Spring issue of Wooden Canoe arriving

Fellow WCHA members,

Many of us in the United States may have experienced a long delay in receiving the Spring issue of Wooden Canoe (in fact, my own copy hasn't arrived yet). While delivery to Canada and overseas seems to have been efficient, there has been an inordinately long delay in US deliveries despite the fact that the journal was completed and printed on time. In fact, our editor Chris Eden had the journal fully prepared and off to the printer well before our deadline, and the publisher had it printed and mailed by May 12.

By the end of May when the journal had not arrived in mailboxes, we initiated inquiries with the publisher, who in turn began a trace with the US Postal Service. We were told that the journal had been received and processed through the initial USPS sorting centers. After an unusually long time, US members in western states began receiving journals in early June. Even so, by Monday morning of this week (June 15), journals were still not in most mailboxes in the central and eastern US. Thus as planned in early June, we pressed even harder for answers and began following through on other means of getting journals to all members. But suddenly that same day, the logjam began to break...

We were pleasantly surprised when members began reporting Monday afternoon that journals were arriving in mailboxes in IL, NY, NH, MA, ME, GA and elsewhere, so we are confident that - finally - the journal seems to be arriving across the entire country. Delays may have been caused by effects of the pandemic and/or the civil unrest happening in many cities , but in any case we are pleased that journals are finally arriving. Rest assured that our editor and publisher did their parts in getting the journal prepared, printed and mailed on time if not early. Neither the editor nor publisher have ever experienced such a mail delay before, so we hope this doesn't happen again. To help ensure so, we are initiating a USPS "track and trace" program for future issues of the journal.

If you haven't yet received the Spring 2020 issue of the journal, it should be arriving soon. If you still don't receive it, please let Executive Director Annie Burke know and we will ensure that a copy gets to you as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your patience,
Michael

 

As I had mentioned to Michael, we received our journal faster than ever before. The border seems to cause inordinate delays in mail. I wonder if folks in the UK have received theirs yet?

 

I got mine early in June. West coast.

R.C.

 

Nothing yet. Middle Tennessee

 

Minn - came today.

 

Still waiting in Western NY.
The delays remind that the "· The journal, Wooden Canoe, is the official communication arm of the WCHA". That does not stand very strongly with the gaps in publication time and now these delays. The last issue was Winter of 2020.
Granted, this late issue is an exception, not the norm. Never the less had the cancellation of the Assembly not been timely posted on this site (in March) we would still be waiting for "official" notice by mail. The announcement of the SBA PPP (May) loan would not have been made. Can anyone recount everything that has happened since January?
Reluctance to use this site as a primary communication tool does not stand up. Case in point, when there are announcements to be made, they appear here, as they should, timely and immediately accessible...not delayed by the publication schedule or delivery problems.
If there are concerns about confidentiality of member information or a board member reluctance to engage here those are easily actionable items. In it's current format, the Wooden canoe is a nice canoe publication that does not keep pace with timely communication needs of the membership.

 

Got mine today! Top notch!

 

I thought I forgot to pay my dues-maybe I did. Guy always blamed memory loss on the white lead filler, or was it the heart medication.???? One of those.

 

No news here in SE Ohio.

 

Hasn't made it to MD.

 

June 25th nothing here yet in Ontario, Canada?

 

Made it to MD TODAY!

 

It bears repeating here again that the WCHA's journal, Wooden Canoe, is the official communication arm of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association. Like some others here, I have been an enthusiastic user and participant on this website's forums for many years, and deeply appreciate the benefits they provide. However, these forums reach only a small fraction of our membership whether because of personal choice or electronic necessity, and the same is true of our other forms of electronic communication. Wooden Canoe is our only communication mechanism designed to reach all members of the WCHA, and is therefore our official means of communication, just as it always has been. That said, important announcements including 2020 Assembly cancallation are posted on these forums (and elsewhere) in addition to being communicated through the journal. Finally, it must be noted that the many fine volunteer WCHA board members, past and present, are not reluctant to engage here. They each simply have a choice, as do all members, to utilize (or not) these forums and other media as they so choose and as they are able. But they, like all other members, receive and utilize Wooden Canoe.

To the many people who are not WCHA members but enjoy and benefit from these forums, please consider joining the WCHA. You will receive the beautiful and informative journal, Wooden Canoe, and your dues will support this website, these forums, and the many other excellent things that the WCHA does in support of wooden canoe heritage, conservation, construction, repair, restoration and use around the globe.

Joining is quick and easy, and can be done here:
http://wcha.org/membership

 

It came woohoo, enjoyed it once already thank you!
Greely, Canada

 

I emailed Annie and she sent me one. Today it came along with the one that was mailed back in May. Hope the other Ohio folks are getting theirs.

 

The one that was mailed to me by Annie arrived today. The one mailed in May has still not arrived. Thank you Annie.
I read with interest that an E-News letter was discussed during the July BOD meeting. That seems like a great way to create more dynamic communication up and down throughout the organization. Reading the minutes of the February 2019 BOD meeting in July 2020 drives a spike in this, at least for me.

 

Today is the day-- spring issue arrived. I must be up to date on my dues.