National Clothesline

The National Cleaners Association is offering free admission to cleaners at its TexCare ’05 exhibition at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ, April 9 and 10.

Exhibit hours will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m on Sunday, April 10. NCA has a list of exhibitors available in a downloadable PDF file on the show’s official site at www.texcare05.com.

So far, the association has lined up three guest speakers for its morning educational sessions. The list includes: Sid Tuchman, president of Tuchman Training Systems; route expert Rex Carrigan of Carrigan Consulting; and Alan Spielvogel, director of NCA’s National Center for Garment Analysis.

Cleaners will have three hotel options to choose from, each offering special discounts for TexCare ’05 attendees.

The Embassy Suites (across from the Exposition Center) at 455 Plaza Drive costs $173 plus tax per night. For reservations, call (201) 864-7300. Located at 250 Harmon Meadow Blvd. — about two blocks from the Exposition Center — the Hampton Inn charges $109 plus tax per night. Call (201) 867-4400 for reservations.

Finally, the Holiday Inn at Harmon Meadows, which is about a block away from the convention center at 300 Plaza Dr., offers rooms at a rate of $119 per night plus tax. For a room, call (201) 348-2000.

For more information, contact Ann Hargrove at (212) 967-3002, ext. 231.

For the tenth straight year, Anton’s Cleaners of eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire gathered coats to help those who could not afford them stay a little warmer in the harsh winter season.

After setting a goal of 50,000 coats for the year, Anton’s was pleasantly surprised to garner in 64,603 garments altogether — an increase of 29% over their ambitious expectations.

“It was a remarkable display of giving,” said Charles A. Anton, CEO of the drycleaning chain. “It is especially gratifying to see the students at local schools getting behind the program. They are learning that giving to others is in itself a gift.”

The drive, which ended on January 15, has grown considerably in scope every year.

During the initial drive, about 2,700 coats were collected. Last year, it jumped over the 50,000-coat tally for the first time. Over the past decade, Anton’s has donated approximately $3.1 million in cleaning costs to process 317,315 coats.

This year, a record number of schools — over 240 — participated in the drive as students collected coats and competed for prizes including digital cameras for the classroom, gift certificates for the teachers and pizza and ice cream parties.

As part of a rewards programs, each school was ranked based on the number of coats donated per enrolled student.

Providing rewards for the program were: All Sports Promotion, Batten Brothers Sign, Bertucci’s Brick Oven Ristorante, Brigham’s Inc., Citizens Bank, Commercial Comfort, Gradient Corporation, Graham Communications, J.L. Hammett Co., Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP, Package Supply Corporation, RAM Leather, Roche Brothers, and Williams Engineering.

Also lending manpower to the cause were employees from local companies including State Street Corporation, Boston Retail, SkillSoft Corporation, Webster Manor Healthcare Center and Ascential Software Corporation along with many local churches and synagogues.

Anton’s enjoyed a big boost from the following social service agencies who chipped in with the distribution of the coats, as well: The Salvation Army, Cradles to Crayons, Community Teamwork, Southern New Hampshire Services, Inc., and local Community Action Programs.

Providing a promotional push to the project were Fox Channel 25 and the Boston Bruins.

The North East Laundry Association have released a few important dates for its members to mark in their 2005 calendars.

First up is a plant operations seminar on Thursday, March 3 at the Holiday Inn in downtown Providence, RI. For room reservations, call (401) 831-3900.

From May 11-12, the association will host its 11th Annual Golf Outing and Spring Seminar.

Ron Evans of R.J. Evans & Associates will speak on the topic of “Customer Management Retention, Renewals, Trends and Issues” at the Holiday Inn in Worcester, MA. For room reservations, call (508) 852-4000.

NELA’s 93rd Annual Meeting & Fall Conference is planned from Sept. 16-18 in Newport, RI. It will feature guest speaker John Horton of Milliken & Company.

For more information as it develops, call the NELA office at (781) 397-8870.