Santa Visits Kids First

The ASA-Washington office held a Christmas "wrapping" party Dec. 17, 2007, so Santa could deliver the presents the next night to area children. Frank Swetz of the UniFirst Corp. provided a pizza dinner to the affiliate office.

The generosity of many ASA-Pierce County members allowed 38 children from Kids First to have a merry Christmas. More than $2,200 was collected, making this project a success. This was the ninth time that ASA-Pierce County has brought much-needed items to the children.

Each child received a coat, shoes, warm clothing or pajamas. Santa gave each one of the kids a toy, socks and toothbrush and toothpaste. Not only did the children enjoy seeing Santa, they each took their turn sitting on Santa's lap and having their picture taken as a memento. Santa said, "This is what Christmas is all about - seeing smiles on children's faces."

The Kids First Program helps the children of single parents whose lives have been affected by drugs and alcohol. The support and generosity of the members helps make the holiday season special for the kids.

ATE Opens Doors on West Coast

On March 28, the Automotive Training Expo (ATE) will open its doors for the first time on the West Coast. Jeff Lovell, president/executive director of the ASA-Washington affiliate, said that ASA-Washington is excited about the training expo.

ATE will run from March 28-30 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Sea-Tac, Wash. Visit the ATE Web site at www.atetrainingexpo.com for online registration, training, schedules, hotel reservations, exhibitors, expo floor plan, map, directions and more.

Together with ASA-Washington, the NorthWest Tire Dealers Association and Washington Automotive Wholesalers Association are sponsoring this first-time-ever training expo.

Special thanks goes to the ATE Committee members who spent many hours planning this special training. Committee members are Albin Moore, Butch Jobst, Wake Barney, Reto Filli, Joel Baxter, Merle Pfeifer and Jeff Rudnick.

Shop Photo Contest

Get your cameras ready! To recognize ASA shops for their efforts to improve the image of the automotive service industry, AutoInc. magazine will be sponsoring a photo contest featuring various categories that will run throughout 2008.

The winning photo for each category will be selected by the AutoInc. staff and will be published in future issues of the magazine.

In addition, the winner for each category will receive a certificate of recognition to display at their business and additional copies of the issue in which their photo is published. See page 5 for the winning photo for Best Waiting Area.

If you are interested in submitting an entry, please send your high resolution (300 dpi or higher) photo and include the name of the shop, city, state where the shop is located, how many years the shop has been in business and a brief description of the photo. Also include the name of the person submitting the photo(s), e-mail address and a daytime phone number to photocontest@ASAshop.org. Winners will be contacted by e-mail.

To learn more about AutoInc.'s Shop Photo Contest, please visit www.AutoInc.org.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Members of the ASA Mechanical Division, accompanied by various ASA staff members, traveled to Terrell and Longview, Texas, to get a better understanding of the parts distribution process. The ASA group toured the AutoZone parts distribution center in Terrell to understand the journey that parts undergo from a major distribution center to their final arrival in a shop. In addition, the group visited ABC Parts Warehouse in Longview to address and answer questions on parts with Larry Pyle, brother of Ron Pyle, ASA's president and chief staff executive. The topic of parts will be the focus of the joint Mechanical and Collision Divisions Forum to be held at ASA's Annual Convention in Santa Clara, Calif., May 1-3.

  
  From left to right: Members of the Mechanical Operations Committee who attended the parts field trip were Dave Walter, Kehoe Automotive Center Inc., Carol Stream, Ill.; Bill Moss, AAM, Advantage Certified Auto Group, Manassas, Va.; Terry Wynter, Terry Wynter Auto Service Center, Fort Myers, Fla.; Earl Dohner, AAM, Division Director, E&E's Garage, Brookville, Ohio; Betty Jo Young, AAM, Young's Automotive Center, Houston; and Rick Baker, AAM, Rick Baker's Auto Service Inc., Pleasant Hill, Ohio.

• Denise Caspersen, manager of the Collision Division, attended the Collision Industry Conference in Palm Springs, Calif., in January. Sessions of strong interest included an update from the Insurance Relations Committee on the estimating best practices guide being developed and an information provider's presentation on total losses decreasing within the past few years. In addition to attending the CIC meeting, Caspersen met with other members of the Database Enhancement Gateway Joint Operating Committee.