lvaro Colom will be sworn in as the new president of Guatemala on Jan. 14. A key leader in the new administration will be Alfredo Miron. A fresh foliage grower-exporter, Alfredo Miron may be best known in the U.S. produce and floral industry for being, in the 1990s, the first international member on the board of the Newark, DE-based Produce Marketing Association.

In an interview with The Produce News on Nov. 6, Mr. Miron said that he has been a lifelong friend of Mr. Colom, as the two attended school together in Guatemala City.

Steffanie Smith has taken the reins at River Point Farms in Hermiston, OR, as its new chief executive officer. She assumed her new responsibilities the week of Nov. 5.

River Point Farms is among America's larger onion producers, and Ms. Smith said, "I look forward to bringing a new perspective to the company while preserving the integrity of the already-established business."

While participating in a produce industry charity golf tournament, one of the players in my foursome hooked his tee shot like the bend in a banana. The ball got off with a good rip, but then curved from right to left, hit a tree branch and bounced into a small pond. What do you think came out of his mouth next? You guessed it. "I got it out there, but the wind took it away from me," he grumbled after tossing his club toward his bag.

After Hurricane Dean ravaged the countryside of northern Belize, Brooks Tropicals employees helped to distribute emergency food and supplies for the United Nations' UNICEF program. Brooks also sent crews and equipment to clean up debris and help repair homes in the area.

Maurice (Marty) Leon Martin, 77, of Salinas, CA, died of cancer Saturday, Nov. 3, in his home surrounded by his family.

Montreal-based HIDE-Pack and Frisco, TX-based Domino Integrated Solutions Group have teamed to develop a method of implementing radio frequency identification technology in a wide variety of packaged goods by embedding an RFID inlay within the structure of a package.

The HIDE-Pack concept -- an approach to integrated RFID-enabled packaging -- is a patent-pending technology owned by HIDE-Pack and available commercially through Domino ISG.