Having been on the board of a reef club for several years, it is always a struggle to get active members and participation. I think almost everyone involved in a club would agree. Joining an existing club, has the advantages of already having their legal/tax stuff figured out, as well as the initial fundraising under their belts. A few years back, there was a group in Macomb I believe that formed a MASM subchapter...the idea seemed to make a lot of sense at the time.
MASM has been on the forums trying to find people interested in hosting meetings, etc. It may be worthwhile to explore whether some of their meetings could be in your neck of the woods.