Blog

We just got back from two days of exhibiting at the Alberta Foodservice Expo which was held in the BMO Centre on the grounds of the world renowned Calgary Stampede. Albertans came from all over the province to visit the show. We met with Leanne from the Longshots Sports Bar and Lounge from Fort McMurray, Donald from the Wok Box in Grand Prairie and places I had never heard of before like Greg who is from the Cactus Pub & Grill in Picture Butte, Alberta. Of course there was lots of visitors to our booth from Calgary in attendance and a number made the trip down from Edmonton.

The highlight of the show came when Narry Saini wanted to borrow some National Event Supply plating dishes for his food presentation in the Cooking Competition held during the show. Narry is an Executive Chef with Oh! Canada Restaurant & Bar in Calgary and is also on the board of the Calgary Academy of Chefs & Cooks.

Will (Stayer) and myself had a great time meeting everyone at the show and particularly enjoyed the fresh home-made muffins that Duane from Pearson’s Berry Farm brought around to us just around lunch time on Monday. Duane was one of the fresh and local exhibitors who was just across from our booth. Their Muffins are to die for.

We are looking forward to returning in 2012. There is a possibility it may alternate to Edmonton for 2012 which would give our Northern Alberta customers an easier opportunity to see our products on display as well as meet some of our staff at the show.

On a side note, if you are planning a trip to Calgary, I highly recommend staying at the Westways Guest House. This bed and breakfast is just a 10-minute walk to the south entrance of the Stampede Grounds and is close to downtown as well. There are some great walking paths that travel alongside the Elbow River that are only minutes away from the house and the Calgary Arts District is also very close by. And the breakfast you are provided with in the morning is just amazing. Don and Ross were helping out Jonathan who was away on vacation and the service they provided was just fabulous. Great place to stay and great prices too!

The annual CRA Ontario Golf Tournament was held September 15, 2011 at Trehaven Golf Club in Hawkstone, Ontario. The shotgun `bestball` tournament started at 11:00 am with members and suppliers teeing off from every hole on the course. The tournament was a great opportunity to raise some funds for the CRA Ontario Association as well as celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the CRA Ontario local. CRA Ontario was the first local to be established in Canada for the Canadian Rental Association.

Attending the Golf day from National Event Supply were myself, Jonathan Heathcote and Bill Winslade. We had the pleasure of golfing with Andrew Paquette the Chairman of the Canadian Rental Association and recently Past-President of the CRA as well as Past Executive Board Member of the American Rental Association. Andrew is also the President of Bravo Location Rentals in Montreal, Quebec. While the weather was somewhat co-operative for the day, we did get a little wet on a couple of holes. We were very fortunate that Andrew remembered to bring his extra-large golf umbrella so that all 4 golfers could keep dry in between shots. We had a great time throughout the day and were thankful to have Jonathan in our foursome otherwise we would had a much higher score than our 8 over par.

The highlight shot for the day occurred on the 167 yard par 3, - 18th hole. Jonathan put us close to the green with a great drive shot that was pin high and about 20 feet off to the right of the green. We then had about a 50 ft shot to make the hole. Andrew was 2nd up on the hole and proceeded with a great chip the landed on fly onto the green, hit the pin and dropped in for a Birdie.

After golf everyone enjoyed a great steak dinner and some libations. The day was wrapped up with the presentation of numerous awards to some of the more successful golfers, awarding of the raffle prizes and speeches from Mike Maltby, the President of CRA Ontario and Wayne Beckett, the President of CRA. We would also like to extend our personal thanks to Wayne who travelled all the way from Moosomin, Saskatchewan and Andrew who flew in from Montreal to attend the Golf tournament and help celebrate the 50th CRA Ontario Anniversary.

Next year’s CRA Ontario tournament is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, September 12th, 2012 at the Nottawasaga Inn Resort & Conference Centre in Alliston, Ontario. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

A question we frequently get asked is how to tell the difference between a good quality plastic folding chair and one that can't handle the rigours of the rental industry.

One of the best ways to figure out if you are buying a good quality plastic/poly folding chair is to take a firm hold of the seat back with your hands and to give it a twist. The seat should have some give and flex under the pressure as you twist the seat back. If it feels too rigid, there is a good possibility the chair you have selected has too much recycled plastic in it and will therefore be ‘brittle’ and very susceptible to breaking under many different conditions. Breakage will occur when the weather in the northern parts of the US and Canada gets colder or when the chairs are handled a little more roughly.

Since we often cannot wait until winter sets in to check to see how the sample chair performs in sub-zero weather, you can perform a quick and easy test on a sample chair. The hammer test is the easiest way to make sure that they chairs you are looking at use virgin plastic. I must admit I have to give credit to one of our customers, Parkland Party & Equipment Rentals in Red Deer, Alberta for telling me about this particular test. All you need is a typical 16 ounce hammer and the sample plastic folding chair you wish to test for long term durability. Give the back of the seat on your sample plastic folding chair a few whacks with the hammer. If your sample poly folding chair breaks, you know it isn’t a good long-term buy.

If you are looking for a cost effective, lightweight, but durable and reliable chair that will support the majority of people that attend weddings, concerts, parties, business meetings and the like, then our NES RELIABLE Plastic Folding Chairs are the ideal solution. These chairs have been stress tested to support a 225lb drop test from 6 inches above the chair and do not fail. In addition, they contain only virgin plastic with a high tensile steel frame that will provide many years of use and enjoyment for your business. In addition, our NES RELIABLE Plastic Folding Chairs come with a 2 year material and manufacturing defect warranty. These have been an excellent performing chairs for all our customers.

We are currently stocking 7 main colours: Black seat and back on a Black frame, White on White, Burgundy on Grey. Grey on Grey, Tan on Tan, Brown on Tan and Slate Blue on Grey.