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)

We had two new businesses join our group today.  Stephan Chilton of Chilton Services, Inc. has officially joined as well as Phil Passante of Auto Glass Excellence.  We learned about Stephan's business last week.   Phil has been in the glass business for over 15 years.  Three years ago he began his own company.  They now have 3 locations across the Valley.  Phil promises that you will be satisfied with their work.  We look forward to learning more about their businesses in the near future.

Bob Dowle has officially resigned from MABE but will continue on as an honorary member.

Gus Dekavallas mentioned that a credit union moved in to the building that Roman Okonowski used to manage.  They are interested in joining our group.

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 tonight 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. 

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

• 01/30/03     Lisa Schnaidt
• 02/06/03     Brian Verbraken
• 02/13/03     Dave Spiess
• 02/20/03     Bob Busch

Treasurer Report

There are still some outstanding dues that need to be paid.

Leads Report

20-43, 20-10, 36-47, 36-40, 12-13, 12-06, 12-02, 28-22, 28-06, 28-32, 07-15, 45-13, 30-47, 15-27, 21-19, 13-35, 11-20, 22-03, 22-13, 03-06, 03-26, 04-32, 31-40, 31-28, 43-28, 40-32, 40-19, 25-13, 25-35, 19-33.

Notable Mentions

The board has discussed doing something like a monthly Friday night fish fry for members as means to get together and have more business discussions.  We could have it at the Dobson Ranch or another place.  It is just an idea.  Comments or suggestions are welcome.

The new Buddy Lunch list is now available!

Sandro Menasci forgot to mention something during his speech last week...If it wasn't for MABE, he wouldn't be in business today.

Mighty Minute

None.

Question of the Day

None.
 

Don Ellis
Landmark Restaurant

Don Ellis was born in 1942 on Long Island, New York.  His dad was in the service so he moved around some.  He graduated from high school in Connecticut and went back to Long Island to attend college.

Don was drafted by the marines and spent time in Vietnam.  Once they located his papers, they determined that he was a combat engineer.  He built bridges by day and they blew them up at night.  It was a very structured war.

Don had been in business for himself throughout his life.  He had a paper route as a child.  He painted during college.  So after graduating college he wanted to continue the trend.  He and a partner wanted to open a bar but it was too competitive in New York.  They found a place in New Hampshire.  Unfortunately, in New Hampshire, you could only have 40% of a location be a bar.  The other 60% had to serve food.   Don had another friend in the restaurant business that gave him the run down on owning a restaurant.   Soon they open their doors and business was great. 

One day in 1971 a teacher came in to apply for summer work as a waitress.  Her name was Candy.  In 1973 they married.  They now have 2 grown children.

Don and Candy considered buying an established restaurant on the water in Maine.  Unfortunately, during the winter months, there was no town.  They had visited Don's father here in Arizona several times.  They realized that they would rather live here than deal with the extreme cold.  They made the move in 1977.

When they first moved here, Don worked at the Sizzler Steakhouse.  In 1981 he bought the Landmark Restaurant.  It was a struggle.  Don cooked and Candy handled the front.  There were times when they had as few as eight customers.  But business has grown every year since.

His kids have also been involved in the business.  His son used to make mud pies in the back of the building.  He didn't realize that he would be manager someday.  Their daughter Lauren only recently left to begin student teaching.  She comes back in the summertime to help out.

Don was going to sell and retire but the SBA took too long and didn't come through for his buyer.  The stock market was also doing poorly and Don was concerned about having enough left to retire on.  He is glad that things didn't work out.  Instead, he took the advice of a friend and simply took a step back and let others run the day-to-day business.

You may have noticed two interesting collections in the restaurant.  The old Mesa photos and the clock collection.  The photos came about when they were looking for an old picture of the Landmark.  They didn't find one but were given permission to take copies of the other pictures.  Don originally had a display of 6 clocks.  A collector with no room to store his own, asked Don if he would put his clocks on display.  Later, Don purchase the collection from this man.  Don used to sell the clocks but then he had to go out and replace them so he stopped.

The Landmark is famous for it's salad bar.  It is an idea that came from Don's mentor back east.  Dealing with the perishables is a constant battle but one that Don has a handle on.  After many years in the restaurant, you get a feel for how much to order and when.  They also have very cold refrigerators and freezers.  They can safely keep perishables for up to 4 days.

Finding good help can also be a struggle.  One fellow business owner commented to Don that it was getting easier to hire.  Don's reply..."Yes, the bottom of the barrel has gotten bigger."  His business is seasonal so he does have to hire new people all the time.  But, like dealing perishable, once you've been doing it a while you get a feel for it.