The View From My Office with Kat Monteiro

The View From My Offi ce

With Kat Monteiro

The View From My Offi ce for this edi on of the Mopar Masters Guild Magazine is quite spectacular!

Rick and I have been at our house in Albion on the Mendocino Coast since Thanksgiving. We will sadly depart here and go back to Southern California a er Christmas. It has been so nice to have the opportunity to spend more than a week here. Re rement life is good. We have enjoyed sunny days with clear blue skies and crisp cool temperatures. We’re fi nally ge ng a chance to wear jackets and sweatshirts! Waking up every morning to see the ocean is such a blessing and just really soothes the soul. We have had some stormy rainy days, which I also loved because I do love the rain and we just don’t get this kind of rain at home. We have gone on some nice walks, met some more local people, and just enjoyed the quiet way of life here. Rick is s ll working part me remotely so he s lls gets on his laptop every day, but it’s not too hard to work when you are at a place like this! He is thankful to s ll be working and it is defi nitely helping with our transi on into re rement. And he really does enjoy what he is doing. It’s good for him to have something to do every day.

Rick has played some golf, which always makes him happy! One day I rode along with him and on the back 9 we hooked up with another player who just so happened to be the former Fort Bragg Mayor! I think he served 3 terms and now he is re red but s ll sits on the City Council. The small world that it is, we fi nd out he is from Solana Beach which is in San Diego and close to where we live. He went to the Bay Area for work, ended up here for a smaller job and decided to stay. He was a play-by-play radio announcer for high school football and he announced games for my high school in Lake County and we actually knew some of the same people!! And did I men on he is a big Mopar fan! He drives a gold 1968 Plymouth Satellite! So of course he le with a new sleeve of Mopar golf balls! So random!

Continued on Page 19

Continued from Page 18 One of our highlights was the day when Rick walked in the back door with a paper sack fi lled with warm, freshly baked sourdough bread! Our neighbors own a restaurant here in Albion called The Ledford House and they bake their own bread for the restaurant in a big pizza style oven heated with burning wood logs they have in their backyard. The neighborhood never smells be er than on bread baking day!! Tony always graces me with a loaf when we are here. I feel so honored! If any of you are ever in this part of the country please make The Ledford house a dinner stop on your i nerary.

Well it is that me of the year when the buzz is all about NADA! This is the fi rst year we are not making plans to go. (insert sad face here). It feels really strange not to be cha ng with the other women about what kind of adventures we should go on. I will truly miss a ending. I look forward to seeing pictures and hearing about all the fun y’all have. And for NADA to be back in Dallas,Texas! My fi rst NADA was Dallas, it was the last year they had it there. That was in 1992, 30 years ago! So a er a ending every show for 30 years it is hard to believe we are not going! The great thing about the Mopar Masters Guild is that everyone who has been involved with the group is always welcomed back, so I know that we will once again plan on joining in on the fun in the future.

On the topic of NADA I wanted to throw out some trivia just in case there is anyone out there that does not know what NADA is all about.

NADA stands for Na onal Automobile Dealers Associa on. NADA was founded in 1917. It was composed of 30 dealers who went to Washington to oppose a luxury tax on vehicles, and they were successful! They have over 16,000 members and con nue to work on their behalf with all branches of government, car and truck manufacturers, the media and the public.The fi rst NADA conven on was in Chicago in 1918 and has hosted an annual conven on for more than 40 years.

Now see if this doesn’t bring back memories of COVID - in 1943 the conven on was canceled because of a temporary ban on gatherings of 50 or more people! NADA was not able to hold the next conven on un l 1947 when they held it in Atlan c City, New Jersey where they had 6,500 a endees who represented 32,000 member dealers. They are expec ng 25,000 people at the Dallas show.

In 1933 NADA published its fi rst Offi cial Used Car Buying Guide. They have since sold this to JD Powers.

What is a NADA show you might ask? The NADA Show off ers a full program of innova ve products, emerging trends and networking opportuni es for all areas of your dealership.

NADA is the largest and most pres gious automo ve industry event of the year. They feature prominent keynote speakers, educa onal workshops, dealer/manufacturer franchise mee ngs, and more. Each show features hundreds of exhibitors off ering cu ng-edge products and services for every department in your dealership. Over 600,000 square feet of exhibits and 500 plus exhibitors. (and for us ladies that go way back - lots of trinkets and trash to be collected and hauled back home in the extra suitcase we brought along. Or in Paul Allred’s case, extra boxes - no ce the ‘s’ on the end of box - packed up and sent home by UPS!)

Sadly the trinket department has been downsized, now it is mostly pens, note pads, candy, stuff like that. But boy did we ever collect some fun stuff ! So there you go! I hope you learned something new!

I hope all of you have a great me in Dallas at the NADA Conven on! I will miss you!

Continued on Page 20

Continued from Page 19

On a sad note I would like to men on the passing of John DePauw. John was a long me employee at Jack Powell CDJR. He was one of our premiere mechanics. He started out working for Jack Powell Sr. at the age of 19 in 1969. He spent his whole career with the Powell family. When he gave up the full me mechanic jobs he served as the shop foreman for the service department. I believe it was 2018 he decided to work 3 days a week and try part me, but there were days he was supposed to be off but he came in anyway! At this point he was almost 70 years old. He just couldn’t stay away. The thing that fi nally forced him to re re was COVID in 2020. He was in his 70s when COVID hit and it was his best interest to stay home. The good thing was now he fi nally had me to fi nish his project car - a 1968 Dodge Dart GTX. Cars and being a family man were his passion. For me he was always a bright spot in the world at Jack Powell. He always had a smile and greeted me happily. We had some great conversa ons. And he really knew his cars. I remember having trouble with my Pacifi ca and none of the mechanics working on it could seem to fi gure out this noise. So one day I drove up and I saw John in the service drive and I called him over to my car and told him there was this noise, so he hopped in the car and said let’s take a ride. We were not even out of the parking lot when he said ok turn around I know what it is! He was amazing! Unfortunately his health started to decline and his lungs gave out on him. He was just 73 years old. He will be missed by so many people and his family.

When someone passes we always have this feeling of sadness and loss but more than anything I think it reminds us to let the people in our lives know we love them, and to give hugs and kisses more o en. So for everyone who is reading this please take a moment and go hug a loved one or a friend and make that call to someone who lives afar and let them know you are thinking of them.

I want to wish all of my faithful readers and their families a very Merry Christmas and I hope that the New Year brings happiness and good fortune. Enjoy this holiday season. A er all, it’s the most magical me of the year.

Kat