The Chairman's Corner

By John Lance
December 2017

November was a busy month. The CMSA Board of Directors had its annual fall board meeting at the Paradise Point Spa & Resort in San Diego. We have a lot going on with our 100th year convention coming up as well as our transition to the Department of Consumer affairs coming up July 1st of next year. I encourage all of you to attend our convention as we have a lot of exciting things going on that you don’t want to miss.

The week after our board meeting, I headed out with Steve to attend chapter meetings and visit member companies. We started out at the Twin County Chapter meeting with former Chairman PJ Welch of Cardinal Van & Storage heading up this well-attended meeting. Thank you, PJ, and all in attendance for your warm welcome and hospitality.

The next day, we were in San Diego where we visited several companies. First was Dewitt Companies where Jeff Nadeau and former chairman Rick Hosea welcomed us and gave us a tour of their facility.

Next was Atlas Transfer to meet with Tom Oakley and tour his operation. Now I have to tell you, I was completely taken back as he walked us around and showed us his place. I have been to many moving companies in all my years, but Tom, yours is second to none. Tom’s truck collection alone is truly a pleasure to see. You can tell that Tom runs a class-act company as it shows everywhere as you walk through it. Thank you, Tom, for your hospitality. It was greatly appreciated.

Next, we visited former chairman Tim McCarthy at McCarthy Transfer & Storage. Tim gave us the tour and it was interesting to see what he and his son, Thomas, are doing in planning for their succession. This is not an easy thing to do, and the time and amount of planning seems endless. Thank you, Tim, for your hospitality and as always, it was great to see you. That evening Steve and I attended the San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter meeting headed up by Matthew Grimes of Covan World Wide Moving. This, as I expected, was a huge turn out! Great meeting and it was a pleasure visiting with everybody.

The next day, we attended the Orange County/Beach Cities chapter meeting headed up by Shiree Dolman of California Relocation Services. This was also a well-attended meeting, and Shiree did an outstanding job.

The following week, Steve and I headed north once again to visit the Central Valley chapter. Mia Longoria of Lambert Transfer & Storage headed up this meeting and what an outstanding job she did. The meeting was held at the Tachi Palace and Casino in Lemoore Calif., where they had a private meeting room set up for us. Thank you, Mia, for your commitment as chapter president and all you do for this chapter. Steve and I visited Jeanette Homan at Lambert Transfer & Storage the next morning before heading back south. Jeanette runs an outstanding operation and takes great pride in it. Jeanette is Chairman of our Military Affairs Committee and brings so much knowledge to our association as well as our industry in all she does. Thank you, Jeanette, for taking the time to visit with us.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It’s a time to relax and enjoy family and friends and think about all we are thankful for. I want to share one last thing with you. I read a comment a couple of weeks ago that stated, “Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends to get together and stare at their cell phones.” I have to tell you that I have seen this more and more in the last few years.  The technology we have in having these devices has interfered in most of our lives as we seem to forget how to just share good conversation with each other. You can walk into any restaurant and see a full table or just a couple sitting there staring at their phones. I am guilty of this myself. I think we need to take a step back and remember when we didn’t have cell phones. We actually had good conversation with each other or played games at family functions.    Texting is another problem for some. It is easier to just send a text rather than pick up the phone and call one another. I think it makes us lazy at times. There is a time and place for it, but have you ever had someone that is in the same room or house with you text you?! I am sure most of us have, and that’s what I mean by lazy. My father does not know how to text and does not want any part of it. He still prefers a good old-fashioned phone call or a letter that you actually had to put some effort into. When my father and I get on the phone, it usually is a two hour or better phone call to catch up. If we texted back and forth, we would not share that time together with good conversation.

Anyway, that is my lesson for the month. From my family to yours, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

COURAGE IS BEING SCARED TO DEATH, BUT SADDLING UP ANYWAY.

Now go take on the day, and I will see you next month.

December 2017 - CMSA Communicator