PATCHOGUE, N.Y.—The Long Island Floor Covering Association (LIFCA) has announced a gala fund raising event to celebrate its 50th anniversary and support the Floor Covering Industry Foundation (FCIF). The event will be held at the Woodbury Country Club in Woodbury, N.Y., on Jan. 21, and will honor retail floor covering companies and flooring contractors on Long Island and in New York City that have been in business for 50 years.

Originally formed as The Long Island Floor Covering Club, LIFCA was founded in 1958 with the mission of strengthening and improving the business practices, standards, professionalism and ethics of the region’s floor covering businesses. “It has always been a social and educational organization,” noted executive director Christopher Capobianco, “providing a way for people in the industry to get together in a relaxed setting, get to know each other and learn more about how to do business.”

LIFCA is an affiliate of the World Floor Covering Association ( WFCA) with members across all sectors of the industry including dealers, flooring contractors, installers, inspectors, cleaners, manufacturers and distributor representatives and management.

Like many volunteer organizations, LIFCA has gone through periods of intense activity and high visibility, such as the 1990s when it was the World Floor Covering Association’s (WFCA) “Affiliate of the Year” on more than one occasion.

The group has also had periods where there was very little activity, but the current board, under the leadership of Arnold Graff, president of Montauk Carpet, has been busy scheduling an increasing number of events and seminars over the past several years, noted Capobianco.

“We’ve had our ups and downs as far as the level of participation and activity,” he said, “but we’re still alive and well, and our membership numbers and level of participation are on the rise. We’re coming out of a relatively quiet time right now into what we hope will be a busy period again. Seminars on concrete moisture, taxes and insurance and the return of our ‘Tool Time’ event this past May after several years hiatus have served to re-establish LIFCA as an active organization.”

As for the future, Capobianco said, we’re currently going through our annual membership drive in addition to preparing for the gala. “As a WFCA affiliate organization, dealers, flooring contractors, inspectors and cleaners can join LIFCA as a full member and also become members of WFCA, which has a long list of advantages such as listing on its consumer Web site, trade scholarships up to $500 to train staff, and so on. Manufacturer or distributor representatives and management can be affiliate members. We’re hoping to hit 100 full members sometime in the next two years, and we’re also hoping to put on at least three educational events in 2009 alone.”

Matthew Crossen, president of the Long Island Association (LIA), will be the gala’s keynote speaker. There will be no dancing, noted Capobianco, and business attire is required. The event will feature several 50/50 raffles. “We will also honor dealers who have been in business for 50 years. It was a pleasant surprise to learn how many there are. There will also be a journal with a brief history of the association, some photographs and ads, as well as messages from our supporters.”

As mentioned earlier, the event will serve as a fundraiser for FCIF. At Surfaces 2007, Graff presented a check for $3,000 to FCIF after a successful LIFCA fund raising dinner and golf outing. “We invite everyone in our industry to help us celebrate 50 years and honor retail and contract flooring companies that have been around as long as we have,” he said.

For information, reservations, journal ads and to join the LIFCA mailing list, visit its Web site, www.LIFloor.com.