Lily Goes To the Annual AFE Dinner

Running late from the airport to the annual American Floral Endowment (AFE) dinner was not my ideal situation, but it was reality. I arrived during the salad course, and was lucky enough to get seat in a very full room. When I sat down sheepishly at the table, a woman in a white dress said,

“Sit here, this is the fun table!”

I immediately looked with fear at my new tablemates. Was I signing on to some sort of pirate ship or some sort of murder, sex, greed mystery?  I didn’t know; I was hungry, thirsty and just paid for a 57 minute cab ride to get here.

I was happy to find a seat!

What I didn’t realize was that hope and inspiration were going to be the main course tonight. The AFE annual dinner is held during the Society of American Florists annual convention, if there is an “A” list in the floral industry, this is it. This dinner is where you hear directly from the source, about all the potential in the flower industry. For more than 50 years AFE has funded scientific research, scholarships and educational development opportunities promoting the growth and success of the entire floral industry.

My tablemates proved to be a wonderful cross section of the flower industry. We all shared a common love of flowers (and bacon) so this made conversation easy, yet when a glass of wine was offered I readily accepted. I soon learned that the woman who had welcomed me to the table was Lorraine Cooper, owner of Brady’s Floral Gallery in Arizona. She was sitting next to her partner, Alex Jackson, who runs a wholesale house in Arizona and is an acclaimed designer in his own right.

My ears perked up as they explained the challenges of doing the flowers for a past presidential inauguration. I thought, wow, that’s a pretty big gig. I listened intently to the process of creating flower arrangements for the leader of the free world. Yes, the secret service goes and asks your neighbors about you, keep that yard mowed!

Past AFE Chairman Del Demaree and family accept recognition for the establishment of The Del Demaree Family Fund within AFE, which will establish an internship program to market the industry as a viable career path to attract top collegiate talent with a concentration in business.

Next, I was introduced to the first “roseologist” I’ve ever met. Actually he may be the world’s only roseologist since this was a title bestowed on Freddy Melero of Choice Farms by his customers, because his knowledge of roses is so extensive.

To my left was Professor John Dole from the North Carolina State Department of Horticultural Science. The science of flower growing is always improving, and this is one of the industry leaders, who is helping teach growers the best techniques to harvest flowers.  He also mentors the next generation of flower growers in the United States, I politely asked him to think of the Sun Valley Floral Farms when he had a really motivated intern that would like to come live in cold, foggy coastal northern California and grow the best tulips, lilies and iris.

Paul Bachman, outgoing AFE chairman of Bachman's Inc. (right), congratulates incoming AFE chairman Gabriel Becerra of Golden Flowers.

Holding down the other side of the table was the delightful staff from AFE, Debi Aker, the Executive Director and Suzanna McCloskey, the Manger of Communication and Media. Debi is one of the power houses of the industry, over the course of the SAF convention about a dozen people asked me,

“You know Debi right?”
 
Just before the evening’s program started, Suzanna headed to the control booth, where she would be over seeing the night’s presentation, and making sure it came off without a hitch. As dinner conversation moved from flowers, to the best ways to deep fry avocados, and the need for bacon in all things, our camaraderie grew.  I was seated at the “fun table”, and laughter from our table echoed across the dining room.  As dessert arrived and the lights were dimmed, we settled down to hear the accomplishments of AFE over the last year.

This was truly inspiring, to hear first-hand the individuals and businesses, who are so generous in maintaining the foundation of the floral industry. The Endowment is funding an amazing amount of research, scholarships and grants. Honestly, it was humbling to hear of the dedication and the financial support many of our industries biggest names have given to this cause.

AFE Public Relations Chairman Charles Kremp looks on as Tom's good friends accept recognition for The Tom Butler Family Fund on Tom's behalf. From left to right: Jack Howard, Teleflora; Dave Gaul, DWF Wholesale Florist Company; Herman Meinders, emeritus Teleflora and Michael Martin, Teleflora.

More than any other group in the floral industry, AFE is planning ahead. Planning for the future generations and planning so that all of us, growers, wholesalers and retailers will have a future in the wonderful world of flowers.