Memories and Surprises from the LLLI Conference
Mary Hurt
LLLI Public Relations Associate
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 38 No. 4, August-September 2002 p. 86-87.
“The Founders, I never
tire of them—never! They have meant so much to me,” said longtime
Leader and inveterate LLLI Conference attendee Verna Gremaud, when explaining
why she enjoys LLLI Conferences. Verna continued, “I choose the
Continuing Education sessions first because that’s where I get
new information, since I am still active in helping mothers with breastfeeding
questions. The CE sessions are always in-depth and helpful.” A
Leader from Overland, Missouri, USA, Verna led her first LLL meeting
in the late summer of 1962 and is one of the Leaders who has attended
almost every LLLI Conference.
Verna always participated
in fundraising activities to help her get to the LLLI Conferences. She
said her Groups held plant sales, giant rummage sales, and wonderful
summer picnics that are now fond memories for her and her 13 grown children.
It all began in 1964 when
another Missouri, USA Leader, Charlotte Peskin, encouraged Verna to
attend the first LLLI Conference at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago,
Illinois, USA. That year Verna and a group of Leaders, babies in arms,
took the train from St. Louis, Missouri, USA to Chicago. Charlotte sparked
the fundraising efforts for the Conference and encouraged Verna and
the other Leaders to attend. Since Verna has rarely missed an LLLI Conference,
she comments that it is easier to count the LLLI Conferences she has
missed than the ones she has attended.
Verna enjoys each Conference
because of the “…Wonderful people, the parents, the babies,
and being with like-minded people. Of course the speakers are also wonderful.”
One session she remembers in particular was led by Marian Tompson. It
was about when you decide to have your last baby. “We had to pass
the tissues around for that one!”
At the LLLI Conference in
Chicago in 2001, Verna enjoyed hearing the Surgeon General of the United
States, Dr. David Satcher, speak in support of breastfeeding. She commented,
“It was such a struggle years ago believing in what we did. One
of the reasons I have stayed around so long in La Leche League is that
it is a vindication of what we believed in.”
Verna remembered being chastised
by her first pediatrician for not starting her young baby on solids.
Forty years ago La Leche League was the only one encouraging exclusive
breastfeeding and a later start in solids. Today, research confirms
the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding and the American Academy of
Pediatrics as well as the World Health Organization encourages exclusive
breastfeeding for about six months.
Verna has spent most of her
years of active leading with the Overland, Missouri, USA Group and is
active in phone counseling, community outreach, and is part of Missouri’s
Coordinating Council. She also assists with the World Walk for Breastfeeding,
LLL exhibits at a local baby store, and helps with an LLL neighborhood
baby contest. As far as her involvement with LLL, Verna said that her
LLL work is “not work at all...it is my heart and soul.” She
is plans to attend the LLLI Conference in San Francisco, California,
USA July 3-6, 2003.
Experienced Leaders are not
the only ones who enjoy LLLI Conferences. The 2001 Chicago Conference
marked the first International Conference that celebrated new Leaders—those
who had been accredited since the last LLLI Conference. “Being
immersed in an LLL atmosphere for three days was sensational,”
said Helene Barr, new Leader from Timmins Ontario, Canada. She said,
“The hotel was like a mini-world where everyone was breastfeeding—in
the elevators, at the meetings, everywhere. It was like being part of
a breastfeeding world for three days. There were so many mothers from
different cultures, all caring about breastfeeding.”
Helene continued, “At
the banquet I had my photograph taken with Japanese singers and dancers.
The photo was later published in our local paper. Everything was brand
new to me because it was the first time I had ever been to the United
States. There were so many good sessions, and it was hard for me to
choose. I really enjoyed hearing Dr. William and Martha Sears, Barbara
Coloroso, and Dr. McKenna speak. The Conference was so empowering.
Helene also enjoyed meeting with the Founders. She said when she first
recognized some of them at registration, she could hardly believe it
and exclaimed, “Oh my, it’s the Founders!” They were
all kind and approachable.
As a new Leader accredited
since the 1999 LLLI Conference, Helene was one of the first to sign
up for lunch with a Founder. She and her daughter, Hazel, sat with Marian
Tompson at a luncheon. Helene commented, “The lunch with a Founder
and walking in the parade with the Board of Directors made me feel special.”
Newly accredited Leaders
also had the chance of signing up for a free raffle of books at the
Press Room. There, Helene ran into Founder Mary Ann Kerwin. “She
was so gracious, and she shook and held my hand the whole time we were
talking. It was fantastic.”
Helene remarked that she
enjoyed participating in the many Conference activities designed to
celebrate new Leaders. These included walking in with the Board of Directors
in the Parade of Nations, a thank-you gift, a ribbon, and a chance at
a special new Leader scholarship.
When asked what she would
tell others about attending a La Leche League International Conference,
Helene said, “It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience you will never
forget.”
The LLLI Conference is an
opportunity to experience the atmosphere of a breastfeeding-friendly
world, to hear the latest in breastfeeding information and parenting,
and to see the seven Founders and the Board of Directors. Plan today
to add your diversity to our strength as we present La Leche League
International’s 18th Breastfeeding Conference: Strength Through
Diversity: Creating One Breastfeeding World, July 3-6, 2003, San Francisco,
California, USA.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:32:12 UTC 2007.
