Thank You

At our annual meeting in April my term as chairman will end. Therefore, this is my last Chairman’s Message.

Donny Seyfer will become chairman, and I assure you he is more than capable. There will be one or two new faces on the board, but the rest remain. This is as it should be, always maintaining some continuity while complementing that with an injection of new perspectives. I want to use this opportunity to say thank you for the opportunity to serve our great association. It has been my honor and privilege. I am grateful for the trust that was put upon me and honored to represent our board and association.

I am a firm believer in a servant style of leadership. I believe the chairmanship is a responsibility to be taken seriously to address the needs and goals of the association, not an honorary position for self-gratification. The chairman is there to serve, not to be served. Our current board and staff leadership believes in and demonstrates this philosophy as well. For that reason, I am confident in the future success of our association. This is a group with spirit and drive and ambition.

I look forward to serving as an active past-chairman. Some of our past chairmen have chosen to step aside and pursue other interests when their terms end. There is nothing wrong with that. Their contributions should always be respected and appreciated. However, it is my intention to remain more active within our association and in industry events. For some bizarre reason, I enjoy it and feel it is part of my mission to contribute in whatever way I can. There is still so much to be accomplished.

My predecessor was Ron Nagy, a great guy, a friend, and a good chairman. He chose to have his wife, Kris, contribute to his last Chairman’s Message. I think it was a great idea and I will do the same. It is a huge asset to have the support of a loving wife and I have been more than blessed in that regard.

The following are some comments from my wife, Marge.
“It has been humbling to see, firsthand, the dedication the ASA board of directors has for the collision and repair industry. These people give of what could have been their free time; time with family, time at home. But they chose to contribute to the greater good of the industry by sharing their innovations, their contacts, their passion for making a shop run more profitably. The drive for continued excellence was apparent in the training they provided to make their employees knowledgeable and better equipped to work on the high-tech vehicles in the shop, to get those vehicles back on the road, repaired properly and safe to drive again.

“Due to Darrell’s involvement with ASA, I have had wonderful travel opportunities: to Florida (I was able to feed the Manatees), New Mexico (a hot air balloon ride), Washington, D.C. (Mount Vernon and Capitol Hill and all the monuments), and Texas (and no, I didn’t buy a saddle, but Kris did). Also to Tennessee, South Carolina, Washington, Michigan and oh, Las Vegas.”

“The common thread wherever ASA was meeting turned out to be the friends! Liz and Kris and Roseanna and Neva and Diane – we would just pick up where we left off the last time we were together.”

“The ASA staff is amazing – I felt welcomed into the ASA family from the beginning. And I’ll be happy to accompany Darrell wherever ASA may need him in the future. While it’s not time to say good bye, I do say a heartfelt thank you for everything!” – Marge