President's Message - Jamuary 2004

First of all I would like to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year! I hope this past holiday season brought you much happiness, peace and fulfillment and as your new year begins, I wish you more of the same.

Speaking of the new year, we have much to look forward to starting with our first meeting of 2004, our annual New Food Product Showcase and Fundraiser Meeting. This will be held on January 26th at 5:00 p.m. at Moseley's on the Charles in Dedham. All of the proceeds from this meeting will be used for funding future culinary scholarships, as well as our 2005 Junior Culinary Team. So please make sure to mark your calendars for this special evening! The event will also include the swearing in of the Epicurean Club's new Officers and Board of Directors, a larger than usual food show, prizes, raffles, and a silent auction. In addition, this meeting will be free for all attendees, as well as being open to anyone in the foodservice industry. With those points in mind, why not bring a few fellow Culinarians and introduce them to the Club? Please note that we will also have a less formal dress code for this meeting, so I invite you to wear your ECB chef jackets, your company chef jackets or to dress in casual business attire. If you are interested in donating prizes for our raffles or for the silent auction, please call 781-231-1115.

Also coming up in 2004, we will have a booth at the New England Foodservice & Lodging Exposition & Conference to be held from February 29th through March 2nd. If you might be able to donate a few hours on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to help us staff the booth, please call 781-231-1115 and leave a message, including the day and time period you would be available. For those who plan to attend the show, please stop by our booth, which will be Number 942.

This year brings another milestone with the ECB celebrating its 110th anniversary. I'm pleased to announce that in recognition of this, The "Modern Newspaper" will be publishing an article on the ECB in their February edition (in the "pullout section"). You can pick up copies of the publication at the New England Foodservice & Lodging Exposition & Conference.

All paid members will be mailed a copy of our new bylaws this year, and our goal is to mail these out by January 20th. We have set up a 30-day review period from February 1 to March 1, 2004 for any comments or questions you may have that pertain to these bylaws. During this 30 day period, should there be a need for a clarification or change in this document, then only the item(s) needing clarification or change will then be sent to the Bylaws Committee for their review. The rest of the doument will take effect on March 2, 2004. After this date, should any additional changes to our bylaws become necessary, the committee will only send the changed portion of the bylaws to ECB members. We ask that you please take a few moments to review this document. Should you have any comments or questions please direct them to any member of the committee or you many send them in writing to the Club's address. I would like to thank our Bylaws Committee consisting of Chair Chuck Leonardo, CEC, Tony Graffeo, CEC, AAC, Denise Graffeo, CEC, AAC, Steve LaCount, CEC, AAC (and myself), for five years of hard work on this project.

As we begin to look forward to the new year, I would to take a moment to look at 2003. This is a pleasure for me as I can see that the ECB had another extraordinary year! This should make each one of you proud to be a member of this historic organization. I would like to reflect on some of the highlights of the past year, but I would be remiss if did not first mention ECB member Todd Morneault, who is no longer with us. Todd touched everyone he met and will always be in our thoughts and prayers.

Last year was filled with many memorable meetings, which included networking opportunities and several fabulous meals. We also held our elections, as well as packed the meetings full of educational hours needed for re-certification. ECB members who attended these meetings received a total of 10 hours CEH. At our President's Ball we celebrated our 109th anniversary and recognized some of our peers.
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During 2003, we held two major fundraising events. The first was our Junior Fundraiser, which raised $6000 in funds used for training and for sending our Junior Team to the ACF Northeast Regional in Philadelphia, where they competed against the best Junior Teams in the ACF. After a hard fought competition, our talented team made us proud, returning with a silver medal.

The ECB also held its annual Children's Charity Golf Classic, which raised $6,000 - $3500 of which was donated to "the Rodman Ride for Kids", $500 donated to ACF building fund, and $2000 which will be used for scholarships. In addition, the ECB also made charitable donations to the Greater Boston Food Bank, the Pine Street Inn and the Todd Morneault Memorial Scholarship Fund.

I am always happy to report the strengthening and growth of our club, with the addition of 15 new members in 2003. Three ECB members also reached a wonderful milestone in their culinary career this past year by becoming certified chefs and educators. Another noteworthy item was that one ECB member was able to take the ACF Master Chefs Test. Congratulations, Chefs!!

Also, during last year, we were very fortunate to have been able to award 8 scholarships and 1 member grant, totaling $7000.

Last year also held many special moments for us on a National level. As in years past, The ECB had a strong presence at both the NE Regional and National Conventions. We also had members nominated for the "NE Regional Educator of the Year," the "NE Regional Chef Professionalism Award" the " Herman Rush Life Time Achievement Award" and the "NE Regional Chef of the Year Award". The ECB also was awarded another Gold Plate from the ACF for another year of hard work and dedication to the culinary industry. After we receiving the Gold Plate, the ACF nominated the ECB for the "ACF Chapter of the Year Award". It was wonderful to see that Paul J. Pantano, CEC, CCE, AAC was deservingly recognized by the Les Amis d'Escoffier Society of New England with their highest award, the "Chair's Award". In addition, Paul was nominated for the AAC Chefs Hall of Fame. Another noteworthy accomplishment was Norman Myerow, CEC, CCE, AAC being inducted into the Conferee de la Chaine des Rotisseurs. Last, but not least, was the struggle leading to the victory, allowing us to retain our ECB "Logo".

As I have said on many occasions, and I will say it again here, the ECB could not have accomplished as much as it has without the hard work and dedication of the Officers, Board of Directors and you, the members, who volunteered throughout out the year. It makes me proud to be the President of the ECB with members like you who truly care about your fellow Culinarians. On that note, I applaud each and every one of you and of course I thank you. With this kind of diligence and dedication, I am greatly looking forward to another exciting year! Thank you again.

I look forward to see you at our January meeting.

Warmest regards,

Rico DiFronzo, CEC
President's Message
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