Founded: September 24, 1999
CROP was formed in September 1999 by a small group of people, some of whom are still members today. It started on ONElist, which changed to eGroups that eventually became Yahoo Groups. Within several months, there were 30+ members on the list, and we were meeting twice a month in local restaurants for munches. In April of 2000, we had our first private meeting at a hotel, members brought food for a potluck dinner and there was a very exciting wax demo! After several months of trying different schedules, the second Saturday of the month became the “official” night for munches
Through the first several years, CROP primarily had one or two people in charge of running the Yahoo group list and planning munches and other events, with an unofficial advisory committee formed approximately mid-2001.
In 2005 we established our first elected positions as President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary as well as started paid memberships. At that time we also officially changed our name from C.R.O.P. or Cedar Rapids Organization of Perverts to simply CROP. This was done as part of our efforts to incorporate as a not-for-profit entity and also to present a non-negative image of our lifestyle.
Early in 2006 CROP became an official non-profit corporation and the board changed from the specifically elected positions to a five member board in order to comply with some legal requirements of a non-profit corporation. The new board terms were for two years with three members elected on even years and two members on odd years.
Prior to the board elections in 2008 the board voted to have all board terms be one year in length for those who were willing to serve on the board but unable to commit to a two year time frame. Each board member now serves from January through to the next January election. We made some changes to our munch schedule by instituting a rotating Friday, Saturday, Sunday schedule on the second weekend. We’ve also been hosting Third Weekend mini events to provide more educational and social opportunities.