Every year, at the AGM, Flower Canada hands out these awards. "With these awards, we try to give our members and produces the recognition they deserve. The Canadian sector has grown over the last several years and people are still putting in their time, resources and knowledge towards moving the sector forward. We are tremendously grateful to them for volunteering their time to make that possible", says Andrew Morse, Executive Director at Flowers Canada.
The award winners John Valk and Gina Marcianda have both been involved in Flowers Canada for many years. "They contributed to the sector over the course of their participation and created a tremendous community in Canada's Floriculture industry. So, the industry and our association all owe these two award winners a great debt of gratitude for their ongoing contributions to the Ontario flower growing community."
John Valk (Left), and the award was presented by Robert Bierhuizen (right).
John Valk - Lifetime Achievement award
John Valk has presented the Lifetime Achievement award to others three times - to Jim Meyers, Jim Peptone and Jim Jeffery- and is now the one who is receiving it. But what makes someone become a candidate for the Lifetime Achievement awards? "The award is presented to a grower, distributor or retailer who, during his/her lifetime, have demonstrated forward thinking and ideas that have strengthened their business and the industry. The contributions can be in growing practices, leadership, mentorship, business, marketing. Additionally, the candidate has spent at least 40 years in the floriculture industry", explains Morse.
And John Valk meets all these points. "He has been contributed his time working with the sector and that was certainly recognized by everyone in the room. He has been very helpful to producers - and even competitors - when they have been in trouble. Besides that, he served on numerous boards; His animated character was always welcomed on all the Boards he served. Over a course of 17 years, John was Board member and VP Production for Flowers Canada National, Board member and President of Flowers Canada (Ontario), Board member and VP of the Cecil Delworth Foundation, Board member of the COPF, and Founding President of AgEnergy, where he served for 8 years. He was even there when Flowers Canada Ontario had their first Annual General Meeting and he was there too for the 50th meeting yesterday", says Morse.
What is John's background? John’s family immigrated from the Netherlands to a Brantford area farm, when he was 6. His Dad moved his family to the small town of Grimsby where he purchased a 9-acre fruit farm and slowly began building Valk Greenhouses. While in high school John had started working at Jordan Greenhouses which was next door to their own farm and when he graduated from school in 1964 he also started working with his Dad. In 1968, John secured an Ontario Junior Farmer Establishment Loan for $40,000 and built a 1400 square foot bungalow as well as a new greenhouse on the farm. Around this time John and Pauline were married and, working as a team, they built up the farm and their family over the succeeding years. Valk Greenhouses grew to 130,000 square feet, with 3 acres of outdoor production. Their main crops were hydrangeas, poinsettias and geraniums. As his farm grew, the town of Grimsby also grew and 12 years ago, a developer presented John an offer to buy the farm that he could not refuse. Now with spare time on his hands and not willing to sit idle, John jumped in once again to help Flowers Canada (Ontario). On top of that, he also took on a part time job for Excalibur Plastics, selling plastics to the greenhouse industry.
Gina Marchionda (Right), and the award was presented by Jan Van Zanten (Left).
Gina Marchionda - Outstanding Contribution to the Industry Award
"The Outsanding Contribution to the Industry Award is awarded to anyone in the floriculture industry (grower, researcher, supplier, distributor, retailer) who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the industry, has shown exceptional involvement in local, regional and national industry associations, boards and committees, and has contributed to the enhancement of public understanding and appreciation of the floriculture industry."
And Gina Marciada received this award this year. Gina Marchionda was first elected to the Flowers Canada (Ontario) Board of Directors in 2007 at a time when the association needed someone with financial accounting skills to take on the role of treasurer and has been re-elected to that post in each succeeding election since then. FCO has benefited greatly from Gina’s enthusiastic personality and financial skills. But her passion and understanding for small, family run business, has been an even greater asset to the successes of the past 10 years at FCO. In addition, Gina also began to help out in many committees for FCO and FCG. She continues to serve the sector and represent flower growers on the TOGA Human Resources Committee, the FARMS Board, the International Trade Committee, the Cost of Production project steering committee, and the Management Committee for GreenCHIP-Q.
Next to these numerous activities, which she is doing on a voluntary basis, she also has a full time job. Since 2001, she has worked for Jeffery’s Greenhouses as their Financial Controller. Prior to that she articled with KPMG and then worked for private industry in manufacturing and transportation companies. She feels very comfortable in the family oriented business atmosphere, as she herself was raised in the same environment. She has commented that she has never seen such an industry as the one she is in now. "There are few other sectors where everyone is so willing to get together and talk things out. Or where companies are willing to work together to get something that benefits everyone", she says.
"Her many years of service and support have contributed significantly to the betterment of our industry association. She is a great asset and we are blessed to have her work for us as a volunteer for the board", says Morse.
For more information
Flowers Canada (Ontario) Inc.
Andrew Morse, Executive Director
45 Speedvale Avenue East, Unit 7
Guelph, Ontario N1H 1J2
Email: andrew@fco.ca
www.flowerscanadagrowers.com