Oregon Dry Cleaners Association

Do you have your room reservation and made your plans to attend this years’ ODCA Convention at Sprit Mountain, October 20-22, 2006?   

The convention committee headed by Brian Olson, District One Director and owner of 45th Avenue Cleaners, in Portland has put together an event which offers a great group of speakers, learning opportunities and fun. 

• We are welcoming back Nora Nealis from The National Cleaners Association (NCA) who will be speaking on Company Spirit.  If you heard her speak last year you know her knowledge and enthusiasm for the dry-cleaning industry is contagious.
• Steve La Cesa from the Independent Insurance Agents will have a word or two about Disaster Planning “Putting Procedures in Place before a Problem”.  Unfortunately we don’t think much about planning for disasters until after they happen.  It’s like installing that burglar alarm after you have been broken into. 
• Dick DeZeeuw from DEQ will be giving us an update on the Oregon Dry-cleaning Law and a new source of funds for cleanup.  Later that afternoon, if you are a perc cleaner DEQ will be holding a workshop on the use of a perc leak detector and giving them away if you have signed up before hand.

And we have a very special program planned for Saturday night!

In a few short weeks we will gather together again at Spirit Mountain for our annual convention.  I had the opportunity to take a couple of years off this committee and during that time I talked to many of you about what you liked and what you would like to see changed.  With your feedback, I think we have come up with a program that will address your wishes and over the next few weeks we will be fine-tuning the event.

Here are a few of your requests and the changes we will try this year.

First, and this seemed to be a major issue, the food.  To that end, we have included a full breakfast buffet with a Chef Carver Ham Station on Saturday at 8am.  You can indulge yourself to your own comfort level.  Sunday you can kick back, relax and let the Legends staff pamper you as we offer a full plated breakfast.  

Next, the Banquet.  Many of you expressed your frustration with choosing your entrée weeks in advance only to end up with a disappointing meal.  That won’t be a problem this year.  The renowned Legends Buffet will offer us Carved Sirloin in Burgundy Sauce and Chicken Marsala.  With all the accompanying side dishes you can be assured of the perfect meal!  We have also planned a more formal program for out banquet that we hope you will enjoy.

And of course, more free time.  We travel all this distance to a resort location only to end up in meetings all day and we don’t have the opportunity to enjoy the facilities.   Our early adjournment of 2pm will ensure you have that time.  Of course this doesn’t leave time for lunch, so instead of lunch this year we will provide a light snack during our short break to hold you over. 

A great deal goes into planning our convention weekend. The major part of the planning is a balancing act to find just the right amount of time for socializing, learning, association business and fun.  And we do this while trying to stay within our budget and still provide maximum value for your dollar.  I think our convention committee, Leslie, Karen and I, have accomplished that this year.  We look forward to your comments and suggestions to further refine future events.

See you on the 20th!

Members (Per Person)

All Events before October 9 $108.15

All Events After October 9 $139.05

Meals/Social Events Only $51.50 - Must be accompanied by at least one "All Events" attendees.

Non-Members (Per Person)

All Events prior to October 9 $149.35

All Events after October 9 $180.25

Meals/Social Events Only $77.25 - Must be accompanied by at least one "All Events" attendees.

New EPA regulations will require you to use a Perc Leak Detector during your machine inspections beginning in 2007.  You will no longer be able to circle Sight, Smell or Feel on your weekly inspection report.
Through a federal grant, DEQ is able to offer every Perc dry cleaner in Oregon a FREE Perc Leak Detector.To obtain your free detector you must attend a short class on its operation. This class will be held Saturday Oct 21 at 2:20 pm immediately following the ODCA convention seminars in the Rogue River Room at the Spirit Mountain Lodge in Grand Ronde.

You DO NOT need to attend the ODCA convention to participate.  However, this a great oppourtunity to find out just what ODCA has to offer and with a retail value of over $250.00, obtaining your free leak detector will more than pay your cost to attend!

To attend this class you must pre-register directly with DEQ by Thurdsay Oct. 19th, 2006. To register contact Dick DeZeeuw (503)229-6240 or Ed Patnode (503)229-6783 Or Toll Free (800)452-4011