This gentleman’s story with ASA begins in 1993. After a fire destroyed the business he was part of at the time, he saw firsthand what the ASA family was capable of. Members in his local chapter and across the state stepped forward with money, tools, toolboxes, and even a location to work from until they could rebuild.
Seeing the ensuing outpouring of caring and generosity after the fire, he felt he needed to give back, and ended up fast-tracking to becoming president of his local chapter. This was no small task for him, because as I understand it, at the time he was extremely shy.
So he joined Toastmasters to help him overcome his shyness. When you find out who this individual is, I’m sure you’ll agree Toastmasters may have created a monster.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, our friend met Pete Hunt and attended his first ASA Washington retreat, where some of our more famous members took him under their wing. He was never the same after that.
He continued on to several state level positions, and even spent some time with positions at the national level. He’s been instrumental in recent years in helping re-energize member activity in the southern part of the Northwest Auto Care Alliance region – that’s code for Oregon.
Our friend has been very involved with the Tribute to Fallen Soldiers, whose mission is to honor America’s fallen heroes.
Last summer he participated in a 14 day 2,500 mile motorcycle ride to escort the “Fallen Soldiers Memorial Flame” from Eugene, Oregon to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC. As they traveled, the procession made numerous stops along the way, to pay tribute and honor fallen soldiers in what they called “Fallen Soldier Home Visits”. They presented each family with their “Memorial Plaque of Distinguished Service”, to remind them their fallen hero will never be forgotten.
In case you haven’t figured out who our friend is yet, here’s a little video he posted on his shop’s Facebook page a few weeks ago that might help.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to present Bill Filley as our 2016 Northwest Auto Care Alliance member of the year.