In September 2003, when the referenced thread was started, I had never heard of Cholula Hot Sauce.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholula_Hot_Sauce

Seldom flying Delta (for geographical reasons), I did not come upon that thread until April 2005. My inquiry in Post # 1820 was the beginning of how Cholula Hot Sauce came to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), USA.

+Dave (Cholula) followed up by mailing a carton of one dozen five-ounce bottles to my P.O. Box here on Saipan.

At the time Saipan had a rare Costco franchise, not owned by Costco itself. (That relationship ended after a few years, and the location is now known as the Joeten Super Store, carrying both Costco and Sam's Club products.)

I took six of the bottles to the Saipan Costco store manager, with the contact and ordering information +Dave had provided, and encouraged them to carry this product, and they did. The rest is history.

The Islas Marianas were a Spanish colony from 1565 to 1898. Hot peppers grow wild in the jungle and are part of the local cuisine. Nearby Tinian (TIQ) has an annual hot pepper festival. So it is unsurprising that Cholula Hot Sauce quickly became very popular, indeed, here in the CNMI.

Yet +Dave's friendliness, outgoing nature, and attention to detail here on FlyerTalk all had real consequences around the world. I will miss the pre-Facebook FT OMNI of the mid 2000s.

Prayers for the eternal repose of your soul, +Dave, and for the consolation of your family, friends, colleagues, and fellow FlyerTalkers.

I will say a prayer when sprinkling a few drops of Cholula Hot Sauce on my fried rice, brown rice, Lazi red rice, . . . .

🌴 🎶 🤠 💚 ✈️ 🙏
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