It's not often that the_doctor and I agree with each other, but I agree 100% with him here.
The following is generic and not specific only to Holbrook:
- Don't look at these kind of requirements as a "burden" to joining a club. It's good for the club and the new member to have people help out AND learn a bit about their new club at the same time. It should be a "win-win" situation and that is how you should approach these type of requirements.
- Some clubs have a safety orientation. It's mostly to go over club-specific rules and is not usually just a re-hash of the NRA safety rules. Pay attention so you can be a good, responsible club member . . . learn from it, rather than looking at it as a "waste of time"!
- Help out in an area that you've never experienced before. You might learn something and decide to try that aspect of the sport out. At my first club, I was a brand new shooter and I volunteered to help out (no work parties were required) at an NRA match. I learned something about running a line as an RO and scoring targets. It was interesting, even though I never caught the competitive bug. I also immersed myself in the morass of MA gun laws and started reporting info at meetings (if I'm a member, I like to attend all members meetings to keep abreast of what's going on) and eventually I was asked to do it on an official basis.
- One club I joined required a 4-hours of work for full membership. I ended up replacing light fixtures on the range. Not a big deal and certainly not onerous, just dirty.
I got to meet a few other members in the process.
- At Braintree R&P we bring in ~80 new members a month. Every month at the members meeting, the club president asks "who is here as a new member" (the meeting is usually 1 day after the new members orientation meeting that all new members must attend) and you only see maybe 1 or 2 hands go up PER YEAR!! It's sad that almost none of them take an interest in their new club, and thus we can be assured that few know their way around the club or the club rules. I know that Holbrook is also a big club and it seems to me that they have a good idea in taking steps to ensure that their new members know something about their new club.