2 / 48
4
TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
JULY/AUGUST 2015
1965 heard Diana Ross and the Supremes belting out the
Motown hit “Stop in the Name of Love.” If you’re age 50,
that’s when you were born. In 1965, the IPCPR, then known
as the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America, was 32. Today
IPCPR is 82.
We salute IPCPR and dedicate this letter to it and to the
retailers, manufacturers and distributors who form the ex-
tended family of this close-knit organization of premium
cigars and premium OTP.
Stopping for a moment in the name of love, what follows
are fond memories of membership in a wonderful organi-
zation.
I remember when Sal and Connie Fontana would invite
me to their home in Jupiter, Florida, offering to charge a
differential room rate depending upon the view. I remem-
ber when Sal’s passport was misplaced while visiting the
Eroia tobacco farm in Honduras, requiring the intercession
of the Marines on a Sunday in Washington, D.C. to allow
his departure. His passport was later discovered by Robbie
Levin—the maid at Casa Eroia had inadvertently placed it
in Robbie’s luggage.
It was a mystery why Rolando Reyes, Sr. would throw
plantains across the dinner table when entertaining jour-
nalists. Grandson Carlos Diez explained that it was the “old
man’s” way of welcoming his guests.
Then there was the time that Kiki Berger, Al Guttman and
Eddie Ortega arranged for a mariachi band of four amigos
and a pig feast to welcome us to Nicaragua. World Cigar
was an early huge cigar manufacturing operation.
Who can forget the hospitality and support of the Padron
family? When I was offered a Cuban cigar by Jose while in
Nicaragua, he gently persisted with the offer. The 38-ring
gauge Lancero wouldn’t draw. Son Jorge offered a Padron
Anniversario and, translating for his dad, said, “My father
doesn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
How many know that our own Raphael Nodal is a brilliant
pianist?
Remember the lovely Cuban expat Senor Pedro Martin?
He always claimed to be Irish.
There’s also Sandy Newman, patriarch of the Newman
Family, a wonderful guy who proves the notion that apples
don’t fall far from the tree.
And then there was Oscar Boruchin, who bought a bank
building and turned it into headquarters and a retail store.
Recalling a first visit, Oscar was angry with our company.
He alleged we put him in collection for unpaid ads he hadn’t
ordered. In fact, it was the preceding ownership that had
done the nasty deed. We offered two complimentary ads
as our small way of making good on the prior ownership’s
inequity…and to trouble him no further. Oscar Boruchin
became a valued client for many years after that.
There aren’t words to describe what Joel and Myrna
have meant to us all, so I’m not going to try.
Jonathan and Marvin, aka Batman and Robin, are two
guys with brilliant productive careers and a lifelong friend-
ship from the early days of their mobile beachfront ice
cream business to their post-World Trade Center kiosk and
DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge) location to
huge commercial premium cigar success.
Calling Iwan Ries! Chuck and Suzie, where are you?
Our good friend Richard Dimeola is now an octogenarian
and married to a beauty who is also an octogenarian. Being
that she’s a couple of months older than Dick, he opines
that he married an “old lady.” Giving it right back, she in-
quires why everyone calls him “Dick.” During his years
with Consolidated Cigar Company (Altadis), Dick Dimeola
ranked in the top echelon of vendors supportive of IPCPR,
the retailers and the organization at large.
There you have it! We’ve stopped in the name of love
to remember, take stock, salute and honor IPCPR on the
occasion of the 83rd annual convention being held in New
Orleans, July 17-21, 2015 at the Ernest N. Morial Conven-
tion Center.
It is said that we stand on the shoulders of the giants who
precede us. IPCPR giants are too numerous to mention—
these are but a few. One other in particular is Mr. Ira B.
“Bill” Fader, who guided the organization from hotel suite
to convention hall venue. Bill built IPCPR. He was a rock
and a mentor. I remember him fondly.
Enjoy the show,
Stop in the
Name of Love
PUBLISHER’S LETTER
BY ed o’connor