Lumber Wholesalers' Annual Meeting

A full roster of educational programs, activities and the like will be held during North American Wholesale Lumber Association's l08th annual meeting April29-May 2 at the La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad, Ca.

An 8:30 a.m. board meeting starts things off Saturday, April 29, the day's sole event.

Sunday's events include a business breaKast, brunch, silent auction, golf tournament, and a Manufacturers Council advisory committee meeting.

Themed "Catch the Wave," the general session and keynote address begin at l:00 p.m., including presentation of the Mulrooney Award. Jim Livermore, NAWLA chairman, will moderate an educational program panel discussion afterwards, followed by a welcoming party.

Monday begins with a 5K run/walk, followed by a spouse tour of the Birch Aquarium and lunch at nearby Azul Restaurant. Concurrently, wholesalers and suppliers can rub elbows during an informal contact session, and then participate in a mixed doubles tennis tournament prior to happy hour.

The concluding day, Tuesday, May 2, has two meetings, a men's golf tournament, a beauty and makeup demonstration, plus the Chairman's reception and banquet.

Included among the educational programs are:

J. Michael Marks' "Catching the E-Commerce Wave," a dissertation on Web-based e-commerce practices;

. Bruce Anderson's "Wood Is Good-The Pro'Wood Initiative."

. and Robert Glowinski's "New

Market Opportunities in Commercial Construction," a symposium on international building codes.

Plastic Lumber Firm Shake Up

In light of a lawsuit filed by trash hauler Waste Management, U.S. Plastic Lumber has removed is chairman, Louis D. Paolino, Jr., and named president and ceo Mark Alsentzer as his replacement.

The board also accepted the resignation of director John E. Drury, Waste Management's former ceo and chairman.

Waste Management is suing Paolino for allegedly overstating profits at Eastern Environmental Services, a company he oversaw and eventually sold to them for $l.l5,i'iilion. The suit contends that Drury helped

Paolino gain control of Eastern with the understanding that it would be sold to Waste Management's predecessor company.

Both Paolino and Drury have denied any wrongdoing in this matter. USPL did not announce a replacement for the board vacancy.

New Lawn & Garden Website

E*Garden, Inc., has reportedly launched the first business-to-business e-commerce Web site for the lawn & garden industry.

The site (www.egarden.com) features an auction for surplus and rare merchandise, and in the spring plans to open a Wholesale Store for sales.

Linda Watson is president; Peter Loewer is contributing editor in charge of the online newsletter, and Catherine Maxwell, director of associate relations.