Lumberjack Competition coming to Cooperstown

Wightman Lumber & Building Supplies will be an event sponsor for the STILH ® Timbersports Series event at Lake Front Park, Lake Street, Cooperstown, NY. 

Cooperstown’s Lumberjack Legacy Invitational Lumberjack Competition will be held on Saturday, June 7th 10 am to 4 pm

2014 Northeast US Qualifier event for the World Premier Lumberjack sports event which is the second longest running show on ESPN will be held on Sunday, June 8th 10:30 am to 1 pm

Events are free to the public.

Please stop by our booth, say hello and chat with our foresters. Chris Burke and Tom Foster will both be on hand. Find out about the current timber pricing. It’s a great time to set up an evaluation of your forest lots.

Hope to see you there!

Define your view with beautiful mouldings from Wightman Specialty Woods. 

   Check us out on the digital billboard on I-88 near exit 15. 

Wightman Lumber: where beauty and quality come standard.

Retail Hours: 

Mon. to Fri. 8 am to 4:30 pm and Sat. 8 am to 12 pm

Grown Locally, Milled Locally, Used Locally

Spring is arriving

Spring is arriving and it's time to plan outdoor projects. Wightman Specialty Woods can help get you started. 

Square Edge Material
4 /4, 5/4, 8/4, 4x4, 6x6
Ideal for porch posts, gazebos and other applications

                                    With deep appreciation to Larry Kessler we celebrated his official retirement today with a luncheon and cake. Larry joined the Wightman Lumber team in Jan. 2001. Over the past 13 years his talents have greatly contributed to the organization. Larry’s contributions included driving the delivery truck, caring for the kilns and working in the yard along with countless other ways his experience has help to build the company. Larry has worked so hard and given so much. We thank him for all of his dedication and we are grateful that he will continue to work part time.

 

You may have noticed log trucks are rolling along the roads in record numbers.  We have also recently added to our fleet to keep up with the demands of procuring inventory. Prices for raw materials are at a premium. Call our forester's if you have some land ready to harvest, and put some extra cash in your pocket, while allowing smaller trees to flourish. Trees, America's safest renewable resource.

Update on the Emerald Ash Borer

What’s that purple thing in the trees?  It’s a sticky trap used to detect the emerald ash borer. 

The Emerald Ash borer. Sounds almost like royalty, however this little pest stands a chance of wiping out the ash species. If left un-monitored, it probably would. It was confirmed to be in New York state on June 17, 2009. They were first discovered in Michigan in 2002, and have been spreading state by state since then, as far west as Iowa. There are now quarantined areas to try and prevent the spread of these little beast, including the complete lower half of N.Y.  As ash is one of more desirable species in the lumber business, we  strive to protect it as much as humanly possible. 

In an ongoing mindset towards the safety of our workers, we will now be implementing the use of hard hats through out the facility. Healthy workers are productive workers, and We strive to keep our production and quality up to meet our customers needs. We appreciate your business.

I thought it might be interesting to share some forestry facts Iobtained from the American Forest & Paper Association:

    In the United States, private, working forests support 2.5 million jobs, $235 billion in annual sales, $87 billion in payroll, $4.4 billion in state income and severance taxes, and $102 billion to the Gross Domestic Product.
 One-third of the United States is forested - 751 million acres. Privately-owned forests supply 91 percent of the wood harvested in the U.S. State and tribal forests supply approximately 6 percent and federal forests supply only 2 percent of the wood used by the forest products industry. 
 For the past 100 years, total forest area has been stable and grew by 2 million acres from 2000 to 2005.
  Today, the United States has 20 percent more trees than it did on the first Earth Day celebration more than 40 years ago on April of 1970
Insects and disease threaten 58 million acres of America’s forests. 

So there you have it, while it seems that log trucks are running up down the road constantly, through managed reforestation, the U.S. is actually gaining on the tree population. Good news as our status as a global supplier of lumber is ever increasing with the development of countries worldwide, and we at Wightman Lumber are proud to supply them with the best product possible.

There snow mercy… 

                        Mother Nature is having no mercy on Portlandville when it comes to cold weather and snow this winter.

Meet our new blogger…..

Wightman Specialty Woods is a family owned and family oriented business. This rings true in many aspects of the business. One of which is the fact that many of our employees are not only part of the Wightman Lumber family but also related to one and other. On our staff you will find brothers, brother-in-laws, aunt, sons, grandsons, cousins, uncles, nephews and spouses working together for the common goal of producing fine quality hardwood.

My husband Mark Miller has worked part time for Wightmans for the past year and half. I am here working full time. Together we will be keeping you updated on the happenings at the Wightman mill.  Mark will be writing for our blog and Face Book posting. I will help by providing him with ideas and photos and posting his writing.

Together we will work as team to keep you informed. Thanks for your continued

support.

