What's the Point of Joining a Club?

There are some, like myself, who joined BUMBA as part of the Short Course and continue to attend meetings in order to further our knowledge about this new hobby. And I was thoroughly enjoying everything I was learning as well as getting to know the good folks at BUMBA. There are a few outstanding people in that organization who not only know a lot about beekeeping but who also go out of their way to help out the newbies. They patiently answer our questions and even visit our hives to help us learn.

But all that good will has been soured by a recent comment by a club officer. There was a bit of discussion at the meeting due to something stated in the presentation that was confusing. Questions were raised but the answers only worked to make it even more confusing. I was hoping one of the more experienced beekeepers would intervene and clarify things, but instead an officer of the club reprimanded the room saying essentially, that we should be doing our own reading to learn our own answers to the questions.

Uh? What is the point of joining a club if it is not to share information? If you cannot or will not encourage participation and welcome it from everyone, any club will eventually die out. I don't think that will happen to BUMBA as it is certainly strong enough based on the size of its roster. But I cannot help but wonder what damage has been done thanks to this off-handed comment by a club officer.