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Collin Street Bakery of Corsicana is proud to announce the winners of its Costa Rica trip giveaway, held in its four bakeshops over this past spring and summer.
Dr. Luis Salinas and his wife, Carol Crittenden, of Houston, have won an all-expenses paid trip for two to Costa Rica. Collin Street Bakery operates the world's largest organic farm there, in the Sarapaqui River Valley, near the center of Costa Rica. The farm is just west of the volcanic ridge line that features two active volcanoes, Arenal and Poas. The 3,000 acre farm is actually a collection of smaller farms (most organic, some conventional) on which Collin Street Bakery's pineapple are grown and harvested. The farm yields about 50 million pineapple annually.
As the pineapple is harvested, it is carefully stacked in special trailers and transported immediately to the packing plant on the farm. There, the pineapple is dunked in cool water to clean and cool the fruit, and hand-sorted by size and quality before entering the air-conditioned packing plant. The pineapples are quickly boxed according to size, and chilled in state-of-the-art proprietary chilling chambers before being loaded into freezer trucks. The trucks haul the pineapple to the port of Limon, where freighters then deliver to the U.S., Europe, and beyond.
From farm to store is less than two weeks.
Collin Street Bakery uses over 150,000 pounds of pineapple annually, with the remainder of the crop going to Dole and stores like Whole Foods.
The winners of Collin Street Bakery's Costa Rica Trip Giveaway are a married couple from Houston. Dr. Luis Salinas, teaches Sociology at the University of Houston, where he has taught for 19 years. His wife, Carol Crittenden, is an elementary music teacher in Fort Bend. She has taught music for 23 years. She also plays the oboe with the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra. The couple are passionate opera fans, attending operas around the world.
In addition, this active couple are avid runners, having completed an amazing 74 marathons between the two of them.
When notified of their win, Dr. Salinas said he had received his first Collin Street Bakery Fruitcake years ago as a gift for having served on a jury. He has been a fan ever since. His wife, Carol, also has fond memories of Collin Street Bakery's fruitcakes.
"My mother got the Deluxe Fruitcake for my dad for as long as I can remember,” she said. “When she passed away, I took over that role, and continue to send a fruitcake to my dad every Christmas.”
The couple will visit Collin Street Bakery's pineapple operation, called Finca Corsicana, and stay in Collin Street Bakery’s executive suites on the farm. From there, they will choose from a variety of beautiful and exotic destinations and activities, including active volcanoes, Mt. Poas or Aranal, and any number of majestic waterfalls (Costa Rica's largest is actually on Collin Street Bakery's farm). They will also experience exploratory boat rides on the nearby Sarapaqui River, and canopy tours through and over majestic rain forests. Additional activities available to them include horse back riding, fishing, or just hanging out around the pool and hot tub at the executive suites.
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