Meet our Convention Speakers for Friday, June 7th

Steve P. Schaal – President of the North America region for the Matthews Cremation (Division of Matthews International Corporation) Steve Schaal represents over 20 years in the death care industry.  Steve is responsible for all aspects of operation at their headquarters in Orlando, Florida.  Steve’s career has successfully identified numerous products and services that are being utilized in today’s funeral environment. Steve’s credentials include the successful rollout of the following national programs: –       The York …

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Meet our Convention Speakers for Thursday, June 6th

Joe Ducey – Investigative Reporter for ABC 15 ABC15 Investigator Joe Ducey is an award-winning reporter and consumer advocate. He has been an ABC15 reporter since 2006. Joe concentrates on consumer investigative stories by exposing scams, rip-offs and deals just too good to be true. His journalist skills have earned Joe numerous awards including Emmys for Best Investigative Reporter, Investigative Report and Specialty (Consumer) Reporting. He’s also interested in big investigations that demand digging to find the …

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Air Quality Department Responds to Chucri Intiative

The following article is from the Office of Supervisor Steve Chucri: County Dust Permit Application Streamlined; Air Quality Department Responds to Chucri Initiative Today the Maricopa County Air Quality Department’s new, streamlined dust permit system is available online for the first time to the public. “This is an example of the work that can be done when County officials and staff work together with the common goal of creating a better process that benefits all …

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Emerge 2013: The Future of our Industry Speaker Line-up

Register for Annual Convention: [button link=”http://azfcca.org/annual-convention-exhibitor-registration/”]Exhibitors[/button] [button link=”http://azfcca.org/calendar/annual-convention-2013/”]Attendees[/button] Wednesday June 5th Time Activity 6:30 AM AFCCA Golf Tournament BreakfastSponsored by PBF Casket Manufacturing 7:00 AM AFCCA Golf Tournament at the Point Hilton Tapatio Cliffs – Lookout Mountain Course 12:00 PM AFCCA Golf Tournament Lunch 1:00 – 5:00 PM Suppliers set up at Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs – Display Hall 1:00 – 5:00 PM Convention Registration & Hotel check in 5:30 PM AFCCA Foundation for Children Poker …

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NFDA Advocacy Summit Report by Steve Palmer

ADVOCACY SUMMIT by Steve Palmer Wednesday & Thursday March 6 & 7, 2013 Washington, DC   Speakers: REP. STEVE SOUTHERLAND (R-Florida): He is a licensed funeral director and owner of the Southerland Funeral Home of Panama City. He spoke about Core competency; what you are most comfortable with? When you leave your core competency, things go bad. Southerland said the government is way outside their core competency as they assume more and more services and …

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2013 William Aaron Scholarship Recipient: Congratulations Hallie Keating

The AFCCA is dedicated to promoting the further development of professional, ethical, responsive death care providers that are a credit to the industry. This is why the  William Aaron Scholarship Program was created for current Mortuary Science students at Mesa Community College. Each year, AFCCA offers a scholarship to a 2nd year student, with a B or better grade point average. The scholarship is valued at $1,000. Applicants that meet the criteria are asked to submit …

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January Foundation for Children Update

Look who the Foundation for Children helped in January! Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson: Los Amigos Elementary, Tucson: two students, both the age of 7, received vision services Sierra Middle School: a student, age of 14, received vision services Sunnyside High School: Three students, ages of  15, 17 and 18, received vision services and new glasses Saddle Mountain Unified School District, Buckeye Tartesso Elementary School: A student, age of 12, received vision services  Dysart …

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2013 Cemetery Maintenance Seminar Recap!

Wednesday, February 6th was the annual AFCCA Maintenance Seminar, where cemetery staff, supervisors, and managers gather to increase knowledge, learn new skills and hear about innovations when caring for cemetery grounds. This year’s seminar was hosted by Amie Gazda, General Manager of Valley of the Sun Mortuary and Cemetery. The grounds were beautiful and quite accommodating  We appreciate everything Amie and her staff did to make sure that the attendees and vendors were comfortable. The day …

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CNBC’s Documentary “Death: It’s a Living” Response

On Thursday, January 31, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, 8 p.m. CT, CNBC will air a one-hour documentary Death: It’s a Living, which explores funeral service, a business that CNBC says “everyone confronts yet few understand.” Without knowing exactly what this documentary will entail before it airs, we do know that respected funeral professionals from the NFDA and other funeral service associations, funeral homes, suppliers, industry consultants and mortuary science educators assisted CNBC in preparing this documentary. While these representatives …

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VA Announces New Online Resources for Funeral Directors

Article Source: NFDA.Org Washington, d.C. – The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today the availability of the new online funeral directors resource kit. Funeral directors nationwide can use the kit when helping veterans and their families make burial  arrangements in VA national cemeteries. “We recognize that veterans and their families need compassion when they approach funeral directors for help,” said Eric K. Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs. “We want to assist directors by giving them …

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