It was a great though somewhat exhausting time exhibiting at the NFDA Convention in Boston this week. The turnout in the Expo Hall was terrific - we got to meet a ton of new people - and the NFDA staff and officers I met were extremely gracious and welcoming.

Special thanks to my booth-mates Julie Burn (ICCFA Director of Cremation Services), Nancy Lohman (ICCFA VP and 2010 Convention Program Chair), Fred Lappin (ICCFA VP) and Alan MacKinnon (longtime ICCFA friend and ICCFAU graduate). It was a wonderful team effort all three days.

Traffic at our booth was almost nonstop. Above are Nancy Lohman (r) and Paula Staab Polk, who is chairing the Event Planning track of The Next Step program.

Nancy with PLPA Chair Coleen Ellis (heading up the PLPA Conference being held in conjunction with The Next Step program)

Julie Burn with ICCFA member Richard Tetrick, President of Tetrick Funeral and Cremation Services.

We gained a lot of new friends and acquaintances among the attendees and exhibitors which was wonderful, and I also appear to have gained a broken toe which was slightly less wonderful and hampered my mobility the final day - however I did get out this morning to walk around the block of my hotel. Above is the Old South Meeting House, where Benjamin Franklin was baptized and where the Boston Tea Party plot was hatched. Seems like an appopriate image for the current era for reasons I can't quite put my finger on.

This is the gravestone of Mary Goose, died 1690, erroneously called the true "Mother Goose."

And with the click of a button, voila, each day of my trip is now fully tax deductible.

Tomb of Paul Revere in the Granary Burying Yard. Very cool.

Now to quickly pack and leave for the airport. Each time I exhibit at one of these trade shows I gain a newfound respect for our exhibitors and all they go through. It would be hard to do this as a career.

ICCFA Cremation Coach Julie Burn was a speaker, and VP of Membership Nancy Lohman and Allied Industry Chairman Allen Dave manned the exhibit booth, at the Texas Funeral Directors Association Annual Convention last week in Austin.

Here are some shots from the exhibit hall:

Nancy Lohman and Allen Dave with Vickie King White of San Antonio College.

TFDA Exec Ann Singer (l) with Nancy Lohman and TFDA staff members.

A number of ICCFA representatives participated in the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE) meeting in Springfield, Illinois, this week. The meeting, which just ended a couple hours ago, was a great learning experience, providing invaluable information about how we can best develop our educational programs going forward. It was also a chance to meet a bunch of great people and reconnect with some we had not seen in a while.

I will try to get some more photos posted later in the week. These are just a couple taken by our VP of Membership, Nancy Lohman.

Allen Dave, Mark Krause, Nancy Lohman, Julie Burn, Joe Budzinski at Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield, IL

ICCFA Immediate Past President Mark Krause and NFDA Treasurer Pat Lynch at Lincoln's Tomb

An orphanage and health clinic in Uganda recently received two dozen large boxes of goodies from Nancy Lohman and friends. The women spent an evening at Lohman Funeral Home Ormond (Florida) boxing up the clothing, food, medical supplies and toys they had gathered.

Two sisters receive their first doll

Lohman, who has more energy than anyone I know, is COO of Lohman Funeral Homes, Cremation & Cemeteries, Daytona Beach, Florida (www.lohmanfuneralhomes.com); is an ICCFA vice president; and is involved with numerous civic organizations. She shared with some friends an e-mail report from her sister, Ann Ries, an RN from Seattle, Washington, who is working at New Hope Ministries Orphanage and Health Clinic in Luwero, Uganda. One of those friends, Peggy Farmer, asked what they could do to help. Soon she, Lohman and Lorry Garafolo were heading up "Project Uganda: Girlfriends Helping Girlfriends."

About 20 "girlfriends" gathered donations, using the Lohmans' Ormond funeral home as a drop-off point. In the end, they prepared two dozen large boxes for shipment to Uganda. Ormond's funeral director in charge, Allen Storms; funeral director Todd Winninger; and Lohman's administrative assistant, Felicia Vitiello, dealt with US Customs requirements and delivered the boxes to the Post Office.

Eight weeks later, the boxes arrived "safe and sound," Reis reported. "Everyone here is truly amazed and overwhelmed by your generosity. ... You can't even imagine how much fun it will be to hand out these gifts."

The project was especially meaningful, Lohman said, because much of the work took place during the end-of-the-year holiday season, "a time of year which reminds us to give thanks for our blessings and to share our blessings with others."

"Girlfriends" involved also included Bonda Garrison, Nan Heebner, Michelle Carter-Scott, Jill Crouch, Laurentia Lucas, Bonnie Schillinger, Sally Reelick, Jill Stephens, Sharon Damante, Suzanne Fleuchaus, Muffi Chanfrau, Vonda Sullivan, Peggy Stockman, Patti Surguine and Linda Lampman.

Ann Ries receives her first chocolate in months!

Project Uganda: Girlfriends Helping Girlfriends

Bonda Garrison & Peggy Farmer; Nancy Lohman & Sally Reelick

Lorry Garafolo & Laurentia Lucas; Michelle Carter-Scott; Susanne Fleuchaus & Nan Heebner