More information regarding the seminar will be posted within the next few days.

DSAC Member Todd Southwell of MasterDrive of Orange County recently forwarded a very interesting article that I’d like to share with all of you.

Link to Autoweek Article Here

For more information on the scandal please visit this link.

The member school who participated were:

• Aces Driving School
• Dollar Driving School
• Drive Happy Driving School
• Teen Driving Academy

Our team spent the day meeting and greeting with the public, passing out handbooks, and answering lots of questions. We were very happy to be able to participate in this event and help raise awareness for organ and tissue donation. An extra special thank you to all of our member schools who each contributed a scholarship for Driver Education / Driver Training. These scholarships were raffled during the event with the proceeds going to the Donate Life organiziation.

Here is a picture of our official Team DSAC Walker’s crossing the finish line!

Of course you already know about this seminar because you have signed up for the DSAC e-mail list! Right?

If you are still not on the e-mail list don’t forget to sign-up for that too by clicking here! Don’t worry the e-mail list is free and we’ll send you timely updates on all the DSAC and driving school industry news.

On behalf of the DSAC Board of Directors I’d like to extend our sincere thanks for your participation and we are all looking forward to seeing you in person soon!

The Driving School Association Board of Directors would like to extend our thanks to all of the Los Angeles seminar attendees. It was truly a pleasure hosting the event for you, and we hope that you enjoyed attending. Seminar Chair Amber Mayes did a great job of organizing and orchestrating the entire event.

We’d like to specially recognized our fantastic partner organization, Donate Life who not only presented a very educational session about organ donation, but sponsored the lunch for all those in attendance. Thank you Donate Life.

Thank to our excellent guest speakers who stepped up to speak on a range of educational topics:

• Robert Stahl, DSAC President & Owner of Dollar Driving School
• Amber Mayes, DSAC Seminar Chair & Co-Owner of Drive Happy
• Gabe Roberson, DSAC Legislative Advocate
• Kathleen Hostert, Donate Life
• Ken Seguine, Operator of La Mesa Driving School
• Paul Whitehead, Chrysler Automotive
• Shelley Moehn-Jackson, Laguna Pacific Insurance
• Johnny Bhullar, CalTrans
• Officer Leland Tang, California Highway Patrol
• Josh Mayes, DSAC Secretary & Co-Owner of Drive Happy

We’d also like to extend our thanks for the vendors that were on site to present their range of excellent products available to the industry. Thank you to:

• Chrysler Automotive
• StudentDrivingSchoolAids.com
• Travel With Security

The DSAC will be hosting another Continuing Education Seminar on May 5, 2012 in the Pleasanton area. Details and sign-up forms will be made available in the coming weeks.

For those who may not know who George R. Hensel was and what he contributed to the industry, here are some highlights of his history and accomplishments. George was born March 20th, 1924 in Los Angeles California, raised in East LA and was a World War II Veteran serving from 1942-50 with the US Merchant Marine. He officially retired in 2006 at the age of 82 in declining health but made every effort to remain vital and engaged through his last years. His last gift to us was his incredible biography of his life titled "MY LIFE" a great and inspiring read about one man's journey through his life. The story is truly interesting and fascinating, to say the least.

George was married three times Dorothy, Catherine and finally Bernadette. he had six children and had 20 grandchildren and 30 great grand children and 10 great great grand children. He was educated in East Los Angeles and got a BA degree from Woodbury University in Business Administration. He went on to do special courses at USC in Public Administration and ended with an Honorary doctorate in Business Administration from Woodbury. His business preparation would serve him well once he entered the driving school industry. He founded California Driving School, which grew to become one of the largest and greatest driving schools in the world. He owned and operated it from 1953-2007. He was President also of the California Safety Center and Hensel Investments.

Through the years he held other director positions with Banks, Publishing companies and travel services, but that was not enough for George, he also had a very active public service and community involvement career. The saying give a busy man something to do and he will find the time, clearly applied to George, in no small way. He was directly involved with the establishment and co founding of both what became the California Driving School Association and also the Driving School Association of Americas, serving as President and also other positions over many years of service and was a constant power and presence in both for most of his life, participating generously with his time, wealth and wealth of knowledge for over four decades.

His community and public service efforts locally and throughout the nation were truly extensive. He served on the boards of Hospitals, Universities public agencies, Rotary club and Toastmasters. He was the recipient of awards and Honors by government and private industry from LA to London to Japan and almost every place in between.

So in the end, what is the measure of a man, it is not what he accumulates, but what he does with it and gives back to his community and humanity. George will be remembered for having contributed in his way to improving more than just traffic safety. In his own words and I quote " I got thinking, I hear people say, we just finished an election, "What's one vote? One vote doesn't count. What's a ten dollar donation? It doesn't count" But you know, one vote does count, And you know a ten-dollar donation cumulatively counts. And you know, one person, one person cumulatively can make a big difference, And you're that one person! Yes George you are that one person, you did make a difference, congratulations on a life of accomplishments.

Sincerely,

Robert Stahl, President DSAC

Update: Monday January 16, 2012:
DSAC President Robert Stahl is currently attending the funeral service of George Hensel. His photographs of the service are below:

Don’t forget the that the DSAC Continuing Education Seminar in Los Angeles is coming up on Sunday February, 26, 2012. Registration forms will be available on www.dsac.com within the next two weeks.

First of all I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our members, and all those serving in our industry the very best for the Holidays, no matter which occasion you may celebrate, I hope you have safe and Happy Holidays and a great New Year.

Just an update as to what DSAC is doing for the industry and our members. We have finally sealed a deal with Chrysler Motor Company for next year. We are looking to build a strong and beneficial relationship with our new sponsor, that will serve them, the public, and also us.

Chrysler is coming out with a new Dodge Dart in the class of the Focus, and other cars that size. It is based on Fiat/Alfa Romeo/Dodge technology and is supposed to get in the range of 40 miles per gallon on the highway. It looks really sharp (www.dodge.com/dart) and we are working on special pricing for DSAC members and non members, to be announced. It is our hope that next year when they come out in April/May that our members and non members take a look at it and what it has to offer. I myself am ordering some.

We are also working on a future sponsorship with Verizon Wireless to be announced, and also some support from our friends at Donate Life. All this valued support will help us with our legislative objectives as we go into launching our next effort.

We are at present putting together legislation and finding a legislative sponsor for a law to change GDL to go to age 21. It is our hope that by doing this we will be able to reduce the growing statistics of 18-20 year olds killing and maiming themselves and others at present.

In closing I would like to congratulate all who have survived these very trying times encountered by everyone. It has not been easy. I hear from everyone, and all are going through tough times, some more than others but we are all looking forward to better times. Those times for what ever it may be worth are not far off.

I believe we have a good year of somewhat better time ahead but not great, as every election year the country does not know which way it is going. Once that is all over things should start getting better at least that is what I expect. I hope more of you will consider joining DSAC and supporting our efforts and not sit on the side lines for things to happen. For those who are our members thank you once again and may all have a safe and prosperous New Year to come.

Sincerely,

DSAC President, Robert Jay Stahl
December 9, 2011