The Southeast Produce Council recently announced a brand new event that will take place in mid-June. All of us at the council are very excited about this, and now that many of the details have been finalized, I can tell you a little about it.

However, first things first.

Our 2014 Southern Exposure conference and trade show, which took place Feb. 27 to March 1 at the Caribe Royale Conference Center & Hotel in Orlando, FL, was our best show ever. We had record overall attendance of 1,793. We had record retail and foodservice attendance of 383. We had record attendance at our keynote luncheon of just under 900, where everyone enjoyed listening to Bill Cowher, a former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And we had a record number of exhibitors (267) at our trade show.

We were, to put it simply, blessed to enjoy such success at this annual event, our 13th since our first conference in Lakeland, FL, back in 2004.

Perhaps Bobby Creel of L&M Cos. and chairman of Southern Exposure 2014 put it best when he said, “It’s still a little mindboggling to me that we had that many attendees there. This event is so different than anything else that’s done in the produce industry.”

We would not have achieved the level of success we did, however, without the amazing support of all of our sponsors. They have stepped up time and time again, and 2014 was no exception. I cannot thank them enough.

We have tried to make each Southern Exposure better than the last one, looking at what worked, what didn’t work, listening to our sponsors and attendees, and taking everything back to the office to start the process anew with the goal of surpassing what has gone before. That is our goal for Southern Exposure 2015.

But I don’t want to get ahead of myself. As I mentioned, we have another event coming up in a very short time that we are very excited about.

We invite all members of the produce industry to join us on June 18-19 when the Southeast Produce Council will host our first-ever SPC Charity Golf Classic. The tournament will be a scramble format, held at Chateau Elan Winery & Resort, located in the beautiful mountains of Braselton, GA. Some of you will remember Chateau Elan as the site of our fall conference back in 2009, so you know what an extraordinary venue it is.

All proceeds will go to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, a 158-bed pediatric hospital facility located in Orlando, FL. The hospital is part of Orlando Health and is supported by the Arnold Palmer Medical Center Foundation. Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children is the first facility in central Florida to provide emergency care exclusively for pediatrics.

This inaugural event will begin with a silent auction preview from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, followed by the silent auction and pairings announcement from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. A dinner buffet will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., with entertainment from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Thursday’s schedule begins with check-in and continental breakfast at 7 a.m. The tournament begins at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start at Chateau Elan’s chateau course. An awards reception will take place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

SPC board member Tommy Wilkins of Grow Farms-Texas is spearheading this new golf event, along with Mike Ryan Jr. of Bayshore Produce LLC’s Tampa division. Wilkins explained how the council came to this new event.

“The Southeast Produce Council felt we were missing an opportunity to have a first-class golf event that would attract top retailers from around the world, allow us to raise money for charity, and give back to the people of the Southeast,” he said. “Following the direction of our outreach committee, we have set a goal to give back at least $100,000 this year, and the inaugural SPC Charity Golf Classic will help achieve this goal.”

Wilkins, who has been involved with charity golf events for the past 20 years, said that he “jumped on the opportunity to help the Southeast Produce Council create a memorable event while enhancing relationships in our industry. The council has always tried to have premier events, and the inaugural golf event will follow that tradition. We are offering a great venue, a wonderful forum to collaborate with peers in the industry that we all cherish, and an opportunity to benefit the Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital. With these components combined, we feel that this event will exceed all expectations.”

Wilkins also announced that at this new golf outing, the council will have four ladies from “The Big Break Challenge” on hand to enhance the event’s interaction with the game: Lindsey Bergeon, Amanda Robertson, McKenzie Jackson and Taryn Durham.

On Wednesday, the ladies will compete against each other in competition similar to what is seen on the Golf Channel. On Thursday, each young lady will be positioned on the course to bring her golfing acumen to the event.

“This is just one example of how we are offering an experience like no other,” Wilkins said with pride. “We have been blessed by a wonderful industry and its membership, and as we take this new step in our journey, the Southeast Produce Council hopes to ensure continued representation of the produce industry while not forgetting to give back to the communities and areas we serve.”

So come to Chateau Elan in June and help us launch this new event that will benefit so many kids who need our help. For additional information on this exciting new charity golf event, visit www.seproducecouncil.com or call the SPC office at 706/276-4025.