The Western Association of Food and Drug Officials organized for the purpose of improving communication and cooperation with the respective local, state, and federal programs, and for promoting the development and enforcement of uniform food, drug, and consumer protection laws, WAFDO continues to grow and become more active.
Northern Mariana Islands - WAFDO Members
WAFDO Conference Cancelled
AFDO 2009 Educational Conference
Thank You to AFDO Endowment Foundation
Purchase a WAFDO Polo Shirt
Message from the President - May 2009
Hello WAFDO family!
Happy spring. The snow is finally gone here in Oregon and the trees are coming alive with color.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the AFDO Endowment Fund. They have generously awarded WAFDO a $2,500 grant to help scholarship WAFDO Board members to the annual AFDO meeting in Chicago in June. The WAFDO Board agreed to match the grant dollars to maximize the intent and spirit of the grant. This will allow the WAFDO Board to have their annual business meeting this year. We cancelled the WAFDO annual conference meeting this year, making a face-to-face meeting of the WAFDO Board difficult to accomplish. With these grant dollars we are able to send Kimberly Stryker (Alaska), Benson Yee (California) and Gena Reich (Washington) fully funded to the AFDO meeting. Without these grant dollars, a quorum of Board members may have been hard to accomplish. If you will be at the AFDO meeting in Chicago, consider attending the Board meeting. A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO THE AFDO ENDOWMENT FUND!
The AFDO Endowment Fund also awarded AFDO scholarship money to bring new and upcoming leaders from each affiliate to the annual AFDO meeting. We are still working on selecting the right person from WAFDO to attend AFDO under this grant. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Another bit of exciting news is the Kellogg Foundation’s gift of two million dollars to AFDO for creating a training institute. AFDO has been busy working on this project since last fall. For more information on the training institute, look for the article in this issue of the WAFDO Flash.
Elections are fast approaching and the WAFDO Board is working hard at finding two new leaders for the WAFDO Board. We are looking for a Vice President and a Member at Large. The Vice President’s term is a three year term. The first year is to play back-up to the President as needed, the second year is the Presidential year and the final year is for planning the annual WAFDO Educational Conference. The Member at Large position is a two-year term and the duties include being a WAFDO Ambassador and attending monthly conference calls led by the President. If you or anyone you know is looking for a great chance to be a leader for our Affiliate organization, please contact me or another Board member. The requirements for either of these positions are WAFDO membership, a willingness to be a leader and a sense of humor doesn’t hurt either.
In these tough economic times, the WAFDO Board has chosen to offer two $2,500 college scholarships this year. The deadline for application is May 15th, 2009. For more information check out the scholarships page. Look in the next newsletter for the winners. We will be awarding the scholarships at our WAFDO Business meeting in Chicago.
I hope this note finds everyone well. In light of all the recent recalls and budget shortfalls placing a strain on resources for everyone, I am hopeful that we all remember how important are jobs are. We seem to be a dedicated lot, and by working together the tasks seem to be easier to accomplish. I appreciate all of you and the work you do!
Sincerely,
Ellen Laymon
WAFDO President |
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WAFDO 2009 Educational Conference
Cancelled
AFDO Family,
After much thought and consideration, the WAFDO Board members have decided to cancel the 2009 WAFDO Annual Educational Conference scheduled for September 2009 in Reno, Nevada. State budgets and the economy in general have forced us to be realistic about actual attendance numbers and the very real possibility that come September many of us may be on travel restrictions.
This decision has started the conversation about how to provide training and education in distance learning formats. As travel dollars shrink, we need to discover new ways to accomplish our mission of providing training and education for all interested parties in the WAFDO region.
The Board is actively working with the AFDO office to make arrangements that will allow WAFDO to have our annual business meeting during the 2009 AFDO conference in Chicago in June. Stay tuned for more details.
At this time, the 2010 WAFDO Annual meeting is scheduled to be held in Reno, Nevada at the Silver Legacy, dates are September 19 - 22, 2010. We look forward to seeing you there!
The good news is WAFDO will be awarding two scholarships this year to students in the WAFDO Region. If ever there is a need for this, now is the time. It is extremely important that we continue to promote and encourage students to pursue education in our fields to be the shining stars of the future. Since we will not be holding a Silent Auction this year which is our primary scholarship fundraiser, we would ask that you thoughtfully consider an independent tax deductible contribution to the WAFDO Scholarship Fund if your personal resources allow.
We, as a Board are sad to have made this tough decision, but believe it is the right one. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago in June!
Ellen Laymon and the rest of the WAFDO Board |
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AFDO 2009 Educational Conference
The AFDO 2009 Conference will be held in Chicago, Illinois on June 6-10, 2009. Information can be found on the Events page and at the AFDO Web.
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Thank You to AFDO Endowment Foundation
May 4, 2009
AFDO Endowment Foundation
John Young
117 Birkdale Drive,
Blue Bell. PA 19422
John and the Endowment Fund,
On behalf of WAFDO Board and the membership at large, I would like to personally thank you for your gift. The grant dollars you awarded to us was an extremely generous gift. We were able to match the EF funds with WAFDO funds to maximize the impact of each dollar.
Kimberly Stryker (AK), Benson Yee (CA) and Gena Reich (WA) will all be fully funded to attend the AFDO annual educational conference this year in Chicago. There was enough money in the pot to cover their costs for the Burditt Luncheon this year (not to be missed in George’s home town!) and the Wiley award banquet.
Out of an abundance of caution the WAFDO Board cancelled the 2009 Educational Conference. With the shrinking budgets and financial uncertainty, we felt it less risky to cancel the conference as opposed to planning and hosting the conference, no one showing up to participate, leaving WAFDO with a large expense to cover from reserves. With the cancellation of our annual meeting, that made our face-to-face WAFDO annual Board meeting almost impossible. By granting these scholarship dollars to WAFDO, we can get enough of the WAFDO Board members to Chicago to hold our annual Board meeting.
From the bottom of all our collective hearts, thank you very much!
Hope to see many of you in Chicago.
Ellen Laymon
WAFDO President
cc: WAFDO Board, website and newsletter |
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Northern Mariana Islands - WAFDO Members
The Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth in political union with the United States. These islands are located in the North Pacific Ocean about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines. The territory is about 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC and has a population of 86,616 people. The self-governed commonwealth has an elected governor with the capital located in Saipan.
The photo above shows the Public Health Division office located in Saipan. John Togabuel is the Directory of Environmental Health and is a WAFDO member.
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WAFDO Polo Shirts
Order your WAFDO polo shirt today. They are $25 including shipping. Complete the order form and mail it with your check to the address on the form. If you have questions, contact Susan Parachini at 303-692-3646 or susan.parachini@state.co.us.
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WAFDO Contact Information
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Telephone: |
503-540-9066 |
FAX: |
503-986-4729 |
Postal address: |
Ellen Laymon
Food Program Manager
Oregon Department of Agriculture
Food Safety Division
635 Capitol Street NE
Salem, OR 97301
USA |
Electronic mail: |
elaymon@oda.state.or.us |
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