El Presidente Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 The passing of Chuck hit us all hard. A personal friend to many of us, he was also a magnificent friend to the forum and set a benchmark for what a moderator should be. I will be setting up a sub forum shortly in honour of Chuck, detailing his photo's,reviews and commentary over the years. He will not be forgotten and will remain as a moderator on FOH. What makes a FOH moderator? In my eyes, he or she is someone who epitomizes all that is great about the community of cigars. It is not about the size of one's collection or even necessarily their depth of experience in Cuban cigars. To me it is their love of life, their passion to help others, their even handedness in discussion. In essence someone who understands that cigars are about people, laughter, friendships, fraternity. I am honoured that Trevour and Guy have accepted the invitation to become moderators on FOH. They both exude all the attributes that we seek in a role that fosters the spirit of FOH. Welcome aboard gentlemen...and thank you Fellow FOH members. I was somewhat surprised when Rob asked if I would become a moderator on the FOH Forum, however it was an easy decision to make. I accepted the appointment and I feel privileged to join the ranks of the fine moderators that have helped shape the forum into its present form. Rob asked me to provide a few words about myself, so here goes. I was born and have lived in Sydney, NSW, Australia all my life. I have been married, divorced, and remarried and have a son, a step-daughter, and a step-son. There are currently three grandchildren that periodically descend into our peace and quiet. Education wise, I have a degree in Civil Engineering. I have always worked as a civil engineer, and was a member of the College of Civil Engineers, a member of the College of Structural Engineers, and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia. The first half of my working career was with a private Consulting firm, then with the Commonwealth Department of Works, then with the NSW State Transport, and finally with two Local Government Councils. After accruing my long service leave with the Councils, I established my own Consulting Engineering practice specialising in structural and hydraulic design. After some 22 years, I retired in 2003 and have been enjoying retirement ever since. My earliest cigar memory was as a child when my father and his mates got together for jackpot-poker, beer, and cigars. My father was a roll-your-own smoker, and these poker evenings were the only time cigars were lit. The aroma of this cigar smoke, even some 60 years later, still lingers in my memory. I was never a cigarette smoker (too busy drinking) but did have the occasional cigar on birthdays etc. It was only over the last 15 years that I started to buy cigars on a regular basis. Like many, my first cigars were non-Cuban and after some 5 years I started on the slippery slope into Cubans. Now I smoke almost exclusively Cubans but I do still have some non-Cuban leftovers and occasional get gifted a non-Cuban. I am not a heavy smoker but I do enjoy the smoking experience. By this I mean that I would never smoke a cigar while doing something else (other than drinking.....some sort of pattern here?). I like to sit down (particularly with friends) and enjoy the moment.....this to me is the enjoyment of the cigar. Upon retirement, I had time to fully explore the world of Cuban cigars and started to seek out information. I found this almost impossible to obtain, so I collected data and collated it on computer and in early 2006 started the now well known Cuban-Cigar-Website. Rob Ayala assisted greatly with the introduction of the website through this forum and has supported the website over the years. Its success can be significantly attributed to this forum and its members. Special mention is made of our departed moderator Chuck (Tampa 1257) who provided immense support, suggestions, and comments in the early tenuous stages of the website. This forum is a reflection of Rob’s attitude to life and as such I hope that I can do my bit in maintaining his ideals. I look forward to working with the current team of moderators, as well as with Guy (laficion) who has also agreed to be a moderator. My congratulations go to Guy on his appointment. Regards, Trevor Leask (trevor2118) Hello to all the members of FOH. First I would like to say that I'm honored and a bit surprised about having been asked by El Prez to become part of the moderating team here at FOH. I'm still not sure if Rob was sober or just getting revenge for Ken throwing him out of his house one night. LOL All kidding aside, I'm truly pleased and honored for the trust and consideration that the team has placed on one who has been a member only a short time such as myself. I'm not going to bother you all with my life's story,so, I'll try to make it short ?..........