ASHEVILLE, NC — A record 328 people attended the Southeast Produce Council's annual Fall Conference, held Sept. 19-22 at the Grove Park Inn, a beautiful venue nestled here in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.

Among the highlights of the event were an opening cocktail party; a general session where outgoing President John Shuman delivered his state-of-the-council report; the president's dinner-dance, where attendees met the new officers of the council; a golf tournament; and the closing party.

Perhaps the only disappointment of the entire event SPC Executive Director Terry Vorhees spoke at the President's Dinner-Dance Friday evening, Sept. 21, one of the highlights of the council's Fall Conference. (Photo by Gordon M. Hochberg)was that keynote speaker Roy Williams, head basketball coach at the University of North Carolina, had to cancel his appearance when a tumor was discovered on one of his kidneys. [He underwent surgery to remove the tumor and was released one day later from the hospital, but he may have to undergo additional surgery, according to published reports.]

Following some internal meetings Thursday, Sept. 20, the conference officially opened that evening with its traditional "get acquainted" cocktail reception. A night golf event was also held at this reception, during which $1,600 was raised for RAMP, an association that works to fight poverty in the United States.

Attendees had an opportunity to hear more about RAMP the following day at the general session and luncheon, when RAMP founder Amy Guerrieri thanked the council for its support of her organization and presented a video that showed some of what RAMP does.

She said that RAMP — which originally stood for Rockin' Appalachian Mom Project — has started a salad bar program to help get more fruits and vegetables into children's diets. Some kids "didn't even know what a cucumber was, if you can believe that," she said.

RAMP is also launching in October a Mobile Community Co-op — a kind of mobile food pantry — to help distribute fresh produce to those in need.

Mr. Shuman, president of Shuman Produce Inc. in Reidsville, GA, then delivered the state-of-the-council report, declaring, "I am very proud to announce that the Southeast Produce Council is financially sound."

Attendees of the general session also heard reports from a number of SPC committees, including Community Outreach, Marketing & Membership, Education, Sponsorship and Attendance.

Faye Westfall of DiMare Fresh, who chairs the Southeast Training Education Program for Upcoming Produce Professionals along with Joe Watson of Rouse's Supermarkets, introduced the STEP-UPP graduating class of 2012: Jeremy Schirle of FreshPoint, Angela Spry of Delhaize America, Leslie Gallegos of Winn Dixie, Robert Fredericks of Sweetbay Supermarkets, Pete Barretta of Food City, Charles Diaz of Food Lion, Amanda Rodriguez of United Supermarkets, Kerry Adams of Rouse's, Robert Daly of Harris Teeter and Mike Roberts of Harps.

After the Sponsors VIP Reception that evening, the president's dinner-dance wrapped up Friday's events, highlighted by the introduction of the new board of directors as well as the new officers: President Andrew Scott of General Produce Inc., First Vice President David Sherrod of Apio Inc., Second Vice President Mark Daniels of Military Produce Group, Secretary Sheila Carden of the National Mango Board and Treasurer Teri Miller of Delhaize America.

The fall conference began modestly back in 2000 primarily as a golf event: the Ken Lanhardt Memorial Golf Tournament, named for one of the SPC founders, Mr. Lanhardt, who had died shortly before that first event.

The golf tournament continues to be one of the more popular events of the fall conference, with 103 golfers participating this year, according to SPC Executive Director Terry Vorhees. The foursome of Todd Gosule of B&W Growers, Mike Harmon of Farm Fresh Direct, Jan Vandriessche of Northbay Produce and Dave Yeager of Farm Fresh Direct shot a 14-under-par 58 to take first place Saturday morning, Sept. 22.

The fall conference concluded Saturday evening with the Ultimate Tailgate Party, with attendees enjoying food and drink while watching some of the many college football games shown on big screen television sets set up in the Country Club area of the Grove Park Inn.

Shortly after the event ended, The Produce News spoke to Mr. Vorhees for his assessment of the 2012 Fall Conference.

"I couldn't be more pleased with the entire weekend," he said Monday, Sept. 24. "It was a huge success. I was really pleased with the president's dinner-dance. We had 278 people. That was the largest-attended president's dinner-dance we've ever had."

Recalling the early days of the council, Mr. Vorhees stated, "As far as I'm concerned, it was nice to come back to kind of where we started. Our first event we ever held — outside of the planning and organization meetings that we did at the beginning in 1999 — was at the Grove Park Inn. That was just a golf tournament in the fall of 2000. We came back in fall 2003. So it was just great to come back there."

Mr. Vorhees said that "a lot of people had never been to the Grove Park Inn before" and expressed a desire to return for a future SPC event. In fact, some board members have already started to think about holding another Fall Conference there in a few years, said Mr. Vorhees.

Next year's Fall Conference, however, is scheduled for Sept. 26-28 at the Marriott Grande Dunes Resort & Spa in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Finally, Mr. Vorhees said that in just the two days since the end of the 2012 Fall Conference, he had received many favorable reviews from SPC members.

The comments by one longtime SPC member may reflect the general consensus: "Congratulations on holding what I think was the best fall meeting in the 10 years I have been a member. The comments I heard during the weekend were great."