a club, but hopefully with the package from FMCA we will be able to get it going. Thanks to all that have voted so far.

[rvbunz]

That's never started a club, not neber.

[rvbunz]

Received the chapter start-up package from FMCA today. It looks like in order to start a chapter we first have to have a couple of meetings.rallies. I want to throw out an idea about getting a Thor Motorcoach Club going, then seeing if we want to get an FMCA chapter, ( which I think we may want to). I think once our poll is complete, we try to schedule a couple of regonial meetings/rallies. Probably late fall and early spring. This way some of us can meet and volunteer to do certain thing, meet the requirements of the FMCA should that be the way the group wants to go. I'm thinking maybe the fall meeting in the southeast, like Myrtle Beach area, and the early spring midwest, like Elkhart. If there are any other recommended locations please throw your two cents in. This process is probably going to take awhile, but I'm willing to try and make it a success. I've never done this, so baby steps will probably be appropriate. Thanks to all who show interest.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by rvbunz

Received the chapter start-up package from FMCA today. It looks like in order to start a chapter we first have to have a couple of meetings.rallies. I want to throw out an idea about getting a Thor Motorcoach Club going, then seeing if we want to get an FMCA chapter, ( which I think we may want to). I think once our poll is complete, we try to schedule a couple of regonial meetings/rallies. Probably late fall and early spring. This way some of us can meet and volunteer to do certain thing, meet the requirements of the FMCA should that be the way the group wants to go. I'm thinking maybe the fall meeting in the southeast, like Myrtle Beach area, and the early spring midwest, like Elkhart. If there are any other recommended locations please throw your two cents in. This process is probably going to take awhile, but I'm willing to try and make it a success. I've never done this, so baby steps will probably be appropriate. Thanks to all who show interest.

Sounds good about a get together (Rally) but I would suggest that you schedule it adjacent to some other large rally which could help with attendance to your rally. I also suggest selecting a date and venue early so people can get it on their calendars. This lack or organization/information is one of the reasons why I did not attend at least one other rally this year.

[rvbunz]

Jack,
I just threw out the idea of a meeting/rally to try and get prelims toward the FMCA chapter requirements. I had thought about trying to schedule one at the same time as another rally, such as the TDC rally in Myrtle Beach in April. As you know I'm just knicking this idea off, so it's not a lack of organiztion. I've never done this, but I have an idea on what to do. It will take time and I won't rush into anything. I truly appreciate people like you and ginny 47 who have offered their help. Trust me, although I'm new at trying to set this up, I feel confident that we can pull this off and learn as we go. Again thanks for your support.

[Orangepeel]

You may want to look over the FMCA regional rally calendar for 2014 and leverage off of that: http://www.fmca.com/chapters/area-rallies

May I also suggest seeing if there are those on the west coast who are interested and would like to see a location on our side of the US added for a meetup.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by Orangepeel

You may want to look over the FMCA regional rally calendar for 2014 and leverage off of that: FMCA area rallies

May I also suggest seeing if there are those on the west coast who are interested and would like to see a location on our side of the US added for a meetup.

Good idea! We are headed to the FMCA Great Lakes Regional Rally today (Goshen, IN 18-22 Sept). My DW and I are volunteers along with other members of our local RV club, Tri-State Traveliers (Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky). I know that some groups has had pre and post rallies at some of the rallies we have attended.