The Chairman's Corner

By John Lance
February 2018

January was a busy month all around. The first part of the month my wife and I traveled to Lemoore, Calif. to participate in the Central Valley Chapter fundraiser at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Resort. This event was well attended with some of our industry leaders there and people from all over the state.  Chapter President Mia Longoria, Jeanette Homan and her entire team at Lambert Enterprise did an outstanding job putting this event together.

Five days later, Steve and I hit the road again and headed north to Modesto for the Mid Valley Chapter meeting. I have never seen downtown Modesto, and I was quite impressed on how unique it is. Mid Valley Chapter President and former CMSA Chairman Jay Casey put together a great meeting.  We visited with the Casey family at their company in Ceres the next morning. Thank you to Jim and his wife, Kathy, and former Chairman Jay Casey (He loves recognition!) for showing us around their business. Jim has been around, and I always enjoy speaking with people in this industry that go back further than I do. The way our industry was many years ago to what it is today with all our state of the art equipment and technology is amazing to me. We have come along way.

Next stop was the Monterey Chapter where we met up with Gary Plummer and Vice Chairman Alan Freese at their company Miller Moving & Storage in Salinas, Calif. Gary is another gentleman that is great to speak with as he has a ton of knowledge in our industry. Chapter President Pete Poulos put on a great chapter meeting. This was another chapter meeting that was well attended, and I was able to meet some movers that I had not met before. Thank you, Pete, Gary and Alan, for an outstanding evening and your hospitality.

The next morning, Steve and I headed south to visit with the Central Coast Chapter. We enjoyed dinner with Mark, his wife (and Boss), Nanci, and Central Coast Chapter President Megan Andersen. Megan is also serving on the CMSA Board of Directors and will also be our photographer at our convention. Our association is fortunate to have young energetic members like Megan. Thank you, Megan for all you do.

Last week, my Chapter, the Ventura/Santa Barbara Chapter, held its meeting. This meeting was well attended. We welcomed our new chapter president Cristena Correus from Hazelwood Allied. Thank You Cristena for your commitment to the CMSA.   

I want to thank everybody for your support of my Chairman’s Choice Charity, MDA Walk. Together we raised $9,190.00 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in all. [The amount includes $5,000 from CMSA’s Chairman’s Choice Charity.] What an outstanding accomplishment and something we as an industry should be very proud of.  

Recently, I was thinking back about what has meant the most to me as I have traveled and visited different chapters around our state. Engaging in discussions and exchanging ideas with others in our association is what comes to mind first and foremost. I was involved in a best practice group several years ago that was interesting and even though it wasn’t all for me, I did take some ideas away with me. This has been a best practice tour for me these last several months. Something I will never forget.

THE MOST WASTED OF ALL DAYS IS ONE WITHOUT LAUGHTER!

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

February 2018 - CMSA Communicator