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CONSUMER AWARENESS NEWSLETTER
www.sav-on.com
ce
May 2016
Honoring the Fallen on Memorial Day The Long Delay
Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, was first held on May 30, 1868 to
honor the soldiers for the Union and Confederate armies who died during the Civil War.
Years later, when Memorial Day became a
federal holiday, it was given a floating date of
the last Monday in May. Since most companies
give this day as a paid holiday, and it occurs at
about the time when summer is coming to the
U.S. it has become the unofficial kickoff for
the summer vacation season.
All this traveling and partying has obscured
the reason for the holiday, which is to honor
all our fallen soldiers. Now many families are
planning backyard barbeques, out-of-town
trips and three-day weekends full of activities
that have nothing to do with Memorial Day.
A few organizations still cling to the tradition of remembering our war dead, however,
and the Puget Sound area is no exception.
Below is a list of organizations that plan to
host ceremonies.
in Honoring Dads
Father’s Day Tradition Started
Right Here in Washington State
W
Memorial Day Ceremonies
Evergreen Washelli’s 90th Annual
Memorial Day Service
Located at 11111 Aurora Avenue N, Evergreen Washelli falls on both sides of Aurora
Avenue, just north of Northgate Way. The
service begins at 7 a.m., when there will be a
Flag Placement at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Each of the 5000 white marble upright
markers in the Veterans Section will receive a
flag placed by hundreds of volunteers that will
Continued on page 2
Planning an Out-of-Town Trip? How’s Your Insurance?
School will be out
your car is running
Mexico Trip? Get Special Coverage well and the tires
in less than a month,
If you’re planning a car trip to Mexico, you
and summer is apand brakes are in
need
special coverage. It can include medical
proaching, so it’s
good shape. It’s
expense coverage, trip interruption and meditime to make your
always a good idea
cal emergency assistance and treatment.
summer vacation
to have the oil, filYou can carry liability coverage only or get
plans.
ters, hoses and belts
complete coverage. But if you want complete
If you’re planning
are checked, too,
coverage you also need to have a policy with
to pack the family
since you will be
complete coverage in the US. putting lots of wear
into the car and head
If you have a loss you must file the claim in
and tear on the car.
out, there are a numMexico. Questions? Call us at 888-867-2866.
Getting stranded in
ber of things you
the middle of nowhere is never fun.
need to make sure are setup before you go.
Service Your Car
Don’t leave town without making sure that
Check Your Insurance Coverage
Continued on page 3
hile Mother’s Day has been
celebrated as a U.S. holiday since
1914, an official day honoring
fathers took a lot longer to become a reality.
On July 19, 1910, the first Father’s Day
celebration was held at the YMCA in Spokane, Washington by a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd. She wanted to recognize
her father, William Jackson Smart, a widower who raised his six children by himself.
In her determination to honor her father,
she went to local churches, the YMCA,
shopkeepers and government officials trying
to drum up support for Father’s Day. While
she got her wish, enthusiasm for the day
faded after that initial celebration.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson recognized the day by using telegraph signals
to unfurl a flag in Spokane.
Another eight years went by before President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe the day for fathers. That
didn’t seem to generate much excitement,
however, and it remained a rather obscure
event.
One of the problems was that many men
didn’t like at the idea of Father’s Day. One
historian noted they “scoffed at the holiday’s
sentimental attempts to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving, or they derided the proliferation of such holidays as a
commercial gimmick to sell more products
– often paid for by the father himself.”
In addition, during the 1920s a movement began to scrap both Mother’s Day and
Continued on page 3
INSIDE THIS NEWSLETTER
Helpful in Two Languages
The SAV-ON Difference!
Alicia, our newest agent, loves to help
clients and is bilingual, too!
2
Experience the savings that our Smart
Grads Program can bring!
2
BLOSSOM
Cheaper Gas Can Kill
Studies show that falling gas prices
means more deadly accidents.
4
SAVIN
Alicia Urbano: Her Positive Attitude Helps Customers Better Understand Their Insurance Needs
Our ‘Smart Driver’ Grads
Saved an Average of $338*
In April, 16 graduates of our
‘Smart Drivers’ program saved an
average of 35% on their insurance!*
TOP Savers in April:
Smart Driver
City
Savings
n Elmer P.
Renton
$1,125
n Sharleen M.
Kent
$800
n Nicholas F.
Des Moines
$548
n Ramiro S.
Seattle
$508
n Enrique S.Burien
$404
n Edith S Lynnwood$272
n Edith S.
