AARO Members Elect Veteran as President

The Automotive Aftermarket Retailers of Ontario held their association’s 66th Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 27, 2004, where some 80 members turned out to set a new course for AARO. Members elected industry veteran Wally Clayson to the post of president. The venerable Clayson served as president for 14 years from 1986 to 1999. Four new directors were also elected, with a fifth to be added early in 2005. “I don’t really see it that we’re on a new course, it was more a matter of us finding our bearings and getting back ON course,” commented Clayson. “We were listing, and headed in a direction some of us on (the) board didn’t want to go. And it is now obvious that our members didn’t want us going there, either,” he added.

Of the five directors elected, one of them, Vatch Shahinian was returned following a brief, one-year absence from the AARO board — he’d served as a director since 1996. The Markham shop owner (Teknik Auto Service) said he was deeply disturbed when he learned about the controversy concerning the service information access issue involving prior president Dave Peck, executive director Bill Burkimsher and instructor Glenn McNally.

“I spoke with Bill and Glenn, and some of my trusted friends on the board about what was going down, and didn’t like what I was hearing one bit. That’s when I decided I’d better toss my hat back into the ring,” explained Shahinian.Four first-time directors were elected along with Shahinian. They are: Walter Copetti (Walter’s Advanced Auto Repair, Oshawa); Gerrard De Souza (Gerry & Sons Auto Service, Markham); Fred Emslie (Fred Emslie & Sons Inc., Downsview); and Bill Jackson (Sonic Auto, Burlington). Completing the second year of a two-year term are Lynda Collins (C. Armstrong Motors Inc., Ottawa); Rudy Graf (Graf Auto Centre, Toronto); Denis Poirier (J & D Auto-Tech Inc., Ottawa); and Randy Skinner (Skinner’s Automotive Service, Beaverton).