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<< back to the 2003 archive listing << Food Protection Trends President's Perspective “Making a dream come true!” The great American lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II once said, “If you don’t have a dream, how are you going to make a dream come true?” America’s Poet Laureate and composer (in collaboration with Richard Rodgers) of such timeless works as Show Boat, Oklahoma, South Pacific and the Sound of Music had many dreams. Until his death in 1960, Hammerstein worked tirelessly to stamp out injustice and was keenly interested in the values that bind a community together. In my opinion, there are a number of values that bind our IAFP community together – making the world’s food supply safer and healthier for all, educating food growers, manufacturers and consumers around the world in safe handling practices, helping developing nations improve their food supply and nurturing the next generation of food safety professionals – to name a few. Your Association is successful because of you and only you can assure its continued
success. We dedicated this year’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans to one
of our members who recently passed away. Harry Haverland had a dream for IAFP
and worked exuberantly to make his dream come true. Harry served as the chairperson
of the IAFP Foundation Fund Committee since its inception in the mid-80’s
until his death. His dream was to build the Foundation Fund to a level of $100,000
by the year 2000 — a dream that did come true. Another long-time friend
and supporter of IAFP also shared his dream for the Foundation Fund at the awards
banquet in New Orleans. Wilbur Feagan of the F&H Equipment Company, sponsor
of the IAFP Black Pearl Award, announced his dream of building the IAFP Foundation
Fund to a minimum level of $1,000,000. If these men and others like them did
not dare to dream, then there could be no way for their dreams to come true.
Hammerstein’s point may seem obvious, but articulating our dreams and then
taking steps to make them a reality takes courage, time and commitment. |