In the last issue I discussed how the ROA incorporated, established a logo and requested support in the amount of $20 annual dues to continue the mailings. The first check received was from Jim Wright, who became ROA #2. Jim has served on our Board and remains as a member to this day.
The early days were very much a Knott family affair. Every other month I would buy pizza and the entire family would gather to prepare the Riview for mailing. As membership grew so did the mailing project. We obtained a bulk-mailing permit, which required labeling, sorting, bagging and delivery to the local Post Office. We soon discovered that bulk mailing was, in reality, handled along with the slow “ junk” mail. So we moved up to publication rate, or magazine rate, that we use today. Then, as the membership grew, and to my family’s delight, we turned these duties over to a mailing company.
In June 1985, we attended the Buick Club of America National Meet in Los Angeles with a stack of newly prepared ROA brochures. We were warmly welcomed by the BCA and especially by Helen Hutchings, their national president. While at the LA meet, we recruited many new members and were invited by BCA to attend their national meet the following year in Indy.
By November of ’85, with the support and encouragement of our members, we dropped the “63-65” from our logo and opened up our membership through the ’73 models. The next step was a contest to name our publication. Randy and Mary Hunter from Canada won with the name the Riview. They also prepared the logotype design, which we continue to use today. The name is a play on the word review, but with a space between the word “Riv” and “iew” (view).
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Membership continued to grow and by May of ’86 we had approximately 500 members. We discussed having chapters, but since our members were so scattered, we felt it would be best to have regional coordinators for exclusive ROA events and to support established BCA chapters at their meetings and events. At the 1986 BCA meet in Indianapolis, most of the ROA members stayed at the same hotel and met nightly. During the day, we hosted a vendor space to promote the ROA. BCA provided us with a meeting location for our first ROA annual meeting, attended by 152 members. At that meeting, we elected an interim Board of Trustees to act as a nominating committee for permanent Board elections later that year. We were also invited by the Coordinator of the BCA Orlando Chapter to attend their 1986 National Meet, which we accepted.
During the next year, as membership grew, we expanded ROA to include every production year and recruited Tech Advisors and Regional Coordinators. A library that I started with a few manuals grew and took over our living room bookcases. Our goal was to have every available factory publication dealing with the Riviera as well as magazines and books with information on the car. At this time, we have most factory publications and over 450 magazines and books dealing with the Riviera.
We had well over 100 ROA members at the 1987 BCA National Meet in Orlando. But we knew that it was time for us to hold our own. Riviera’s 25th Anniversary was celebrated in 1988 and Buick Motor Division enticed us and the BCA to Flint with overwhelming support and a very special marble paperweight with the 25th Anniversary logo in pewter for each ROA member. Wanting to be separate, yet join the festivities, we held the ROA meet from Sunday to noon on Wednesday, while BCA held theirs at the same hotel starting on Wednesday afternoon. It worked out well except that the hotel finance department took months to get billing correct. Except for Buick Motors 100th Celebration in 2003, the ROA Annual meets have been held separate from the BCA.
By our fourth year, membership had grown to 1,000 with owners throughout the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. However, for most of these early years we didn’t have computers, publishing software or email. Much of our free time was spent opening mail and replying with hand written notes that required envelopes and stamps. The Riview was prepared on a typewriter with photos and page numbers pasted onto a sheet of paper using a light board. Times have sure changed!
In the last installment of this historical series, we will cover our continued growth, a few dark years, and where we are today. |