Tukwila
$254
n Alla K.
Pacific
$225
n Anod M.
Kent
$205
n Marena H.
Federal Way
$194
*Cumulative average savings over 6 months
3 Chances to Win With
Referral Rewards!
Oksana Tserger & her husband Yaroslav
were our 2015 Grand Prize
Winners of an HD TV for
their referral!
It’s Simple to Win:
Just referral a friend or
family member and you
receive 2 Lotto scratch
tickets. You are also entered in our monthly drawing for a gift certificate
and for our annual Grand Prize drawing each year!
Monthly Winners:
January:
Guadalupe Alonso
February:
Alfonso Vargas
( Pictured right)
ike Ride
Obliteride Bnd
raiser
Fu
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540
Independent agents and brokers offer products from
many different insurance companies. That means more
opportunities to find the best coverage and service at
the right price.
Progressive Insurance offers preferred auto, home and
umbrella insurance. You can also save 10% with our
multi-policy discount.
SAV-ON Insurance is an independent insurance agent
which is proud to represent Progressive Insurance.
We’re on Facebook!
Visit our Facebook page. Go to
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A
to their questions, and they leave happy, knowing
what coverage they’ve got and why.”
Her helpful attitude pays off, since these same
customers end up referring their friends and relatives to Alicia, knowing that she’ll take the time
to explain the intricacies of insurance to them.
She has seen a lot of referrals from this, and it
makes her feel good about her job.
“Sometimes I get customers who come in
angry or having a bad day,” she says. “I remain
calm and friendly, and make sure I take care of
them. They usually cheer up by the end.”
One of her favorite stories is helping a gentleman who came in to see another agent, but she
wasn’t in the office. Alicia helped him with his
insurance and he left. Soon after, she got a fax
from the man thanking her for helping him. She
thought that was so thoughtful of him, so she
still has the fax.
When she isn’t helping customers with their
insurance needs, Alicia loves to spend time with
her daughter and husband. They are renting for
interact with customers and “the money was
lways eager to learn and try new things,
good”. After that, there were stints as a data entry
Alicia Urbano has experienced a myriad
of adventures in her young life. Not only clerk at a DISH network and a mobile phone
business in White Center.
has she called two different countries “home”,
Then she became pregnant and experienced
she has worked at a wide variety of jobs and
severe “morning sickness”, which
become a wife and mother.
lasted all nine months. On the job lots
Born in San Diego, her family
of smells made her nauseous, so she
moved to Mexico when she was in
was forced to quit. When she gave
elementary school, then moved back
birth to her daughter, she became a
to San Diego a few years later. By the
stay-at-home mom for 2-1/2 years.
time she was entering high school,
Then, last year, a friend who works
her family again pulled up stakes and
at SAV-ON mentioned they had a
moved to the Pacific Northwest.
job opening for a Customer Service
While attending high school in
Representative. Since her daughter
Federal Way, she started working for
Alicia Urbano
was now three, she decided to apply.
a marketing research firm making
She was hired as a Customer Service Rep in SAVphone calls surveying various marketing endeavors. Since it was all on the phone, she could work ON’s White Center office in last September.
After training in Kent for one week, she was
it into her school schedule and continued that job
asked if she was interested in becoming an insurfor two years.
Once she finished high school, she got a job as ance agent. Always willing to try something new,
a waitress, which she enjoyed because she could
she said “Sure”, and the next week she was going
to school to be an agent! After the schooling, she
continued working as a CSR in White Center
while she took the agent’s license.
In January, after passing her insurance tests,
she returned to the White Center office, but this
time as an agent. So, in about three months she
went from a new hire to a full-fledged agent!
Being fluent in English and Spanish, she has
the ability to work with many of the Spanishspeaking clients, helping them understand their
insurance needs. With her typical can-do attitude, she says, “I just wish I could speak Russian,
too, since many of our clients speak Russian!”
She especially enjoys helping clients understand their insurance needs and what policies are
best for them. She’s a good communicator and
listener, which is important in her line of work.
“I find it very rewarding to help the client understand what insurance they need,” she explains.
“Many of them come in policies that they’ve purchased elsewhere and they don’t understand their
coverage. I’m able to explain all the details, listen
Memorial Day: Local Events to Honor Fallen Vets
Father’s Day: A ‘Second Christmas’ for Men?
Continued from page 1
come out for this event. The 1:30 p.m. concert
will feature marches, patriotic selections and
other music. The Service of Remembrance begins
at 2 p.m.
