History
of the Northwest Citroën Owners Club
by Henry
Reed (Seattle, WA)
Our history
started officially on November 28, 1989 in Seattle, Washington,
U.S.A. On this date the Articles of Incorporation as a Nonprofit
Corporation were officially filed with the Secretary of State, in
the State of Washington. But, before this "birth date"
there had been years of activity relating to Citroën Cars in
our region. In the 1960s when there were Citroën dealers in
Seattle, there was an active Club. Many enthusiastic new Citroën
owners were members, and a few of these "old timers"
continue as members in our present club. However, it is not known
whether this original club was ever incorporated. It became
dormant during the later 1970s and early 1980s, and was finally
superceded by a new generation of enthusiasts who rediscovered the
attractions of the Deesse and other models; this new group led to
the organization of our present club.
As early as 1975, junior high school shop teacher Jack Hillyer
was inculcating a few of his more radical and bright students with
the Citroën mindset. Of course, this meant that they were
helped to become independent thinkers, to appreciate the utility
of functional design, and not to fear the reprisals of inferior
students of GM, Ford and Mopar persuasion. Along with Jack
Hillyer, these special students are active leaders in our club
today. Chris Dubuque, Peter De Boldt, Kevin Crandall, and Chris
Middleton are well-recognized names!
By 1982 this small group all owned Deesse and other models of
Citroën in the Seattle area. They had their own workshops and
spare parts collections, and had constructed some of the special
tools necessary to care for the cars. They were helping other
Citroën owners to keep their cars on the road, and on any
given Saturday morning one would find a steady stream of Citroëns
migrating to the storage shed area just west of Issaquah, where
some of these young men had their hobby shops. Citroënists
would all hang around, kick tires, drive their "D"
models through the mud-filled pot holes of the parking area, and
swap stories of driving the hydraulic vehicles. From 1982 until
1989 this was the only Citroën "club" in the
Northwest.
Meanwhile, in Vancouver B.C., Chris Adshead had become the
recognized Deux Cheveaux and general Citroën organizer for
western Canada. Having owned a 2CV since 1974, and published a 2CV
register and newsletter since 1985, he had been the center of club
activity for the Vancouver area. As the cost of this work became
greater (both in time and money), the idea of creating a "Northwest"
club that would include the Vancouver area membership and combine
Chris Adshead's newsletter as a wider area publication became
attractive. Discussions began, following a successful combined
meeting of the two groups at a State Park in Sequim Washington in
1987, to create such a regional club.
Preparation of the statement of Bylaws of the Northwest Citroën
Owners Club began in early 1989, and resulted in the document that
is still the "constitution" of our Club. The original
signatures of the Bylaws were Henry Reed (who became the first
President), Dr. Robert Kaufmann, Peter De Boldt, Dan Hughes, Greg
Bruninga, Christopher Dubuque, and Garth Thompson. These Bylaws
set forth the rules of governance for the Club, are summarized in
the following paragraph.
The regular decisions of operating the Club are made by a
seven-member board of directors, that is made up of the officers
(President, Vice-president, Secretary, Treasurer, and three
members-at-large). This group meets at least quarterly, but
usually monthly. It has an annually rotating election, so that
each year two board members' three year terms expire, and two new
members are elected for three year terms. In addition, there is
one board member who serves a one-year term (one of the
members-at-large), and this person is elected annually. The entire
club membership performs this election duty annually, and provides
three new board members. The remaining four board members provide
continuity of leadership for the newcomers, and stability of the
administration is assured. The types and costs of club membership
are set forth, the process for terminating members provided, and a
process for filling unexpected vacancies on the board is
described. Powers and duties of the officers are presented, and
the Bylaw amendment process is set forth. And finally, the Bylaws
present the General Objectives of the Club. |