Monday, January 30, 2017

What’s happening at the mill?

Despite the rain, snow, and mud our trucks are rolling and bringing logs to the mill. We have been steadily producing lumber all winter long. We recently finished sawing ash. Cherry has followed ash into the saw mill. Our retail area is stocked and ready for you.



Ash pictured on left, cherry on the right.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Happy Holidays




          





Can you believe we are nearing the close of 2016? On December 16, 2016 we held our 4th annual pig roast. We shut down the mill last Friday afternoon and all sat down together to enjoy a holiday meal. Following the meal we reflected on the importance of team efforts to service our customers.      

         Wightman Specialty Woods is grateful to all who helped to make this a successful year. We are proud to be a family owned business providing individual attention to your needs and look forward to serving you with quality service and superior products in the coming year. 

Friday, November 11, 2016



"Honoring the sacrifices many have made for our country in the name of freedom and democracy is the very foundation of Veterans Day." – Charles B. Rangel

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

On September 17, 2016 Wightman Lumber hosted our combined annual open house with our first ever Lumberfest. An all day lumberjack competition put on by the New York State Lumberjack Association (NYSLA) along with our yearly family activities and events were provided for the enjoyment of the community no charge.  
        The timber sport competitions were the main event with springboard chop, standing block chop, two man and Jack & Jill crosscut, single buck, underhand chop, and modified hot saws. A lively competition pursued with 34 men and 16 women registered for the competition.  

The weather was absolutely perfect for the entire day with the younger generation enjoying the "bean bag axe throwing", face painting, a wood building project for all ages assembling pre cut bird feeders, exploring an actual locomotive, and taking rides down the railroad tracks on track speeder cars.
 
  We would like to offer a special "thanks" to the Milford  volunteer Fire Department and emergency squad for providing the on-site ambulance, as well as serving refreshments and a delicious chicken BBQ cooked on site.  Osterhoudt Commercial Refrigeration provided a mobile refrigerated trailer to assist the fire dept. in fund raising.


      Our sponsors included; Catskill Mountain Embroidery & Screen Printing in Delhi, who made the fantastic "Lumberfest 2016" T-shirts, and debuted our new logo on our shirts for sale. Nice job !!  Chobani Also made a delicious and generous donation of Greek yogurt to our event, and other sponsors included the Conservation Alliance of NY, The Bieritz Insurance Agency, Dutchman Stoves & Timber who showed us just how fast and easy splitting firewood can be, Kanescapes Landscaping, Smith Ford of Cooperstown with some sweet vehicles to peruse, Springfield Truck & Tractor with their display of yard maintenance equipment, as well as some "fun stuff" to look over. Also Jon from Vantage Equipment with a rather large display of a Volvo L70 loader and HUGE Terex material handler, very cool to all attending.
Our Partners for the event included Bassett Health Center of Agricultural Medicine and Health doing free blood pressure screening and providing wellness advise, and historical cooper Bob Allers of the Utica area with his 1800's theme building of barrels and buckets with tools from the era. Phenomenal to watch.  Boy Scout troop 13 of Milford was also on hand, as well as Hanford Mills Museum with displays of times gone by. The Otsego County Conservation Association was also here, and the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society
provided the locomotive tours and speeder rides.  A special "Thank You" goes out to Lisa Marie Vance Photography for the awesome photos she took.
We also extend out thanks everyone who attended our Lumberfest event. We hope you enjoyed the day and we are looking forward to seeing you again next year.
      Finally, a huge thanks to our employees who helped set up, tear down and clean up after the event. We really appreciate everyone’s efforts!!




Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Lumberfest 2016

We would like to thank everyone who help to make Lumberfest 2016 a possible. Details of the event to follow soon. 

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Friday, Dec. 11, 2015 Retail close at 1:30 pm

It’s almost time to celebrate the holidays.

We will hold our 3rd annual pig roast for our employees on Friday, December 11th. Our retail area will close at 1:30 pm on this day so we can celebrate the accomplishments of 2015. 


 Photo: Bob Tomazin and Matt Wightman roasting the 2013 pig.   

Monday, October 19, 2015

22nd Annual Open House

We were fortunate to have wonderful weather for our 22nd annual open house on Saturday, October 10, 2015. Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate our 70th anniversary. 

