by Patrick Flannery
Fenestration Review
June 12, 2014 – The notorious “Winterpeg” gave Fenestration Manitoba golfers a beautiful, clear, 20-degree day with just enough wind to keep the mosquitoes in the bush at the challenging Rossmere Country Club in Winnipeg. The event, which has been held almost every year for over 30 years, brought 85 of Manitoba’s window and door fabricators, dealers and suppliers together for only the second time under the Fenestration Manitoba banner.
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| Mike Pasternak of Hoppe enjoyed perfect golf conditions with over 80 other contestants.
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Golfers enjoyed a scramble format tournament, with long drive, closest-to-the-pin and closest-to-the-line contests sponsored by local suppliers. No one claimed the $10,000 prize for a hole-in-one, but not for lack of trying. After the golf, Fenestration Manitoba president, Ryan Dudeck of Paramount Windows and Doors, welcomed the crowd to a prime rib dinner. “We are trying to get window fabricators to be more knowledgeable and to interact a little bit more within our community,” Dudeck told his audience. “We find that the more we talk about the new codes and what is right and what is wrong in the industry, we become a better industry.”
Fenestration Manitoba director, Al Dueck, introduced a special guest, Kevin Pelley of Halifax-based Kohltech. Pelley is a former president of Fenestration Canada, and he told the golfers a bit about the upcoming activities the national association was planning for its Annual General Meeting starting the next day. Pelley rallied the crowd with his famous cry of “Soooooocible!”
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| Kevin Pelley plays his favourite Nova Scotia drinking game.
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The day ended with a unique Winnipeg experience, an alley party in the historic Exchange District. Fenestration Manitoba’s association managers, Monica and Cameron Derksen, created an interesting venue for a party in a back alley with a bar and a live band. Overhead were old-fashioned counterbalanced fire escapes right out of the ’30s. Gail Perry, an expert on Winnipeg’s architectural history, was on hand to show off the incredible terra cotta cladding on several nearby buildings.
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| Dave Mitten of SAWDAC said he’s never paid $10 to get into an alley before. To get out of one, yes, but never into one.
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More photos from the day are available on the Fenestration Review Facebook page.