New membership requirement for SCCA AX

I know this is not the fault (or in the control) of our local SCCA officials, but this is a huge mistake IMO. I thought attendance had already been dwindling and this is sure to make it worse. I don't see what the upside is.

If you haven't heard, there's a new requirement passed down from the National Office for the 2008 season. Everyone who
participates in any SCCA event (Solo, Rally, Race) must be an SCCA member. Don't worry – we won't ever turn away a non-member or keep them from participating with us. The National program is structured like this: We're going to offer a weekend membership so non-members can still come out and play with their cars. A weekend membership will cost $15, and unlike in years past that $15 can be applied to an annual membership. Non members can apply up to 2 weekend membership fees toward their annual membership. There's no extra paperwork to fill out and it won't slow down your registration process. Of course we'd love for everyone to sign up to become an annual member, but as in years past, this is still not a requirement.

So it looks like the free "temporary" membership that they used for divisionals went away?