We did rise early at our Fairmont Château Laurier, for having breakfast and to get on our way.
Nick Pora Sr. on the left, with Pieter at his Continental Mushroom Farm
On Tuesday, August 18, 1998 we had received a fax at the Fairmont Château Laurier, for our meeting next day.
So after breakfast we got on our way for FINALLY visiting Nick's mushroom farm!
Nick Pora, was also a loyal customer of my Lacquered Brass Window Decorations 'Mushrooms' in two sizes.
Below post you find some links for actually seeing them.
Guess Nick came to the Dutch Mushroom Days in June of 1988, where I had a stand for selling those.
Nick Pora, also had enclosed these cards with that letter...
CHAMPIGNON — CONTINENTAL —MUSHROOM
Producers of some of the best mushrooms in the world
Nick Pora, hailed from Romania and in 1972 he came to Canada with only $ 5.00 in his pocket.
With hard work, he managed to build himself up and run a successful mushroom farm.
Already during the 1st NAMC at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco he met Pieter in 1979.
See link below this post with his photo.
Again, at the 12th NAMC Conference in Vancouver he begged us to visit him.
But Ottawa is not a city we often flew into...
So this time, when using our frequent flyer miles for a vacation to Canada, we planned it such, that we would end in Ottawa and then drive to his place.
We first met at the mushroom farm's office where we also briefly saw Virginia Pora, Nick's lovely wife.
Nick Pora Jr. and Nick Pora Sr. at almost 82 years of age (September) and Pieter.
In February, Nick had lost 40 lbs (18 kg) of weight after their return from a vacation in Aruba.
Me, Nick Jr. and Nick Sr. at the restaurant for lunch.
Nick Sr. had taken us via the compost slab, to a first break room, full with product.
His skills for mushroom cultivation proved to be good.
Then he took us to the Packaging area.
THE BEST WE EVER SAW!
They used a barcode with ratings: 1–2–3–4 or cannery (for worst quality). Beautiful white product!
A Chinese 'mama' ran the packaging including a clean floor; no spills!
We were both very impressed and told Nick so.
They daily handled 13 tons of fresh product.
Both of us felt very happy for finally having fulfilled his request to visit him!
Fond memories of a long time friendship.
Next day we did check out from the Fairmont Château Laurier, drove to the airport and returned our Herz rental car after driving our 987 km or 613 mi.
By 11:00 o'clock we flew via Newark, New Jersey on Continental Express, to Atlanta, Georgia.
That was the end of our memorable Canada Vacation!
Related links:
Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA 1st North American Mushroom Conference | previous post by me where Nick Pora attended
Dutch Mushroom Days and Selling My Own Design of Brass Mushrooms | previous post by me
{My Own Design of Brass Mushrooms} | previous post by me
Beautiful.
ReplyDeletewww.rsrue.blogspot.com
Dearest Regine,
DeleteThank you and yes, it sure made Nick happy and he could be proud of himself!
Hugs,
Mariette
Ja dat waren tropenjaren.Jullie hebben het goed volbracht.
ReplyDeleteBeste Ellie,
DeleteJa, wij werkten nog in Indonesië, maar dit bedrijf was in Canada, bij Ottawa.
Onze beste tijd samen, maar wel weinig tijd voor andere dingen... Nu nog proberen wat in te halen en terug te kijken!
Liefs,
Mariette
Danke dir Mariette, es ist schön zu verfolgen und ich mag vor allem auch die Fotos vergangener Tage.
ReplyDeleteGestern habe ich TV geschaut so lange wie noch nie... wir haben im allgemeinen eine sehr gute
Berrichterstattung im 1. und 2. Programm - vor allem vollkommen ohne Werbung - jedoch schaue ich selten TV. Aber gestern habe ich den Abschied von Queen Elisabeth angeschaut. Es war sehr berührend und ich denke, es fand Beachtung um den gesamten Globus.
Viele Grüsse zu Euch und meine besten Wünsche.
Liebe Viola,
DeleteJa, Danke!
Den Abschied von Queen Elizabeth ist für die ganze Welt auch ein Zeichen das sie diese 70 Jahre lang, Gott gedient hat. Eine sehr wertvolle Botschaft für allen—besonders heut zu tage.
Liebe Grüße,
Mariette
Good old memories for sure.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Coisas de Feltro
Dearest Chrisina,
DeleteYes, they are fond memories of friends that are no longer around...
Hugs,
Mariette
Hi, Mariette and Pieter!
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed at the size of the mushroom factories. And I love the yellow color on the walls. It's such a happy color, isn't it?
I hope that Nick Sr, didn't loose all that weight because of a tropical disease in Aruba. He looks thin, indeed.
About your lacquered brass window decorations mushrooms, they are so cute and I never tire of looking at them, in your older post! :)
I know you like to research and I thought you might like to know, that Nick Pora Jr. has a Linkedin Profile as a General Manager at Greenwood Mushroom Farm. I don't know if you knew this (maybe you alredy did!), but I was curious to see if he continued his fathers work and I'm glad to see he did!
Here is the link: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/nick-pora-565170a9
Have a blessed weekend, Mariette and Pieter!
:)
Dearest Paula,
DeleteYes, such mushroom farms are often big operations.
Thank you for looking at the lacquered mushrooms, it was my drawing that got made into this and was quite a success at congresses.
We both know about Nick Pora Jr. being on LinkedIn but so far he has not responded to our LinkedIn message...
Hugs,
Pieter & Mariette
I remember seing your post about you drawing and showing them in your window and later on the stand at the mushroom convention, I believe. They are the cutest thing!!!
DeleteI'm sorry Nick hasn't responded to your message, but I hope he sees it and remember those happy days you spent with him, his mother and his dad!
😄
Yes Paula, we both certainly hope he will get to read this...
DeleteHugs,
Mariette
Mariette, I don't know if you saw this video (you are always one step ahead of me 😁)! It's Nick Pora Jr. at his mushroom farm.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cz7QMYjn7Y
Yes, Paula—we did find this and watched it...😉
Delete😆
Delete🤗
Delete