( well, I did say I'll try ). My name is Guy and I'm a french citizen living in the south of France for the last 27 years . When I was just 2 years old my parents decided to move to the USA where I grew up in N.J. until I decided , after 2 years in collage, to go on my own and discover the world. I went halfway around the world working at odd jobs just to get me to the next destination. From the west Indies to northern africa to Spain,England, Danmark, Germany, Belgium etc. etc Finnally settling back in France with a wife and 3 kids . I started to smoke cigars 40 years ago. My very first box of Havanas was a box of Partagas Belvederes that I bought in a large department store in Europe. ( at the time, a lot of big stores had a tobacco shop inside the store) and as I was looking at the display counter; what really caught my eyes was the difference in prices between brands from major tobacco countries and the cigars from Cuba, the prices were twice as much as the others but also they were not with the other brands, they were in a different window. My first thoughts were, what makes these cigars different from the other cigars ? plus, much more expensive. A few days later, I was still so intrigued by this that I finnally went back to the store and got me the box of Partagas Belvederes. I brought this box to my small 1 room apartment, opened the box, took out one cigar and started to smoke it. That little bugger was so strong that I didn't even finish it and chucked it in the bin. Weeks later, I took out another cigar and tried smoking one again, Damn, same thing but this time it was even worse. Anyway, to make a long story short, I went back to the store and asked the vendor why and he told me that I had to humidify the cigars, temp. storage, etc etc.(my room had a central heater and my cigars were always on my small table without any protection). From there , I started to get interested in the thing so I went to see a real cigar shop in town and for the next 8 months spoke with the gentleman and from there, started my cigar apprenticeship. As my passion grew, my thirst for information grew even faster, I started to document myself by reading all I could about Cuba, drove my cigar shop vendor crazy by always asking if he recieved any new ads or magazines, booklets, anything !!!!!!! One day,he even gave me his cigar catolog from Cubatobaco just to get rid of me. Yep,you can imagine how much a pain in the ass I must have been. As strange as it may sound, those were however , some of my most happiest years. I had the chance to smoke some of the best cigars at the time and some of the worst but my Habano has always been a faithful companion. A celebration that has been present at every event of my life, my marriage, my kids, my work, my moments of solitude, my joy with beings with friends, recieving but also giving and sharing with others.It's also the reason why I created a cigar club 16 years ago. 40 years may seem long but in realaity, I'm just starting to learn,but,isn't that what life is all about ? Well that's it, I hope that I haven't been tooooo long. I would like to close in saying that I share in El Prez's views on what FOH cigar community is all about, cigars, friends and laughter. For me, cigars are only the tool, what's more important is the passion, the brotherhood and the respect of all the persons involved in such a great community. That will be my goal as a FOH moderator. I look forward to continue sharing many great moments with all of you. Trés Amicalement, Guy, (laficion)
mkz Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 Well deserved and good pick!! Your site is legendary Trevor and I really enjoy your post on this forum Guy!!
Onsto Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 Congrats guys - I haven't been around here for long but I can't think of two people better qualified. It goes without saying; smoke something good to celebrate.
maalouly Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 About bloody time! good to have you both as moderators ... but Guy I believe this photo fo you is not so recent, its' only fair to show us your long sexy hair.
dicko Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 I lit up with a smile reading this. Very happy to have these two great blokes on the moderating team! congrats and I'll be smoking a cigar to celebrate, hope you do too! Cheers, Dicko
DrunkenMonkey Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 Fantastic choices, both. Congrats, Guy and Trevor! Thanks to both of you for taking this on.
ChanceSchmerr Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 Can't think of two better fellows for the posts. Congrats Guy and Trevor!
LeafLover Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 Congratulations gentlemen. What a great compliment paid to your characters and your love for our passion.
MIKA27 Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 Congratulations to you both Gentlemen! It seems Prez is not only great at HQ selections in cigars but also with Moderators.
Fuzz Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 Congratulations to you both Gentlemen! It seems Prez is not only great at HQ selections in cigars but also with Moderators. I don't know about that Mika. I mean, Ken is a moderator...
Stalebread Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 Wow! Two great choices. Congratulations and thanks to both Guy and Trevor. And beyond that, congrats and thanks to Rob and all of the mods, and to all of us for making FOH such an outstanding forum.
samb Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 Congratulations to you both!!! Two very good picks and two very good men!! Looking forward to many years to come.
skindiver Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 I greatly enjoyed reading the biographies of both new moderators. Somehow I think my good friend Chuck would have approved them both. But can they offset Ken's new found socialist tilt? LOL
OZCUBAN Posted June 3, 2010 Posted June 3, 2010 A big Congrats to you both We will all be the benefactors of your wealth of knowledge and experience,in what we all know is simply the best Cuban or otherwise ,Cigar website in the world what we have here is something special Cheers Oz
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