Herman Buckingham had a speedy recovery after surgery and returned full time in late January. Welcome back, Herman!

John Baxter, Sales Manager for Central Small Car Salvage was in the 14th annual Polar Bear Plunge held yearly at the Sandy Point State Park on January 30 where they restricted the plunge to just one time this year due to the frigid temperatures. You’re way braver than a lot of us John!

Joe Davis, our New Parts delivery driver unfortunately had a stroke a few weeks back but is now in rehab and doing well. Hurry back Joe!

If you call Brandywine Two you might hear an old familiar voice – it’s Robbie Baden, former Sales Manager of Foreign Car Parts, who returned to Brandywine after a brief hiatus. We’re glad you’re back Robbie.

Joe Mike Tippett has moved, and you can now find him at Brandywine Auto Parts.

Randy Finch, salesman in Truck Parts has left to return to school. We’ll miss you Randy!

Tim Crittenden, Mechanic at Bowie Truck & Van had surgery at the end of January. We hear he is doing quite well and we hope to see him back at Bowie soon!

Congratulations to our own Steve Hollis, Assistant Controller in our Accounting Department for winning $5,000 playing Keno. You did say you’re going to share with all of us, right Steve?????

Welcome aboard to our January new hires:

Rickey Mc Donald Jr. Brandywine Auto Parts and Brandywine Truck Parts Parts Puller
Michael Tracey, Delivery Driver in New Parts
Eric Harris, Delivery Driver, BAP
Francis Robinson, Inventory Tech for Compact Auto Parts

News from our Accounting Department, Diane Houser: Diane’s son Nick who is a senior at La Plata High School has been accepted to Valley Forge Military College on a foundation scholarship from the United States Naval Academy and also has an academic acceptance to The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. He also obtained a Congressional Nomination from Steney Hoyer recommending him to the US Merchant Marine Academy in New York State. He is still in the process of making a decision so once Nick makes his decision we’ll be sure to let everyone know! Either way this is quite an accomplishment and we’d like to say congratulations to Diane and her family, you must all be so proud!

Randy Whitley, manager for Southern Maryland Used Auto Parts was featured in the local newspaper, the County Times in an article about the recycling business in the January 28th edition, reprinted can be downloaded here

Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to Lucas and Brian White who both lost their Mom in a tragic house fire at the beginning of February. Their Mom was living with Brian White and Brian’s home was completely destroyed. We have sent flyers out requesting donations be sent to Carol Waites in Payroll so anyone wishing to donate please send whatever you can afford to try to get Brian back on his feet.

Congratulations to Sandra Buck who works at Brandywine Truck and Equipment on the birth of her new baby daughter. This is Sandra’s first daughter and second child. Congratulations again, Sandra!

I am titling this article “THUMB-THING’S WRONG” – A little corny at best but it’s important to emphasize not only your all-over safety but the safety of your fingers and thumbs while using your tools of the trade. In February alone we’ve had two finger/thumb injuries where both were fractured and required immobilization in soft casts. One fracture occurred while trying to tighten the wheel stabilizer on a tire machine – if you don’t get it twisted tight up against the tire the tire has a tendency to wobble so the employee was using the pry-bar belonging to the tire machine to ram the stabilizer tight – next thing you know the hands slip and the left hand comes crashing down on the tire machine with brute force breaking the left ring finger. The second injury involved a hammer and, you guessed it, he missed his mark! The mechanic was trying to pry a part from a vehicle by hammering it – an everyday occurrence, but when you get sidetracked for just one second or a split-second distraction occurs, these kinds of things will and do happen. Just a friendly reminder to keep your focus all day, every day and hopefully these kinds of injuries can be avoided. Have a safe day!