Sad & Tragic

For those that don't know I spend quite a bit of time networking in the garden center industry. About five years ago, I got to spend a week with a small group of Americans touring garden center's in Switzerland. I got to meet Dale and Ruth Bachman on this trip. Last year I had the opportunity to visit several of their stores in MN. Not only do they share information with others in the industry, they are just great people. I only got to meet Dale's cousin Todd once, but this news is very upsetting to me and the entire gardening industry. This is the info from the Garden Centers of America E-Alert. Each of their locations is displaying this floral piece in memorial.

We know that many of you know of this tragedy, but in case there are those who have not heard, the American citizen brutally murdered on the first day of the Olympic Games was Todd Bachman, Chairman and CEO of Bachman's Floral, Home & Garden in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bachman's, a 123-year-old florist, garden center and greenhouse business, is an institution in American garden center retailing.

Todd spent his life supporting and giving to our industry. He served in leadership positions for numerous industry associations and boards including, the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association, the American Floral Endowment, OFA, Hortica Insurance Company, the Society of American Florist and many more.

The Bachman's web site has a special section devoted to the tragedy, http://www.visionsweb.com/ToddBachman/index.asp
and a guest page to express your thoughts and condolences to the family. Todd's wife, Barbara, and their Chinese guide were also seriously injured in the attack. As of Monday morning, August 11 Barbara's condition had been upgraded from critical to stable.

Please join me in expressing our sympathies and prayers to the Bachman family as they mourn the loss of Todd. -Dave