MORE ON THE HISTORY OF MEL
Men Enjoying Leisure (MEL) came into existence in May 2000 when it became apparent to the founders that active, contemporary, senior men, no longer fully committed to their life’s careers, needed a venue/format to enhance their changing lives and meaningfully fill their expanded leisure time. As a result, MEL was founded and embraced the following mission statement:
MEL IS A NONSECTARIAN, SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF CONTEMPORARY, SENIOR MEN, WHO ARE NO LONGER FULLY COMMITTED TO THEIR CAREERS, AND WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN MEL AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CAMARADERIE AND INDIVIDUAL GROWTH THROUGH DIVERSIFIED GROUP ACTIVITIES.
From this initial thrust, MEL rapidly grew to over 150 members and has remained that size for many years. This is not an accident because research indicates that a membership of about 150 is the largest size in which every member can reasonably expect to personally know every other member. Too much larger and things become corporate and impersonal, not at all what MEL intends.
When MEL started, the idea was to avoid “structure” in the organization. However, the rapid growth necessitated the formation of a 10-man steering committee; which operated loosely; its main purpose was to keep things moving forward. However, over time, it became apparent that financial institutions like banks and insurance companies, as well as governments required a corporate structure to better enable MEL to conduct its business. Mel now is a not-for-profit corporation, managed by a 9-person Board of Directors, whose terms of office overlap so there is always continuity of institutional knowledge.
