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| 2007 - 2008 ARM Board President |
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The President's Message First, let me thank all the people who were so supportive when they learned I was the new president of ARM. Your kind words were amazing. The honor came as a bit of a surprise to me! Months ago, I had asked Barb, oh, probably three or four times “Who’s our next president?” She always had an answer but it was never very specific. Finally, the last time I asked that question she said, “You’re kidding, Fred hasn’t called you yet?!!!” I said “Oh, about what?” She never missed a beat and said, “You just listen to what he has to say, you’ll know what to do. And, make sure you call me after you talk to him.” The rest, they say, is history. I’d like to mention at this point that I found out I needed to do this article for the newsletter on Monday and that it was due ASAP. In other words, Monday! The easiest thing I could think of on short notice is to tell you a little about me and what my immediate goals are as ARM president, so here goes... I was born and raised in Detroit. As a kid I went to many Tiger games with my dad at the old Tiger Stadium and visited Belle Isle a gazillion times. I loved the lighted fountain, and I still love the city of Detroit. My family moved to Farmington Hills and it was there in high school, I met Doug. We were married in 1977 and a few years later in 1982 we moved to Coldwater and opened a body shop and boat storage building on about 20 acres. Doug started saving some car parts from jobs to use in the body shop and then started buying his own parts at auctions to fix incoming jobs. The salvage yard was born! Within two years we stopped doing body work and went full speed ahead with the yard. In the early 90s we decided to purchase a computer for the business. I easily remember when the inventory was in Doug’s head and the bank was in his hip pocket, and customers could pull their own parts without messing up the rest of the car. Boy, have times changed! Besides doing minor body and paint work, I have crushed cars, separated semi-loads of wheels from tires with a wheel crusher and shredded the tires. I’ve operated a crane and driven a skid steer. I’ve done accounting, payroll, tax preparation, parts sales, vehicle sales, inventory, computer repair and quite a bit of drywall finishing. And lots of cleaning! We completely remodeled our house and moved the front counter at the shop at least four times. We seem to have the need for a new building or major renovation every five years or so. We are do-it-yourselfers. In there somewhere we had three children, and two years ago we were blessed with the most adorable and sweetest grandson ever! Just ask me! I was a little skeptical about accepting the president’s position on the ARM board, but Kenny assured me it would be fine. After all, he reasoned, what could possibly go wrong?! He reminded me that if we didn’t have Barb Utter steering the ship it would be a totally different situation. She is the foundation of everything we are and do. I can’t say enough nice things about this great lady, we are so lucky to have her. My goals as ARM president are, not necessarily in this order: Encourage more member participation in fundraisers and membership meetings. Continue to monitor the income and expenses to make sure our association makes ends meet. Acquire some kind of acknowledgement or blessing from the MDEQ on our very successful MICAR program. And last but not least, tutor our executive director on specific computer programs and skills. I’m sure there will be more, but that’s a healthy start. If you have any suggestions or ideas I would welcome a phone call from you. Communication is so important, and I promise to keep it a priority. Our continued success as a nationallyrespected association depends on it. PRESIDENT |