Table of Contents

• COMMITTEE REPORTS
  • MEMBERSHIP REPORT
  • SOCIAL REPORT
  • SPEAKER COORDINATOR REPORT
  • TREASURER REPORT
• LEADS
• NOTABLE MENTIONS
• MIGHTY MINUTE
• QUESTION OF THE DAY
• MAIN SPEAKER

Committee Reports

Membership Report
(Click here to go to the Membership page)

Randy Clark brought in a completed membership application (parts I and II) for Steve Chilton.  Steve offers handyman services.  If there are no objections to his application, Steve will be invited to join the group.

Open category printouts were handed out last week.  We still have some available if you need one.  Keep them handy as you go about your weekly business.  It will help you remember which categories we can fill with your daily business contacts.  Greg Stewart went over the A's and B's.  Consider these open categories this week.

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE TEAMS
Dean Synan	Greg Stewart	Paul Kavanaugh	Andrew Jensen
Randy Clark Gus Dekavallas Jana Green Joe Hesch Bill LaLonde David Lathrop Keith Miller Roman Okonowski Stuart Schindler Fred Vandervort	Jean Batt George Booth Robert Busch Dave Crissman Don Ellis Bob Dowle John Gruber Chuck Hultstrand Phyllis Prater Carole Weishaar	Patricia Cox Ralph Cunningham Mark Dreher Brad Evans Dennis Johnson Buck Nance Jim Rieder Lisa Schnaidt Brian Verbraken Wayne Unruh	Althea Bussert Dave Coyne Jim Crosman Chris Curran Sandro Menasci Gary Nelson Dave Spiess Bob Uber Mike Whalen Joe Zingale
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE INCENTIVES
NEW MEMBERS
The Initiation Dues of $150 and the usual quarterly (pro-rated) dues of $150 will apply. A New Member can recoup that Initiation Fee by using other MABE member services. The New Member is given up to 6 months to use other MABE member services to recoup  the $150 Initiation Fee.  They can do this any number of times if they like, with a $25 minimum repayment (6 X 25 = 150) OR a single use of service getting ALL of the $150 initiation fee back at one time. A receipt from the service will be required and given to our Treasurer in order to obtain the repayment.  This will keep it simple for any of our MABE businesses to conduct business in the usual way.
NEW MEMBER SPONSOR REWARD
The MABE member who sponsors a new member will be given a one-time use of a $25 credit, that will be good for 6 months.  It can be used to recoup any  service from another MABE member. A receipt from the MABE business is all that will be required and should be given to our Treasurer in order to obtain the credit.  This is your reward for bringing in a new member.
SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS
[membersonly/archives/applications/submitted_applications.htm]

Social Report
(Click here to go to the Social Event page)

The holiday party is scheduled for January 23rd at the Landmark.  The schedule is as follows:

Cocktails: 6pm - 7pm
Dinner: 7pm - 8pm
Casino: 7:30pm - 10pm
Auction: 10pm

Dance instruction, hosted by Adam and Nicole Dekavallas will also be offered at the party. 

The auctioneer has been chosen...Gary Nelson.  It should be interesting!

Speaker Coordinator Report
(Click here to go to the Speaker Schedule)

• 01/23/03     Don Ellis

• 01/30/03     Lisa Schnaidt

We are looking at bringing in a guest speaker in February to discuss the light rail system.  We will probably also have an open meeting in February.

Treasurer Report

No report.

Leads Report

23-15, 26-37, 26-21, 28-06, 10-06, 10-32, 45-38, 47-45, 47-22, 15-41, 21-28, 13-33, 11-43 (x2), 06-03, 06-19, 38-02, 04-23, 04-21, 04-38, 43-28.

Notable Mentions

Have you done your Buddy Lunch yet?  You have only one week left to get together.  The new Buddy Lunch list will be unveiled next Friday.

Congratulations are in order for Brian Verbraken!  Not only did he find a secretary, he and his wife are also expecting their second child.

Adam Dekavallas passed around a sign-up sheet for MABE group dance lessons.  If you didn't get a chance to sign up, it will go around next week.

Mighty Minute

Gary Nelson was today's Mighty Minute.  As you know, Smokaroma closed doors at their old retail location on November 30th.  Gary expects to move into his new location at Gilbert and Warner in July.  In the interim, they are operating out of their house.  The construction side of business is still in full swing.  Gary is enjoying all the free time he now has.  In fact, he isn't sure if he is happy or not about the new retail store opening up.  But he is optimistic about it's success.  They will have more evening traffic because of all the restaurants in the area.  And rumor has it the Wal-Mart is moving in which will also generate traffic.  If these other businesses bring in the traffic, Gary is confident that he can do his part to make the sell.

Question of the Day

None.
 

Sandro Menasci
Broadway & Gilbert Exxon

Sandro was born in Rome, Italy.  His dad was a mechanic.  In fact, Sandro was almost born in a garage.  Sandro has good memories of Rome.  When he was 11, his family moved to Montreal, Canada.  It was a dramatic change as Sandro didn't speak English or French.  But in only 6 months he adapted.   He went to the university there and worked as a ski instructor.  During his last year at the university he met Arlene.  They married and now have to grown boys, Alex and David.  Both sons work at Intel.  Sandro is very proud of them.

Sandro's business has gone through quite an ordeal since 1998 due to the construction on Gilbert Road.  He started saving money in 1998 to get him through the anticipated slow period during the construction project.  But he had know idea it would take as long as it did (hence, the lawsuit). 

Things are just now starting to turn around.  This is due in part to construction project ending and in part to competing businesses closing (some related to construction delays).  He has picked up more accounts and now has two highly qualified mechanics running the shop.  Even his propane business has improved.  He is doing better than he has in 3 years.

His mechanics are quite knowledgeable in many areas.  They know what they are doing.  Sandro has become very good at telling what tires you need on your make and model of car.  He will need half a day to get the proper tire at the right price.  And he knows how to repair them too, whether you need a patch, plug or a combination of both.

The industry has changed since the Firestone incident.  Dealers are still giving customers credits but they are only being reimbursed about 40% of the time by the manufacturer's.  They are getting very strict. 

Some words of wisdom from someone who knows...When the city says a road construction project will last only so many months, that timeframe is not all-inclusive.  They don't include the time for utilities to do their work.  They claim that this is because they don't have control over this.  Sandro argues that they do.  They know very well that there is another 4-6 months of extra work based on past experience.  And they have no filing system for plans and this causes most of the problem. 

As for Sandro's lawsuit over construction...In the case of the City vs. the contractor, the judge ruled that the contractor was responsible for paying Sandro.  Sandro disagrees with this ruling.  He feels that the contractor received faulty plans from the City which caused the delays.  The City hired the contractor and should have supervised the work.  They should be liable.  The contractor will most likely appeal.  It is now a free-for-all. 

They are right when they say you can't fight City Hall...at least not on a level playing field.  You must change the rules.  Sandro got his association involved and the restaurant and car dealership associations are going to back them.  They also have a lobbyist.  You will hear their side on talk radio and in the newspapers.  Sandro is not going to give up!