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Poster

It's time again for the New York State Woodsmen's Field Days.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Art Spranger

Remembering Arty – where do I begin?
 
What do you say about someone who has been a family friend for three generations of Wightmans, a loyal and trusted employee for over three decades and one of those “salt of the earth” men who are defined by three simple words – a good man.

It seems that I knew Arty all my life, from my childhood, through school, college, and adult years until he left us all to be in a better place.  I knew him when we pitched hay bales on the farm, when he came to our high school football games, when we all went out and got drunk the night before I got married, when my wife and I moved from our house in Oneonta to a new home, during our early years at Wightman Lumber when times were really tough, when my children were going to college, and on to his retirement years.

We covered a lot of time together and through all that time I always could count on Arty to be there to hold up his end of whatever we were doing.  I could rely on him to be honest and forthright which is something of a rarity in any day and age.  He wasn’t afraid to speak up and say what was on his mind.  While we didn’t always see eye to eye I always listened to what he said because he thought about what he was going to say before he said it, just like what a man is supposed to do. 

One of the attributes of Arty that I remember the most was his ability to face any situation he met in life straight on.  He approached his obligations to his family, his responsibilities at work, his patriotic duties as a citizen, and the final test of his own mortality, like a man.  He knew what was expected of him from his own code of honor and there was no backing down from his guiding principles.  On my last visit to him in the hospital a few days before he died, he knew what was most likely going to be his destiny and we talked about it at length.  There was no fear, no weakness of character, no emotional distress in him but rather a certainty that he was going to face this episode of life head on just like all the previous ones he had experienced – just like a good man should.                                                             - Dan Wightman 

A modified version of a stanza from the English writer and statesman Thomas Babington Macaulay’s (1800 – 1859) epic poem “Horatius at the Bridge”:
                                                Then out spake brave Horatius,
                                                The Captain of the Gate:
                                                To every man upon this earth
                                                Death cometh soon or late.
                                                And how can a man better die
                                                Living a long life of good acts
                                                With his head held high

                                                And his principles intact. 

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Transform your outdoor living space into something extraordinary.

Western Red Cedar is popular most of all for its appearance. Its fine, straight grain, outstanding strength/weight ratio and low rate of expansion and contraction make it a much sought-after species. It is highly resistant to warping and checking. Red cedar contains natural oils that make it resistant to moisture, insects and decay. It is light, easy to work with and easily accepts a range of finishes.

Western Red Cedar – The perfect building material for Gazebos and Pergolas.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Western Red Cedar

Western Red Cedar

The perfect choice for your outdoor project

Wightman now stocks western red cedar. Highly revered for its fine, straight grain, red cedar contains oils that make it naturally resistant to moisture, insects, and decay. When finished and maintained appropriately, western red cedar will provide decades of performance.
Environmentally friendly and easy to work with, western red cedar is the perfect choice for your decking:
  • Superior resistance to warping, twisting and cracking
  • Muffles sound transmission
  • Can be painted, stained, varnished, oiled or waxed
  • Easy to transform, cut, saw and nail
  • 100% natural and risk free to the health
Come and visit Wightman today -- see how our family-run business earned its reputation as one of the region’s top resources for lumber. Just minutes from Cooperstown, NY, we stock wood siding, outdoor decking, hardwood flooring, beadboard millwork, cabinet lumber, 4/4 lumber, and much more.
Wightman offers expertise and quality that will add beauty — and value — to your home renovation, commercial remodel, new home construction, or historic building restoration.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

2015 Stihl Timbersports Event

Wightman Lumber and Building Supplies, Inc. sponsored the 2nd annual Stihl Timbersports competitions last weekend at Damaschke Field in Oneonta, NY.


On Saturday the Professional Northeast Qualifier events were held and on Sunday the Men’s and Women’s Lumberjack Competitions.
Disciplines included: hot saw, single buck, springboard chop, standing block shop, stock saw and underhand chop. 


Marty Corsi and David Wightman

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Red Eft





Tom Foster shares another photo this week from the forest of a red eft. Tom has found the red eft to be abundant this year.

The bright orange coloring tells us that this little guy is in the juvenile stage of his life cycle. During this stage he is land-dwelling. After about 3 years of a terrestrial lifestyle the red eft will enter into the third stage of the life cycle. During this adult stage he will become a newt. At this stage he will turn green and return to the aquatic lifestyle he was born into. 


