"Yes, master, it's true."

Barbara Eden and Dawn Wells will grant the wish of fans everywhere when they meet attendees and pose for pictures at the Idaho Potato Commission booth (No. 4705) at this year's PMA Fresh Summit in San Diego.

Paint it Pink, the fundraising team from Faye Clack Communications Inc., a niche agency that specializes in strategic communications for the food industry, recently announced its successful completion of the 60-kilometer walk in the Toronto Weekend to End Breast Cancer benefiting Princess Margaret Hospital.

This fall, Nickelodeon is partnering with Produce for Kids, an organization that seeks to educate kids on the benefits of healthy eating, to promote healthier lifestyles. The campaign, which runs through Nov. 5, will use promotional programs in produce departments around the country featuring Dora the Explorer and messaging surrounding the network's health and wellness campaign "Let's Just Play."

Through the Pack Family/PMA Career Pathways program, the Produce Marketing Association will sponsor 24 collegiate food, agriculture, and marketing students along with their faculty advisors from six leading schools at the 2006 Fresh Summit in San Diego.

SALINAS, CA -- Lorri Koster said that growing up in the family business will help her step into a high-profile position with Mann Packing Co., based here. The company's board of directors elected Ms. Koster Oct. 5 to the role of co- chairman. She succeeds her father, Don Nucci, who died unexpectedly Sept. 4.

Ms. Koster, 39, credits her father and Bill Ramsey, the late Mr. Nucci's partner of 39 years, for showing by example what leadership requires.

"Dad was a real mentor," Ms. Koster said. "I want to make him proud."

Stemilt Growers Inc. in Wenatchee, WA, is in the midst of packing and marketing its largest pear crop ever, including a broader array of pear varieties and promotions adding color to the pear lineup.

Mike Taylor, vice president of sales and marketing for Stemilt, said that the company will sell as many as 1.5 million 44-pound-equivalent boxes of pears, up from 1 million in 2005-06. The larger crop for Stemilt comes at a time when Northwest pear growers are forecasting a smaller crop than was originally predicted in June.