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

It’s almost time to celebrate the holidays.

We will hold our 3^rd annual pig roast for our employees on Friday, December 11^th. 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.   

22nd Annual Open House

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

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

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. 

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.

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.

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

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. 

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.

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.  

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.

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

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.