Celebrating Membership Milestones

(Left to right) Tom Lubas, Don Rittenhouse, and George Argueta

Donald Rittenhouse  
East Meadow, NY

The New York-InterCounty Chapter recognizes Donald Rittenhouse as one of the lions of NAFA’s chapter structure, and he maintains his ties to it to this day.

Don was Fleet Manager for Home Insurance Co. and joined NAFA in 1975. "When I took over fleet, my boss told me to make changes...and I did," Don said. "They were buying cars on a bid system, and one of my first bids was with a Chrysler- Plymouth Dealer in Queens Village, New York. I approved the bid and purchased one of my first fleet cars from that dealer." Not long after, he implemented a different acquisition protocol.

"The Fleet Manager (that) I replaced was Treasurer of the New York Chapter, and I was told by him that I should be active in NAFA as well. I started handling Arrangements and Reception, and moved the chapter meetings to many new places, including the Copacabana."

His first experience with NAFA’s annual conference was in 1976 in Minneapolis. "Another first-time attendee and I attended as many meetings as possible, so we learned a lot."

"NAFA Member (and New York Chapter member) George Argueta proposed a new award in the late-1980s, for people who worked for Association on local Chapter level, and the Outstanding Chapter Service Award was formally instituted in 1989. Two awards are given each year: one to a Member and one to an Affiliate," Don recalls. "George and I reviewed applications at pool side during the February Board Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. The awards were given at conference that spring, and I had the honor of presenting those awards, as I was Vice Chairman of Board of Delegates."

Thanks to all his hard work and effort in his chapter, Don Rittenhouse would receive this award himself in 1995. 

David Lighthall, CFM/CAFM^®

David Lighthall CFM/CAFM^® has developed, implemented and managed vehicle programs for large corporate sales and service fleets for the past 36 years and is currently the National Fleet Manager for Kraft Foods Group, Inc.  He is a member of the first graduating class of the University of Pennsylvania/Wharton Business School NAFA Certified Fleet Manager program (CFM) and a NAFA Certified Automotive Fleet Manager (CAFM^®) with Lifetime Certification status.  

He has served as an officer and a Member/Chair of several committees in the Chicago Chapter and the national Board of Governors. He has participated in industry events at the local and national level as a speaker, panelist or program moderator and is currently a member of the NAFA Chicago Chapter Board, AFLA, FMA, and the Ford Fleet Advisory Board. 

Scott Lindsay joined Peel Regional Police in June 1990 as Assistant Fleet Manager and has risen through the ranks to his present position of Director, Materials Management in charge of the Police fleet of approximately 790 vehicles, Quartermaster Stores responsible for Police uniforms & equipment and Asset Management responsible for police related specialized equipment.  All three departments reside in the newly build (2011) 72,000 square ft. Materials Management Centre which he manages.  The building includes 38 bay Garage for service & repair of Police vehicles, a Collision Repair Centre for Police and Regional vehicles, a distribution warehouse for automotive parts and police uniforms/equipment.   Annually the Police fleet travels approximately 17 million kilometers and Quartermaster  Stores issues approximately 30,000 member orders.

Scott is very active in the Police industry as Chair, Ontario Police Cooperative Purchasing Group – Fleet Sub-Committee, Chair of Ontario Police Best Practices Committee, member of the Ontario Police Clothing & Equipment Committee, past Vice Chair for Canada for NAFA-LEG from 1998 to 2001, past member of both the Chrysler and General Motors Police Advisory Boards. Scott cites his involvement with the legislative change for the introduction of blue lights on Police vehicles in Ontario in 2007 as a career highlight.

Scott is married to his wife Sue of 35 years, has 2 daughters, 1 granddaughter, and a grandson on the way. He enjoys spending time with family, golfing, and curling in his spare time. 

Celena is a member of the Sunshine State Chapter and served as the Chapter's Chair in 2000-2001. She also served on the Chapter Membership Committee in 2007 and on the National Membership Committee in 2001.

NAFA thanks Don, David, Scott, and Celena for their years with the Association! It is the strength of our members that have helped make NAFA the strongest association in fleet management today.