January 2002 - Rental Rag

The time has come for my term as President of the New Jersey ARA to end. As I reflect back on the past two years I am proud of the work that we have accomplished and the quality of the meetings we have held. We met two of my goals that I had set: to increase attendance at our meetings and to make the organization better than it was in the beginning.

We accomplished these things because it was a team effort. I want to thank the members of the Board of Directors for all of their help. Tom Lade, Treasurer, kept the books in order and made sure we spent our money wisely. Megan Jones, Secretary, took notes at our meetings so we had a record of all the proceedings. Steve Kohn, National Liaison, kept us apprised of the goings on in Moline. Joe Mihalko, Legislative Chair kept tabs on Washington, David Hinck, Safety Chair, kept us all safe. Roy Peragallo, Associate Liaison, gave the Associate Members a voice, John Futcher, Social Chair coordinated our social events. Howard Heller, Education Chair, planned our programs and meeting topics, and last but certainly not least, Carl Sparacio, Administrator and designated association follow-upper. Without Carl the meeting notices, The Rental Rag, assorted faxes, phone calls, etc. would get done.

Thank you to all that hosted meetings – Miller’s Rentals, All County Rentals, Do-It-Yourself, Tri-State Rentals, Modern Equipment, Rentals Unlimited, All Star Rentals, Taylor Rental – Berkeley Heights, Main Attractions, Zoubek Equipment.

Thank you to the Associate Members, your support of our organization is greatly appreciated. Another Vendors Night is in the planning stages so be on the lookout for a notice in the next few months.

Thank you to the members for your trust and confidence to elect me as President, and thank you for attending our meetings. If you haven’t attended one in a while, or never attended one, you should make the effort to do so. It will be well worth it.

Good luck to the new Board of Directors. Howard Heller will do a great job running the organization and inspiring us to new heights. Wishing everyone a healthy, happy, holiday season and a successful new year.

I’m looking forward to seeing you in 2002.

Best Regards,

Brian Higgins

With the new year upon us, I want to solicit your help, thoughts, and ideas to put together some new, meaningful programs for the association membership - that’s you! Please feel free to consct me regarding ideas that you wish to share; or contact any of our board Members.

I so far have been fortunate in getting some new volunteers to help: we always need more of you. The more help that we have, the easier is everyone’s job and the better will be the results.

I had the good fortune to attend the ARA Leadership Conference during the recent Eastern Conference in Nashville. ARA is putting together some creative programs which I hope we can take advantage of. They talked about Job Fairs, When Site usage, Insurance changes, Credit Check Programs, and Educational Seminars (using "Blue Chip" rental experts).

2002 will be an exciting years! There are many indicators saying that an economic recovery is pending - let us all make up our minds that we will be part of it! I hope that many of you will join the bus trip to Atlantic City - the value is not only the good time, but also the opportunity to network and pick the brains of other people in our industry.

MAKE YOUR ARRANGEMENTS NOW!

I’d like to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to serve as President of the ARA New Jersey for this coming term and remind you that I will welcome your comments and suggestions.

Thank you .................................... Howard Heller

The meeting was held at Zoubec Associates Division of A.H Harris & Sons.

The meeting was called to order at 8:10 PM. President Brian Higgins thanked everone for coming

Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting were waived. The election of officers was held with the following results:

President - Howard Heller

Vice President - Megan Jones

Treasurer - Tom Lade

Secretary - Judy Boelhouwer

President-elect, Howard Heller addressed the meeting and asked for support from the membership.

Brian Higgins gave details on the up-coming bus trip to Atlantic City.

John Zoubek, AED President, was introduced as the main speaker of the evening. He noted that his company was started in 1959 and did 55% Rentals and Eqiupment Sales and 45% Sales of Contractor’s Supplies. 70% of his business was made up of Concrete Contractors.

He said that AED Members believe we are in a recession although rentals should stay well. He recommended each store find a niche and get close to their customers to know what they want. He sees more consolidation especially by manufacturers of equipment.

Guest, Chris Wehrman, Executive Director of the ARA said that the ARA & the AED are looking for a strategic relationship and thanked us for being an active state association

Steve Kohn looked ahead to the seminar he will head in New Orleans on the need for e-commerce plans either simple or complex and advised on some of the long range plans of the ARA.

Nancy Marshall, Region II Director was also in attendance. She said that the seminars held at city conferences were very good and recommended all members sign up for the New Orleans National Conference.