Quality on grade lumber in high demand worldwide

What a change a week makes, starting the new year at near zero temps and below, and then bouncing into the 40's this week.  It's much easier on the equipment and workers with the milder temps, and hence we can increase production in the mill. We enter into 2014 with great enthusiasm as the lumber industry has rebounded from the past 5 year lull. The world wide demand for American hardwoods has increased at an amazing rate, thanks to the overall upswing in the global economy. Also, the on time shipping options provided by US suppliers is meeting the just in time inventory demands of manufacturers. We are able to support our customers in maintaining inventory levels while providing a steady supply of lumber for production. Recent upgrades to our sawmill are helping us meet the production needs.  With all this in mind, your standing timber value is at an all time high, making it an excellent time to consider harvesting your land. Everyone can use some extra cash these days. Give us a call today 607-286-9201 to get an evaluation of your forest lots. 

Ah, winter. And a fairly hearty one it has been so far. The challenges of the season at Wightmans are far reaching. It takes a considerable amount of time to clear the snow from so much acreage necessary for tractor trailers coming in for pick ups as well as log trucks delivering a steady flow of timber. Also the extreme cold presents its own problems, not just for the workers exposed for 8 hours a day to subzero wind chills, but also the equipment get quit a workout as all the hydraulic fluids and grease flow considerably harder in the harsh temperatures.

However, rest assured that the staff @ Wightman Lumber will persevere through it all to continually supply our customers with the finest quality kiln dried lumber to meet their needs.  

At our recent holiday party Dan and Dave Wightman took the opportunity to recognizing 30 years of service with Wightman Lumber and Building Supplies, Inc. for 2 employees. Anita Tomazin and Rick Whitmore were awarded for their long-standing loyalty.  It is with great pride that we have the long term relationship with our employees. Their experience and knowledge has helped build a strong team camaraderie not currently found in many work places. Thank you Anita and Rick for your dedication and many contributions over the past 30 years. 

Holiday Party - 

Christmas Eve 2013 

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed the afternoon together and celebrated the holidays with a pig roast. We have many people to thank for the combined effort that made the event possible. The event was a true display of the strong community spirit and teamwork we share at Wightman Lumber and Building Supplies, Inc.

       Bob Tomazin supplied the roaster and the expertise to roast the pig. The night before Bob and Lance Holliday did the prep work to prepare for the roasting that would begin long before dawn on Christmas Eve. Anita Tomazin was also busy in her kitchen baking cookies, brownies, vegetable lasagna and chicken pot pie to complement the meal. At the same time next door Leah Foster was making fresh baked rolls by the dozen. Cyndi Miller coordinated the event and also prepared the salads, baked beans and boiled potatoes.  Bob Tomazin and Matt Wightman arrived at 5 am on the morning of Christmas Eve to light the fire and start the roasting process. By mid day the air was filled with the sweet smell of the meal that would be served. We finished the meal off with an amazing cake, which was topped with a hand sculpted chainsaw made by Caitlin Wightman.

                             The remarkable team work really exemplified what Wightman’s is all about as the retail area was transformed into a dining room. Thank you to the retail staff Pat Wightman-Yank and Marty Corsi for their time and effort provided to utilize the retail area. Cliff Clune provided the sound system and holiday music. We send out an enormous thank you to everyone who lent a helping hand to make this holiday meal possible.

Lastly a very important thank you to Dan and Dave Wightman, owners of Wightman’s for their holiday generosity!!!

 

  

We at Wightman Specialty Wood want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday and a very happy, safe and prosperous New Year.

 

1^st major snow fall.

Last weekend a winter storm blew making it festive and white for the holiday season.  

Our grading shed staff brings great experience and expertise to the job. 

Each piece of wood contains different characteristics. Leah Foster has been working for Wightman Lumber for 16 years. She is the grader who reviews each piece of lumber to determine its potential value and use. After she evaluates and marks each board it is carried by conveyor to the pilers,

  Adam Moore, Tim Cooke and Zack Vandewerker, who place the dried sawn lumber in the appropriate cart for bundling. 

 

After sorting, pilling and bundling has occurred Bob Tamazin tallies each piece to determine the board footage of each pack.

What occurs in the grading shed is very important to insure that the lumber is sorted appropriately and inventoried accordingly. This group of employees bring another 49 years of experience to our group, bringing the total number of years of experience introduced to you so far to 419 years.

Happy Holidays …… As the holiday season is upon us many woodworkers are putting finishing touches on projects that will be treasured gifts for generations to come. I would like to welcome you to share photos of your work with us. Mailing address is PO Box 386, Portlandville, New York 13834 or e-mail logpro@wightmanlumber.com.

Monday morning and we are hard at work...

Don Elliot running the slicer, scaling logs.

 Our planer mill staff.......

Lamarcus Pickens, Nathan Foster, Josh Paulson and Matt Wightman are busy getting retail and wholesale product ready.

Calling all woodworkers…..

Wightman Specialty Wood open house is only 2 weeks away, Saturday, Oct. 5^th.  We invite you to display your wood work. Entry form can now be down loaded from our web page. The open house banner is up; it’s a sure sign that the Wightman's Fall Family Festival is not far off. 

We are gearing up for our coming Fall Family Festival – Oct 5th

Join us on Sat. Oct. 5^th and be amazed at how much fun a block of wood, nails and rubber bands can be.

Mary Peterson has been hard at work prepping for our kids of all ages craft project. OWL – Oneonta World of Learning will be joining us to make the wood craft project for this year. It is very fun to make and even more fun to play with.

Fall Family Festival, 145 Cty. Hwy. 35A Portlandville, NY 9 am to 3 pm