It might be hard to believe when you look at this photo but it has been almost forty years since these guys took on the hammer and travelled to the United States of America for the very first time to do some serious greenhouse building over there. Back in the eighties Ton Versteeg, Arie Luiten, Gerrit Otto, Mike Essig, Guy van Leeuwen, Dirk Herens, Johan van den Beukel and Hans Spek all worked together. This weekend they had a small reunion in Michigan.
Ton Versteeg, Arie Luiten, Gerrit Otto, Mike Essig, Guy van Leeuwen, Dirk Herens, Johan van den Beukel and Hans Spek all worked together. This weekend they had a small reunion.
Today they all spend most of their days in the United States, but 40 years ago crossing the ocean was a challenge for these Dutchies. The guys in the photo met while working with V&V Noordland, the international daughter of Dutch greenhouse building company Voskamp & Vrijland, and were amongst the first building Dutch greenhouses on the other side of the oceans.
Fast-forward to 2019: the hairstyles might be slightly different, the faces might have aged a bit and they do look way more decent than they might have done when in a bar in the eighties - but other than that the crew V&V Noordland has not changed a bit. Or, how they summarise it themselves: "We had a goooood time."