The view from the podium at the 2016 AFDA awards dinner.
Carrel Ann Wyatt Spears, Alabama FDA President 2016-17
The Alabama Funeral Directors Association held the 130th annual meeting of their members June 19 to 22, 2016 at the beautiful Grand Hotel Resort at Point Clear, AL. It’s amazing to think this organization has gathered every year since 1886.
This year, they proudly elected their first woman funeral director president: Carrell Ann Wyatt Spears from Wyatt Funeral Home in Opp, Alabama. Congratulations to Carrell Ann!
Doug Williams, immediate past president, Alabama FDA
Immediate past president Doug Williams, owner-manager of Cullman Heritage Funeral Home in Cullman, asked me to come present two Continuing Education Unit classes to the membership at this convention. The presentations were “Grief and Mourning in the Movies” and “Jewish Funeral Traditions on Film.” Yes, there are Jews in Alabama – about 9,000.
I also put together a collection of funny film clips for after-dinner entertainment that included scenes from the famous “Chuckles Bites The Dust” episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show (1976), the Star Trek funeral from the film Undertaking Betty, and a collection called Hearses Through History. And, yes, it’s legal, because I have a license to show movies in public as part of my talks.
Here’s what Doug Williams, the 2015-16 President of the Alabama Funeral Directors Association, had to say about the presentations: “The film clips Gail Rubin uses in her continuing education sessions make the information she conveys indelibly memorable. Our members who attended her presentations were enthusiastic about what they learned and how she maintained their rapt attention throughout. She also created a very entertaining after-dinner program focused on films and the funeral profession. I highly recommend Gail for both education and entertainment at funeral association conventions.”