144 Leadership alike. Her son, Russ Rustin, also handled the duties of overseeing the planning and rollout of all the conventions and educational venues for ACOFP under Betty and George. George Nyhart replaced Betty Vaught as executive director on Dec. 1, 1988. He was very well spoken and possessed impeccable people skills. George was instrumental in expanding the educational and social activities of ACOFP, primarily conventions, by securing pharmaceutical industry funding, which was plentiful at the time. In the 1980s and before, all marketing of new medications had to occur through physicians, and direct-to-patient marketing was strongly discouraged. This meant that there was no shortage of funding for physician education and marketing, and that George and Russ had resources to produce impressive educational venues in some very opulent places. One memorable experience was booking the entire Rawhide frontier town in Phoenix, Arizona, which included dinner, gunfighters, and a casino night with an auction for gifts using the chips (tickets) won at the authentic gaming tables. The second and possibly the most memorable venue occurred in Anaheim, California, when ACOFP rented the entire Knott’s Berry Farm for a fun night. All rides and concessions in the park were free, and members and guests could eat and ride to their heart’s content. It was like a dream come true for the families. One physician and his family rode the Zambezi Zinger, a roller coaster that did high-speed loops both forward and backward 50 times in succession. The ride stopped only to let off nauseated passengers and take on new ones. The family accomplished that momentous feat without losing anything they consumed at the concession stands before or after the ride. George’s financial prowess was put to the ultimate test once during an AOA House of Delegates meeting, when the house was seeking donations from delegates and affiliate organizations to retire the debt still outstanding on the AOA headquarters building on Michigan Avenue in order to renovate it. Many organizations present were standing and pledging several thousand dollars each to the effort. Unbeknownst to George, the chair of the AOBFP board stood and proclaimed in a booming voice, “The ACOFP pledges $60,000 to the AOA building fund.” A collective cheer went up from the audience, and George, who had been observing the action and having no direction from his board to contribute, sat visibly stunned. He quickly regained his composure, then said somewhat calmly, “That is admirable, but where is he going to get that kind of money? Certainly not from us.” In the end, the pledge was paid in full by ACOFP, likely with help from AOBFP, allowing the AOA building debt to be retired thanks to George’s skill as a negotiator and manager of ACOFP funds. George held his position of executive director until March 31, 2000, when he later retired and moved to Florida. Betty Warner hired Peter (Pete) Schmelzer as her replacement for ACOFP executive director.
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