Maybe it's just different out there where the air is thin (I LOVE Colorado, BTW); but what I have noticed in my area is that, irrespective of age or experience (for the most part), there's two kinds of club members:
1- All they want is a place to fly, with no responsibilities within the club; only reason they join or even have AMA is because it's the only way they can have access to the field. I'm not saying this is good or bad, there's a lot to be said for this because, at the end of the day, it's what we ALL want. These guys are usually okay with whatever the club wants to do, as long as it doesn't mess up their flying.
2- Active club members, who feel that flying isn't the only aspect of the hobby they want to enjoy or be involved with. These guys may or may not want the responsibility of being officers, but still contribute to planning fly-ins, upkeep of the facility, trying to improve the hobby and the way it is practiced.
I guess there is a sub-set within this group who like being in "charge" of things and want things done their own way, because it is "obviously better", even to the point of antagonizing everyone else. This is where a good set of by-laws and club operating procedures comes in, as well as the club as a whole involving themselves enough to vote on the bigger issues and keep the strong egos at bay. If it's written down that such-and -such is mandatory, or won't be tolerated, or that something has to pass a majority vote or be decided at board level, it tends to keep one voice from being the loudest.
I have a feeling that a lot of the guys in the first group may have been more active at an earlier time, but had experiences with the subset of the second group that made them say, "The hell with this, I'm just gonna pay my dues, fly, and everbody else can do what they want."
BTW, I am secretary of our club, serving my first term (similar to 'sentence')
. I was asked to be president, but did not feel it was something I wanted to tackle as a first office. All I want for our club, as both member and officer, is a place that people enjoy coming to, and can have a good exchange of ideas, while sharing an activity that might be the only thing they have in common with the other guys, but can do it without pressure or intimidation. There are ideas that I have that I feel could make the club, and facility, better, but I'm totally happy with whatever the club as a whole has voted to do, or not do. I am willing to do things for the club without compensation (well, the monetary type anyway); I have always felt that you get out of something what you put into it, and I'd probably do those things just because I feel a duty to the club, but I don't care one way or the other about recognition.