As we near the Thanksgiving holiday, I’m looking back on a busy few weeks. Yours truly hasn’t ventured out in the trade all that much in the past couple of years – a combination of COVID restrictions and the fact that the B-W market hosts fewer events these days.
Most notable in my recently quasi-revamped public persona was an appearance at the Celebration of Dick Bestany’s Life last month. While Dick passed away earlier this year, the time to fully commemorate his memory came last month when the Bestany and Metzger families, and Food World, hosted a wonderful afternoon dedicated to remembering Dick and many of the fun times we all shared. It was great to see some faces from the not-so-distant past and the mood was festive, as Dick would have wanted, indeed, insisted upon.
A few of my favorite food industry people who I hadn’t see in ages were there, including Ron Fish (retired from the Joseph W. Riley Co.), Frank Rich (of Nestle/Carnation fame), John Plumhoff (think Red Baron and Edy’s) and Bernie Mazer (Safeway) and his son Tim (East Coast Fresh).
Although he’s no longer with us, it was almost as if the late, great broker extraordinaire David Finkelstein was there, too, in the persons of his son Michael (with wife Juli Finkelstein) and daughter Esther (and her husband Teddy Solomon).
Many of the Giant/Landover guys from back in the day made appearances, too, including Dave Herriman, Dave Butner, Tony Street and Barry and Olga Scher (of course, I can’t fail to mention that Barry is still active as a partner at Policy Solutions as well as a columnist for this very publication). The quartet shared their own memories of the “good old days.”
Local food industry gadfly David Green didn’t miss the chance to celebrate Dick, nor did Jerry Chadwick (who runs his own firm these days – Fresh Solutions – and serves as chairman of the Children’s Cancer Foundation), who had some moving thoughts about Dick, who took a young Jerry under his wing way back in the early days of his food biz career.
Furthest from the pin had to be Jeff’s son Andy Metzger, who traveled in from L.A. to be there to honor Dick’s life-well-lived.
The happiest surprise of the afternoon for me was seeing Food World alumna Nina Weiland and her husband John. Nina’s infectious laugh and always-friendly smile brought the old days rushing back, and the story she shared about Dick (along with her imitation of his ‘learned to whisper in a sawmill’ voice) had everyone laughing and remembering the best of times.
Dick’s son and daughter Rick Bestany and Cyndi Ireland both spoke about their dad, with Cyndi bringing everyone to both tears and laughter sharing her memories. They both mentioned Dick’s second career as a beloved Grandpa to their three children – Rick and his wife Stephanie’s sons Sam and RJ and Cyndi’s daughter Kate – who were also there. Dick’s wife Kathy thanked all who came and seemed to enjoy seeing everyone and sharing all the great Dick stories.
The last to speak was Dick’s partner, both in business and friendship, Jeff Metzger. Those of you who know Jeff (or have been to an MRA Hall of Fame Breakfast – groan) can probably imagine how it went – funny stories told in his inimitable fashion. The afternoon ended with a toast – with Finlandia, of course! – which we all hope did Dick proud. It was truly a befitting memorial to a bigger-than-life personality we won’t forget but will always remember fondly.
Another event on my recent business/social calendar was the 39th Annual Children’s Cancer Foundation Gala, held November 4 at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt. I can’t remember exactly what year it was that I attending my first CCF Gala (with Dick and Kathy), but it was long ago in the days when Shirley Howard held court as the dame of all fundraising fundraisers. Shirley was so passionate about beating the terrible disease that is cancer in children, and that spirit lives on today in the organization’s generous giving. While the problem hasn’t been eradicated completely, the giving that CCF has done over the years has truly made a difference in many lives, and the research they are still underwriting will continue to do so. Leading CCF today are president Tasha Museles and chairman Dr. Jerry Chadwick, and they put on another fine event this year. We heard that ticket sales were in the neighborhood of 600, and the room was abuzz. Plenty of yummy food and open bars were enjoyed by all, with an extensive array of silent auction items up for sale. I picked up a few fun items, but was outbid rather quickly for what I thought was the auction’s marquee item, a really cool framed piece with a photo of Taylor Swift and a copy of the lyrics of her song “All Too Well.”
Honorees from the food industry included Safeway’s Steve Coomes and the Coomes Family who received the Hero Award. Coomes is retired from Safeway and he and his family are stellar volunteers, pitching in whenever and wherever needed by CCF. The 2023 Gift of Life honoree was Elda Devarie and her company EMD Sales Inc. This is a well-deserved honor as Elda is tireless in her support for a variety of organizations that help improve the lives of others. Her acceptance speech was heartfelt and very fitting for the occasion.
The rest of the program was dedicated to recognizing this year’s research and non-research awardees, of which there were many. While we don’t have enough space for me to detail them all, let me just point out this fact – since its founding by Shirley Howard in the early 1980s, CCF has raised more than $43 million for researchers, hospitals and programs dedicated to fighting pediatric cancer. Wow! You can find out more by going to www.ChildrensCancerFoundation.org.
Also, mark your calendars for two CCF events next year: On June 12, the CCF Advisory Board will hold its 8th annual CCF Research Symposium, and the 40th annual Gala will be held November 2.
Practically right on the heels of the CCF gala was the Maryland Food Industry Council’s Hall of Fame Induction Breakfast at Martin’s West (sense a theme?), which also featured the annual unveiling of the Food World/Food Trade News Pete Manos Retail Executive of the Year Award. This year’s honoree, as you can read on page one of this issue, was John Ruane, president of The Giant Company. Ruane’s career in the industry has many highlights, with his being named president of the big Carlisle, PA-based division of Ahold Delhaize USA one of the biggest. While John couldn’t be there due to a previous commitment, the retailer’s VP of deli/bakery Brian Lorenz accepted the award on his behalf. At the TGC table we also saw Dave Lessard, along with members of sister company Giant Food as well as parent Ahold Delhaize USA.
The main event of the morning, however, was the induction of the 2023 class into the Hall of Fame. This year’s class features: Kurt Schertle, COO of Weis Markets; David Green and Melvin Shapiro, owners of a group of 11 Save A Lot stores in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia; The Baltimore Coffee & Tea Cmpany, which was represented by Sam Constantine and Norman Loverde; and former Maryland State Senator Delores Kelly, who retired this year.
Cailey Locklear of the Maryland Retailer Alliance (a new name for the organization) was the morning’s host, and emceeing in their usual flippant fashion were Jeff Metzger and David Green (who, by the way, should write a history of the Baltimore independent food industry when he gets some spare time). The MRA breakfast is another chance to both catch up with some of the industry’s alumni as well as visit with those still going at it in the biz, so it was good to be there, despite the fact that breakfast is not my favorite meal of the day.
That’s it his month, dear readers. I’ll be back in December with reports of good news from the industry. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a delicious and memorable Thanksgiving holiday. As always, keep me in the loop on any interesting items you think our readers might enjoy hearing more about. Gobble gobble!!