I never was too much for clubs as they generally have a certain make or model they celebrate and frown on guys like me who have a collection of various makes and models.
But the West coast thing doesn't surprise me too much, because there isn't much of anything that has caught on out here when it comes to car events. All the good stuff is East of the Mississippi. We don't have UMTR, NMCA, NMRA, PSMCD, F.A.S.T., Pontiac Nationals, and list goes on. We have PSCA but they rarely get around outside of California, and once a year you have a nostalgia event over there with cacklefest. Really nothing organized out here for musclecars though, most of the dragstrips have dried up and most of the national type of events are back East as well.
All of which I find strange because they have to pack it all in with a few short months of decent weather, yet we have weather year round to support car activities, daily driving, sunshine, etc.. with very little worry of rain ever ruining a car weekend or hurting the turnout 12 months out of the year. So much so that I have no desire to even venture East past Arizona towards the nasty weather after about November, lol.