Over 300 people gathered Saturday evening, April 5, for the Eastern Produce Council’s 46th annual dinner dance, held at the Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park, NJ, the site of so many of these enjoyable events.

As usual, most of those in attendance were members of the council, including retailers, wholesalers, foodservice distributors, growers, vendors, brokers, logistics and transportation professionals, and commodity groups from the vast metropolitan area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Saturday evening’s event drew a good number of industry representatives from farther afield as well.

Well-known dignitaries also came to enjoy the evening, too, such as Douglas H. Fisher, New Jersey’s secretary of agriculture, as well as Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Produce Association, and his wife, Kathy.

Even the weather cooperated. After what seemed like 14 months of winter in the Northeast, Saturday evening truly felt like spring had finally arrived, with sunshine, deep blue skies and delightful temperatures in the upper 50s.

Over the years, I have personally attended many of these dinner-dances by the Eastern Produce Council, which was founded back in 1966, where I took photos for The Produce News while also enjoying the food and the music.

This year was a bit different. OK, really different.

I was extremely grateful, but also extremely humbled, that the Eastern Produce Council honored me with its 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award. Last year’s recipient was Arthur R. Brown Jr., a former secretary of agriculture for the state of New Jersey, whose administration pioneered the very successful Jersey Fresh promotional program. To follow in Art’s footsteps is an amazing feeling.

After being introduced Saturday evening by EPC President Paul Kneeland, vice president of produce, floral, seafood and meat at Kings Food Markets and Balducci’s Food Lovers Markets, I had an opportunity to address the crowd and thank everyone for the award.

But that is not nearly enough.

I want to say a few words about the award and what it represents right here in the pages of The Produce News, where I started freelancing in the late 1970s and where I have been vice president and a co-owner since 1994.

As I mentioned at the dinner-dance, I have met some exceptional leaders since I began covering the council’s meetings and other events. From those early years, I remember fondly leaders like Marty Krichmar, Don Joseph, Irwin Auerbach, Hymie Grappel, and George and Mary Fisher.

EPC leaders from the 1980s, 1990s and right up to the present day are no less exceptional. I have learned so much from so many of those leaders — knowledge that I always tried to utilize in making The Produce News a better publication with each and every issue.

However, as gratifying as this award is for me personally, the award is without a doubt a reflection on so many of the wonderful and talented colleagues I have worked with over the past 35 years. Three areas deserve special attention.

First and foremost is Jack Bricker, the longtime president and senior partner at The Produce News. It absolutely goes without saying that without Jack’s leadership and talent, The Produce News would not be what it is today.

Second are all the writers, editors, freelancers, salespeople and artists I have had the pleasure of knowing over the past three decades. Week after week, year after year, they truly are the ones who make every issue of The Produce News sparkle.

Finally, there are all the loyal customers of The Produce News, who have supported us since long before I walked into the offices of the newspaper all those years ago. They have been attentive readers (and now online viewers), they have been invaluable sources of information on a whole host of subjects.

They have been teachers and mentors.

They have been business associates, colleagues, friends.

It is to all of those people, past and present, at the Eastern Produce Council and throughout the fresh produce industry, that I offer my very heartfelt thank you.