Brian Higgins thanks our guests and adjourned a most informative meeting.

Secretary Stand-in

Tom Lade

Yes, sir, your ARA-NJ is getting a rental group together for an AC trip

(It’s open to your employees, family & friends, too)

The cost: just $10.00 per person (an amount likely to be a casino perk)

The date is January 20, 2002

The trip runs 8 AM until 8 PM from start to finish

Three stops along the route are planned so no one will have far to travel.

What we do need in order to hire the bus and negotiate with a casino,

is the number of attendees

The bus we’re looking at holds 55 people

Order early to reserve your space

Give Carl a call at: 201-327-2495

Our host for this meeting is John Futcher, Jr.
Doors open at 7 PM for food & socializing

Our program is an opportunity for us to learn: What we Need to Know About Flooring Equipment for Successful Rentals

RENT-A-ROLL

(of toilet tissue)

Remember the admonition, "Don’t be a bulb snatcher"? It may have been before your time but the reference was to the practice of replacing a burned out light bulb with a bulb filched from another fixture. A TV ad showed steam coming out of a Dad’s ears after he settles into his favorite chair and discovers there is no bulb in his reading lamp because it had been "snatched" to replace a burned out bulb elsewhere.

The ad wasn’t meant to teach people to be considerate; its purpose was to sell light bulbs. It worked at our house; we always have a fresh bulb available (even though sometimes reading by a yellow bug light isn’t always ideal).

It’s not as bad as it used to be at our house anymore. We’ve made rules. The person who takes the last of anything must replace it so it’s there for the next person when needed. There were times you had to struggle to reach the facial tissue box while seated on the throne in the john because someone left just one lonely piece of toilet paper on the roll. The thinking there is, as long as there is something left, you don't have to install a new roll. At times you got hit with a double whammy and struggle to reach the tissue box while trying to maintain some semblance of dignity only to discover that that’s empty, too (it's then you learn how fleeting dignity can be).

This is not necessarily just an at home problem. When I'm out I’m a magnet for, "sorry, that’s the last one," or "we just ran out," or "I can’t take you at this register, it’s closed," or "we’re out of regular – I’ll put in hi-test, it’s only 50 cents a gallon more."

This past spring I went to a mega-store to buy a lawn sprinkler because it was on sale for $5 less than I paid the week before at the same store. I liked the sprinkler and thought it would be cool to have one for the front yard and one for the back yard.

The sale was just one day old but they were out of my sprinkler by the time I got back. They had lots of other sprinklers but not the one I wanted, or so I thought until I spotted one, box-less, tangled in a mess of other sprinklers. I wrestled it free then went to find someone with a tie or jacket and a badge to ask if I could buy the "display" model. I found the manager and he agreed to let me buy it.

Did you ever try to check out of a store with an item that doedn’t have a bar code on it? Believe me, Job in the Bible had it easier.

I have a knack, too, for choosing cashiers whose registers run out of tape. When it’s finally my turn at the super market check-out they usually have to replace the tape in the register. Some day I’m going to get a checker who knows how to do it without calling for assistance.

True story. I was in line at a bank waiting for my turn with the teller. I had chosen the shortest line, of course, figuring it would be quickest (this doesn't always work, I've been behind only one guy a couple a times who, it turned out, was there to cash payroll checks for his friends - the entire work force of General Motors). This time the line proceeded quickly and, as I stepped up to the counter, the teller looked me in the eye and, without saying a word, slammed down a sign that said, "Next Teller, Please," then she turned on her heels and left. I turned around to express outrage to the folks waiting behind me and discovered that I was the only person in my line!

It had to be my deodorant.

On the bright side, things are good at our house. Well, at least I'll say they’re not as bad as it used to be, not because I’m more considerate than I used to be. I confess, I once was, to use the generic term, a "bulb snatcher." But since all our little birds have flown the nest, there's not many left to blame with just me and the Mrs. rattling around. Blaming Mrs. S. would be foolhardy if a bulb has been snatched – you might even say suicidal. She just doesn't do that sort of thing.

But, as they say, nobody is perfect and sometimes I worry about her. With just the two of us in our small little hovel, she’ll adamantly say something like, "Who left those dirty socks on the floor?"

"Say, what?" I say, and then suggest, "Maybe it was the fellow next door – I think I just saw him run through here naked - he wasn’t wearing socks."

Then I duck.

May all of your New Years’ be better than the last.

Carl Sparacio

ARA of NJ
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Revised: 03/05/2002