T BIRD Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 What a wonderful treat I had today. I walked into my friend Frank Parisi's office at noon time today and lo and behold there was Roger Folz sitting there!! I had never seen or met him before. What a pleasure it was for me to meet him and sit with him for a couple of hours and just listen to him and Frank talk as we had a leisurely lunch. Frank is s wonderful guy also. He is so knowlegeable about current bulk vending trends and of the history of bulk vending. He is a young man about 35 years old. Frank's family has been very close with Roger for over 50 years. Frank's dad was a major manufacturer of toys years ago. He had a plant in China that made them. When young Frank was born Roger had a gum ball machine sent up to the hospital for Frank. I guess Roger is like a god father or grandfather to Frank. It was such fun to listen to the two of them talk back and forth about today's bulk industry. I have have been very fortunate to meet Frank. This was back in April. He really took me under is wing and has taught me so much about this business. Just wanted to share this with all of you............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kai1836 Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 That sounds like a fun time. Don't suppose he'll write a book anytime soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Please tell me you told Mr. Folz about our community..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Steve...........I did not mention our community yesterday to Roger. The next time we hang out for a bit I will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Johnny, that is awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 That sounds like a fun time. Don't suppose he'll write a book anytime soon? I am gonna ask Frank about that kai. He really should write a book. Roger was telling me stories about his two engine plane he owned. He would fly around many big name politicians etc. in it. He does not own the plane anymore. He had to give it up because of health reasons. He related a story about some big chain of stores in Washington state I believe. To make a long story short, the routeman assigned to service it had come down with a bad back and was laid up for two weeks. No one knew this apparently. Roger gets an irate call about some of the machines being empty and not working. Know what Folz did? He flew out a routeman immediately to service what needed to be done! The owner of the chain of stores was totally blown away when he was told that!! Needless to say, servicing machines and keeping them in shape was a priority of Roger's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidsurvz Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 WOW Johnny! You have been very blessed with your business. Do you think "the family" will make you the next "Don." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluePlate Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Steve...........I did not mention our community yesterday to Roger. The next time we hang out for a bit I will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mage Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 A book would be great, but I would recommend somebody collaborate with him. Or more likely spend a good month interviewing him, and turning recordings of the interviews into a book. But this should be done quickly. He may have 20 years left, or 20 days. Never know. (Not trying to be a downer here.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 I had dinner last nite with Frank Parisi. He is the person who has been so instrumental in my growth and development in the bulk business. He is an amazing young man. ( 35 years old ) He was born into the bulk world literally. He started going to bulk conventions when he was 7 years old. He knows as much or more history about this business than anyone. Anyway, I told him that folks on Vendiscuss would love to see abook written about Roger Folz. Frank and Roger are very close and see each other 3 or 4 times per week. Frank said Roger has no interest in writing a book about himself but he would let Frank write a book about him if he wished. Frank said he would get around to it at some point in his life but not now. Frank would certainly be the person to do this. He knows everything about Roger. I love listening to Frank talk about the major players and companies in this industry. The Oak folks, NW folks, Beaver folks, and of course the A&A folks. I have learned so much from him. I am so blessed to have met him totally by accident one day this past March at the storage facility where I keep my machines and product. At that point in my bulk career when I met him, I was still basically running charity machines only with no commission accounts except for one or two. And now? Fooogitabbbboudddiiittttttt..............I am still trying to get around to see everything I have on location.......lol. Alot of these locations I bought were Roger's at one time. Some of them have been on location for over 20 years! The same machines also! Its great knowing that these spots are not going anywhere in terms of having me remove the machines. Just a little TLC is all these locations ask. I have really made a big effort to thoroughly clean these machines as I visit and introduce myself for the first time. ( the coffee I am drinking this early morning is great!.......lol) I love bulk vending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kai1836 Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 John, Very nice for you to bring that up to him. I'm sure when a book comes out in the future it will be worth the wait. Don't work too hard today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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