Tahoma National Cemetery
Located at 18600 SE 240th Street in Kent,
this ceremony begins at 1 pm with keynote
speaker and other state dignitaries.
Nisei Veterans Committee 69th Annual
Memorial Day Program
This year’s program will be held at 10 a.m.
Monday, May 30 at the Nisei War Memorial
Monument at Lake View Cemetery. The cemetery is located at 1554 15 Avenue E.
Sunset Hills Memorial Park
1215 145th Place SE, Bellevue. The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. and includes the Laying
of the Wreaths, a B-25 flyover, a bagpipe band
and dove release.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord
U.S. Military Base located 9 miles south
of Tacoma. JBLM will honor the memory
of those who have died in the service of our
country with a Memorial Day ceremony at
11:30 a.m. at the base cemetery, the Fort Lewis
Cemetery.
Memorial Day Events for the Entire Family
Flying Heritage Collection’s Tankfest NW
Hear the rumble and boom of vintage tanks
and artillery at the Flying Heritage Collection’s fourth annual TankFest Northwest. This
family event will feature military vehicles and
cannons, remote control tanks, food and lots
of family fun. Mon., May 30, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in
Everett.
Seattle Children’s Museum
Join the folks at the Seattle Children’s Museum on Memorial Day to remember the great
citizens who protected our freedom. Families
can honor those who have served our country
by creating Memorial Day paper poppies and
participating in other fun projects around the
Museum. Mon., May 30 from 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Museum of Flight Memorial Day Ceremony
Teach your kids the importance of Memorial
Day by taking them to this annual ceremony
held at the Museum of Flight. The Museum
will honor military service with patriotic music
and a ceremony, plus all veterans and active
U.S. Military personnel will receive FREE
admission with identification. Mon., May 30,
11 a.m.
Moment of Remembrance
In December 2000, the U.S. Congress passed
and the president signed into law The National
Moment of Remembrance Act. This act encourages all Americans to pause wherever they
are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a
minute of silence to remember and honor those
who have died in service to our nation.
So, no matter what you choose to do on Memorial Day, take a few moments to pause and
honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for
our country.
Sources: redtri.com, King5.com
Continued from page 1
Father’s Day altogether in favor of a single
holiday called ‘Parent’s Day’. For years, every
Mother’s Day saw pro-Parent’s Day groups
rally in New York City’s Central Park in
favor of the combined holiday.
But the Great Depression that began in
1929 put an end to that thought, as struggling retailers and advertisers saw an opportunity to make Father’s Day a “second
Christmas” for men, promoting things such
as neckties, hats, socks, pipes, golf clubs and
other sporting goods. Then, when World
War II began, advertisers renewed their
efforts by arguing that celebrating Father’s
Day was a way to honor American troops
and support the war effort. By the war’s end,
Father’s Day was ingrained in the nation’s
consciousness, but it still wasn’t a recognized
federal holiday.
Finally, in 1972, 62 years after the initial
celebration in Spokane, President Richard
Nixon signed a proclamation declaring
Father’s Day a federal holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday in June each
year. Although most countries also celebrate
fathers on that Sunday, there are a number
of countries who celebrate at different times
during the year.
Economically, while Mother’s Day is still
a much larger sales day for retailers, florists
and restaurants, Father’s Day has become big
business, too. Today, economists estimate
that Americans spend more than $1 billion
each year on Father’s Day gifts. Not bad for
a holiday that almost wasn’t!
Road Trip: Have Someone Keep an Eye on Your Home
Continued from page 1
Make sure your auto insurance is current, and your have road hazard and towing
coverage on your policy. A breakdown far
from home can be not only expensive but
end your trip prematurely. If you don’t have
roadside assistance, then add it or become a
member of the Automobile Association of
America (AAA).
Remember that when you’re away from
home for extended periods of time, you
should leave a few lights on timers to ward
off unwanted prowlers or burglars. It’s also
a good idea to have a trusted neighbor or
family member periodically check your
house to make sure it’s OK and nothing
has sprung a leak or sustained any damage,
especially after a storm.
Have more th GS TIP
SAV- ON and wan one policy with
e can sa
of money with ve you lots
our
Multi-Policy Discou
nts!
the time being, but she has plans in the coming
years to buy a house with a big yard.
“I don’t care if the house is small; I just want
to have a big yard,” she explains. “My cousin in
Everett has a big yard, so the family gatherings
are always there. When I get a big yard, then we
can have the family get-togethers down here.”
