Tuesday morning, Spenst Bros. Premium Meats held a grand opening celebration for a new building expansion. The family run business was born out of the BSE crisis (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy also known as "mad cow disease") in 2003 when cattle prices dropped to as little as $7 a head. Garry Spenst had to do something to survive the bleak future posed to the grain and cattle farm.
During the program, former Winkler Mayor's Neil Schmidt and Martin Harder, shared their role in helping the family develop a store front operation to sell their own meat locally. Current Mayor, Henry Siemens, called it a story of desperation, of perseverance, and of faith.
Founder, and owner, Garry Spenst opened his speech with Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
He wanted everyone at the event to know this day was not about boasting about their success, but to give God the glory for His faithfulness.
His son, Co-owner and Sales Manager Paul Spenst, was delighted to thank the many trades workers and their families who built the facility, store owners who sell the frozen pizzas across the province and the many dignitaries and community members who have supported the Spenst family. The morning included a free all you can eat pizza and burger lunch, along with tours of the new facility.
"This is the best part for us now, at lunchtime, when we get to serve the people. This is really what we love to do. It's fun to host people, and we're glad to show them the building, but as Dad said, it's not about showing them or showing off. No, we don't really care about that. Our crank is cranked when we get to serve good food to people."
Paul described a bit of what people saw on the tour.
"This newest edition is the Federal meat processing Plant, it is 22,000 square feet. It not quite doubles our current size. It's function is to allow us to produce federally inspected meats, and then of course, federally inspected pizzas, so we can ship into Saskatchewan and Alberta.
When asked what he's hearing from people who love Spenst Pizza, Paul replied,
"We hear a lot of things from people. They love the crust, they love the sauce, they love the toppings. It's always such a big compliment, because we make all of that from scratch. We know people are drawn to a thin crust. We know they're drawn to a pizza they can have served on their table in very short order. They bake it right from frozen. They don't have to let anything thaw for the day before, or prepare it so far ahead of time. This pizza can serve your family in just a short order and it's healthy, it's nutritious."
Garry was careful to let people know, this day was not about boasting of their success, and shared what he hoped the day would be about.
"That people would not look at us as being wealthy people that can show off, and do that kind of stuff, but rather we were humble. We wanted to portray an image of meekness. We are here to help others. It's not about us. It's not about me."
When asked what his message was on such a day to celebrate the success with the community, after coming back from the BSE crisis, Garry had this to say,
"Maybe we were prompted by God to do this. I don't know. We've always been a family that enjoyed a challenge, but we've also been a family that also relies on God. If there's a challenge to be made, we have somebody that we're answerable for and He will help us."
Garry gave local Pastor Claude Lainey a big hug before his message of dedication. His words came from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew about building your house on the Rock.
Three ceremonial pizzas were cut by the three mayors Schmidt, Harder and Siemens and then three generations of Spenst family members rolled up their sleeves to serve a full lunch to the many people who lined up for it. Garry and Paul stood in line talking with each guest, making sure each one had enough to eat.
In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, PembinaValleyOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the PembinaValleyOnline app.
