Ron Given of Burlington Lanscaping on Wyman Street, whose family has deep roots in Winnmere, says the Blais family was the last to operate those Mountain Road greenhouses in the first picture. John F. Blais Jr. became a serial entrepreneur, launching several successful companies. He told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that picking peas one-by-one on Mountain Road was an important character-builder:
“During my childhood, I had chores to do. I had to work every day and every night, Saturday and Sunday morning,” Mr. Blais said. “One of the things it taught me is when you have work to do, you have to do it. You can’t put it off to another day, especially in farming.” All business students should spend a little time in a “perishable business” to become conditioned to urgency, he said.