Dr. Charles Eller
Your President never thought that he would be the one to bring you the sad news of the passing of our Secretary General, Dr. Richard A. Kozal. As you've read this issue of Dental World, you have found out what a fantastic individual Richard was, and I certainly do not need to add to what our Editor Brophy has presented.
However, let me tell you that the commemorative services were simple, yet profound. They were held in a small chapel in Mesquite, Nevada, a small town 90 miles north of Las Vegas, the home of Richard and Judy Kozal and the PFA Central office. Over 50 friends gathered in the chapel. Judy asked for anyone who wished to speak to do so. PFA Past President Carl Lundgren, our certified public accountant, Dan Jonkers, and I were privileged to pay tribute to Richard. Two Russian Orthodox priests presided over the services.
A cortege proceeded to the nearby place of final rest An Army Team in full dress uniforms fired a three gun salute, Taps were sounded and the flag which draped the casket was presented to Judy. A very fitting and emotional ceremony!
So for whom doth the bells toll? Yes, they sound for Richard but they also sound for us because we have lost a dear friend and colleague, a man of honor, integrity, and purpose, a tribute to his Creator, his family, and to our profession. Now a new chapter begins for the Pierre Fauchard Academy. Your Management Team is confident that we will be diligent about the challenges facing us. Doing the right thing means taking the path, often the more difficult path, that will result in the long-term good.
Usually this is beyond our limited tenure. It is sometimes hard to know all of the aspects of how and why a decision was made unless each of us is placed in the position of having to analyse the issues, the long-term impact, the possible solutions, and the compromises needed. Not everything the M-Team does will please everyone, but we promise to do our very best. The "buzz" words now seem to be, "Yes, we can!" I prefer "Yes, we will!" because the former depends on our state of mind. The latter, "Yes, we will!" means action, not just words.
Now for our Section Chairs: For an outstanding example of Service and Leadership, let me give you a brief overview of the recent Georgia Section Leadership Conference and Convocation. It was a three day Fun, Fellowship and "Give Kids a Smile" Project. It was held at the magnificent Ritz-Carlton Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, Georgia. Dr. Mark Shurett donated the use of four of his mobile dental vans and staff so that PFA Fellows could provide basic dental treatment to children in need. Each van has four operating units and an X-ray, The volunteers examined and treated 142 children and completed $60,000 of dentistry on Friday.
Saturday morning Dr. Tom McDonald presented an excellent four hour course on "Updates of Restorative Dentistry" for CE credit.
Fifteen new Fellows were inducted at the Awards Gala.
The PFA M-Team congratulates Dr. Karen Stockwell, Region Three Trustee, Dr. Jay Harrington, Georgia Section Chair, and Dr. Donna Moses, presiding. We also commend Dr. Shirley Fisher, Ken Hutchinson, Mark Shurett, Richard Singer, and Stu Loos for presenting such an outstanding Conference.
I commend each of them for the initiative they exhibited and I hope that this will inspire each Section Chair to emulate them in some way according to their Section Chair needs. Dr. Harrington will fill in the details in his forthcoming Georgia Section Report.
On to Europe: Last year, your PFA M-Team and Latin Trustee Ernesto Acuna organized 12 Latin American countries for the First Latin American PFA Congress in San Paulo, Brazil.
The European PFA, not to be outdone, got together for their First European PFA Conference in Cologne, Germany. The organizers were Dr. Jose Dahan (Belgium), Region 1 Trustee, Dr. Frank Braun, Germany and PFA Vice-President Hubert Ouvrard, France.
Nations represented included Belgium, France, Germany, the Republic of Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and the African nations of Congo and Senegal.
The Conference was entitled "The First European PFA Conference on Oral Health Promotion," and the Keynote Speaker was Prof. Dr.Charles Pilipili who spoke about "Oral Health Care in Young Children with Disability and/or Malnutrition." The lecture was very well- received.
Three new Fellows were inducted at the evening dinner party.
The Europeans are off to a good start and are planning a bigger and better Conference in two years.
As an aside, the International Dental Show in Cologne is the largest Dental Trade Show in the world with over 100,000 attendees and 1,820 exhibitors. The Brazil meeting is the second largest with "only" 81,743 attendees last January. On that high note, until the next issue of Dental World;
Warm regards to each of my PFA Fellows World Wide,
Charles Eller, DDS, BS President