The Forum was started some time in 1996 (as recently confirmed by Mr. Muncy). I was three years into a startup sprinkler company and two years into trying to operate without our sprinkler engineer partner, who had unexpectedly passed away. Frustrated with not having anybody with industry experience to bounce ideas off of, I posted what may have been the first non-technical, Muncy eyebrow raising message with a subject line something like: 'Tired of Reinventing the Wheel', and asked if anybody out of my market area was interested in forming a peer group. For some reason, nobody responded to this post from the startup contractor in Fargo, ND. I'll guarantee that it generated some off-Forum banter. However, one evening (probably more like 3 am), I received an email from George Church, "Dave, I'm not a contractor but I once was and I will be again. When I do it, count me in on the peer group. If you're awake, call me." We talked for hours. Thus began our friendship . And a few years later, the Churches threw themselves into Rowe Sprinkler, and that peer group resulted in some of the best business advice I ever received.
You've seen it in other posts: Giving; straight-shooter; optimistic; proud family man and proud of his employees; sprinkler geek extraordinaire for sure. How many have attended AFSA's conventions at least in part because of George? To be fair, he had his faults: Nearly impossible for North Dakotans to understand on the phone; Didn't know that Colorado was farther west than Fargo until he was nearly 50 (we found him once in the Denver airport, shaking his head, staring at a wall sized map of the U.S.) What a character. Some of the more enjoyable times in my life have been with George and Cathy. George - you can keep trying to sell The Big Guy up there, but I'm pretty sure He's not going to bite on that 6x2.5x4 grid with K17's, even if you arrange installation before the concrete is poured. Thank-you for your solid friendship. Dave Sornsin ND Regional Manager Rapid Fire Protection, Inc. 3333 E Broadway Ave #1109 Bismarck ND 58501 Direct/Cell 701.371.0643 Fax 701.751.3022 www.rapidfireinc.com [email protected] _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