Thursday, May 7, 2015

Last year's young?



Our Forester, Tom Foster snapped this shot of a young porcupine while visiting a wood lot.  I read up a little about porcupines and found out they are among the creatures that bear young shortly after Memorial Day. This leaves me believing this little fellow made it through his first New York winter.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Steve Decker

You just can’t help but laugh, 



Steve Decker not only knows how to fix and build almost anything but he also knows how to have fun and make us laugh. Steve works in our maintenance department and brings 12 years of experience to Wightman Lumber and Building Supplies, Inc. Add this to the previously introduced employees and we are now up to 543 years of experience.  

Friday, March 6, 2015

Spring in Portlandville, New York


 










This is spring in Porltandville. 

We are enjoying spring in Porltandville, New York. I’ve been told that in the northern hemisphere the official spring season is from March 1st to May 31st. In Portlandville the first 6 days of spring have provided no flowers only snow, sleet, ice and subzero temperatures. Possibly the ground hog was right, if so spring will arrive in just 10 days.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  It’s a great time to start planning warm weather projects like decks and gazebos.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Warm up your home with pre-finished hardwood flooring, now available for order at Wightman Specialty Woods.

Friday, January 9, 2015



Don Elliott – Scaling logs


                     

Although the cold and snow bring many hardships, it does allow loggers to harvest. Photos show Don Elliott scaling a load of logs in the yard this morning. Don brings 34 years of experience to our team and immense amount of knowledge about logs. Recently he transferred from working in the mill to working in the yard full time. He stays busy keep the yard organized, scaling logs, slashing tree length logs and metal detecting of logs found to have hardware.  Previously we have introduced you to 497 years of experience that our work force brings to the table. Adding Don’s 34 years brings us up to 531 years and we still have more experienced members of workforce to add to our total.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

5/4 Red Oak

As cold weather settles upon us we are busy producing lumber.   5/4 Red Oak sits outside in the yard awaiting kiln space. Production levels are good and our kilns are full.



Friday, December 5, 2014


Place some QUALITY, EXPERIENCE and INSPIRATION under your Christmas tree this year with a gift certificate from Wightman Specialty Woods. No need to fight for a parking spot, running form store to store searching for gift that does not disappoint. Visit our retail location just minutes from Oneonta and Cooperstown.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving


We wish everyone an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.

Retail will be closed Thursday. Retail will be open on Friday, 11/28/14 from 8 am to 4:30 pm and Saturday, 11/29/14 from 8 am to 12 pm.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

21st Annual Fall Family Festival Open House




 Thanks to everyone who came out to our open house








Monday, September 29, 2014

Come and enjoy our 21st Annual Fall Family Festival on Saturday 11th October!

Please note that our 21st Annual Fall Family Festival will take place on Saturday 11th October (NOT Sunday 5th October as advertised on our billboard last week. Sorry!!). We'll have live music, kids crafts and games, refreshments, a mill tour, and tons of prizes! Hope to see you then!


Friday, September 19, 2014

New Web Page

Our new web page is now available. Please check out our fresh new look. 

Monday, September 15, 2014

Fall projects

The weather is cooling off and it’s a great time to think about cozying up your home with beautiful hard wood flooring. Wightman Specialty Woods offers unfinished hardwood flooring manufactured at our mill and also available for order a full line of prefinished and engineered flooring.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Improvements and expansion

As we wave goodbye to the summer of 2014 we remain busy with mill improvement projects.


        Our bolster production area was upgraded earlier this summer. 



                  Addition has been added to the green chain area. 


                Improvements to the staging area for the debarker. 


                              Pouring concrete today in our log yard.

            We still have other ongoing projects. 

          Stay tuned in to see what else we are busy doing.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Renewable energy

Renewable energy



Congressman Chris Gibson visited our mill today along with Jessica Frohman Lubetsky, officer, clean energy for The PEW Charitable Trusts. Today’s visit was focused around how Wightman Lumber uses sawdust, a byproduct of our manufacturing process, to produce heat. Saw dust is feed into our boilers to generate heat for the kilns that dry lumber and to produce heat for the facility during the cold winter months.


Utilizing this technology allows the company to turns waste material into energy and provides substantial cost savings.