Alicia is very close to her family. She has two
younger sisters who live in the area, too. That’s
another reason she enjoys working at SAV-ON:
the family atmosphere. It isn’t a big corporate
place, it’s family owned and operated. She was
immediately impressed when, at the company
Christmas party, the co-owners made sure to
recognize everyone with awards or praise.
“I love the fact that SAV-ON is run not only
as a business, but as a big family,” she says. “I felt
right at home right away, and really enjoy working
here!”
With her can-do attitude and helpful nature,
Alicia will undoubtedly reach her goals and be
relaxing in her big backyard in no time!
Win Movie Tickets!
In every SAV-ON Scoop newsletter, we’ve
hidden a little red hat somewhere on one of
the pages (including this one). The hat has a
word on it, and if you’re the first one to email us
with the correct word, you will win two movie
tickets!
There’s nothing to buy, just find the hat and be
the first to email us ([email protected]), and you
and a friend are off to the movies!
A Tip of Our Hat to the Winner!
Daniel Nicolae of Bellevue and
Hugo Rosales of Burien were the first
readers to find the word on Sam’s hat
hidden in our last newsletter. Each won
two movie tickets to a local theater.
You could win this time! Look for the
hat and be the first to email us!
PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
SEATTLE, WA
PERMIT NO. 4081
Corporate Office
22815 Pacific Highway S.
Des Moines, WA 98198
Our Annual Referral Rewards Winners!
You could be next! just refer friends or family to SAV-ON
Insurance for a free rate quote. You’ll receive 2 lottery
scratch tickets and be entered for a monthly drawing
for a restaurant certificate. Your name will also entered
in our year-end drawing for the new HD TV!
Our 2015 winners Oksana and Yaroslav Tserger.
The Downside of Cheaper Gas: More Fatal Accidents
Research links cheap gas
with more traffic deaths
According to numbers crunched by the
Oregonian, traffic fatalities in Oregon
jumped 13% in 2014. Preliminary data
shows that 352 people were killed in the
state due to traffic accidents, up from 313 in
2013. Last year’s death total was the highest
it’s been in Oregon since 2009, when there
were 377 traffic fatalities.
At least some of the 2014 spike, the report
surmises, can be attributed to falling gas prices during the second half of the year. As gas
gets cheaper, more drivers take to the roads,
and the likelihood of accidents increases.
The phenomenon isn’t limited to Oregon.
Earlier this week, National Public Radio
aired an interview with Guangqing Chi, a
sociologist at South Dakota State University whose research reveals it’s a foregone
conclusion that cheaper gas equates to more
accidents (and deaths) on the roads. In one
study, a 20¢ drop in gas prices in Minnesota
was linked to an extra 15 deaths annually. In
Chi’s hypothetical estimation, “a $2 drop in
gasoline price can translate to about 9,000
road fatalities per year in the U.S.”
Still, there is no direct causation, and any
surge in accidents in 2014 must be viewed
in a historical context: There were routinely
around 450 traffic fatalities in Oregon in the
mid-’90s, so even with the recent jump in
accidents, the roads are considerably safer a
decade later. It’s also unclear to what extent
constant improvements in car design and
safety features have helped keep fatality tallies down, but surely they factor in.
While Oregon’s traffic fatality spike
shouldn’t be viewed as proof that cheaper
gas causes more deaths, what we do know is
that – generally speaking, over time – more
drivers are out on the roads when prices are
low at the pump, and more crowded roads
mean more accidents. Chi’s research backs
this theory up.
It’s not just that cheap gas encourages
more people to hit the road, however. When
gas is expensive, people are more likely to
drive more conservatively, accelerating slowly and cautiously, braking hard only when it’s
absolutely necessary, using cruise control or
just maintaining a steady speed on highways.
Drivers may be doing so primarily because
these techniques help you get the best fuel
economy, but it’s also pretty obvious that
driving in this manner is much safer.
Driving wildly and speeding, on the other
hand, has been shown to be costly in more
ways than one. A 2012 GM study estimated
that people who don’t bother with “smart
driving” techniques like accelerating slowly
and keeping the car at 70 mph rather than
80 mph on highways could pay up to $100
more in gasoline per month. And it’s easy to
see how speeding and stomping on the gas
and brake pedals hard – which we’re more
likely to do when gas prices are cheap – can
result in more accidents.
Sources: The Oregonian, The Huffington Post, Business Time
SAV-ON Insurance Agencies are pleased to
represent PEMCO Insurance and provide
our customers with super-low
preferred insurance rates.
Representing