Breaking bread

The United Methodist Church of Good Fellowship, located at 1000 Roosevelt Trail, Route 302, in Naples, will be serving a free breakfast and fellowship beginning Jan. 6 and running through the end of April every Wednesday morning from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Donations accepted and all are welcome. The breakfast will be cancelled with SAD 61 schools for inclement weather.

Bundle up!

Today is the coldest day of the year! That’s supposed to be funny, considering it is very early January. Humor and your mindset will get you through these frigid winter months.

Physical activity is a great way to ward off depression, sickness, and isolation. Opportunity Alliance puts out a great flyer on easy outdoor walking trails, as well as indoor walking programs. Check out www.publichealthprogram.org or www.communitiespromotinghealth.org for more information.

There are also indoor fitness opportunities in Naples through the Naples Recreation Department, and local fitness facilities like Naples Fitness Center (exercise equipment) and Fountain of You Fitness (exercise classes), all located on Route 302. Kids are keeping active with the help of the Pleasant Mountain After School Ski Club at Shawnee Peak, whose season was off to a chilly start this past Monday. I am so very grateful for this program, by the way. My kids have been participating since they were in second grade and, as a result, are excellent, confident skiers. Thank you to the ladies who run this club, making skiing accessible to our youngsters.

The Spirit of Christmas

For the third year in a row, the gals at Jewlz Hair Salon in Naples have contacted the Casco Village Church United Church of Christ, wanting to “adopt” a family for Christmas. They not only ask for gift ideas for the children, they emphasize that they want to provide gifts for “the whole family,” mom and dad included!

Organizers at the church have no trouble finding a family in need, especially at Christmas, and Jewlz has touched the hearts of these families with their love-filled generosity.

Wanda Vaugn-Carr, office admistrator for the church noted, “We are reminded of a Christmas hymn called “Love Came Down at Christmas,” which goes something like this: “Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine; Love was born at Christmas; star and angels gave the sign. Love shall be our token, love be yours and love be mine; Love to God and neighbor, love for plea and gift and sign.” Thank you Jewlz for all the love showered on your neighbors at Christmas! What a great thing to do! Kudos to Jewlz. May we all take their lead, and help extend the spirit of Christmas year-round by helping our neighbors in need.

Casco/Naples meal site

Meals for Seniors are offered on Monday and Thursday at the Casco Fire Station, Route 121 in Casco. The noontime meals are just $3 and include entre?e, salad and dessert. Cards are played before lunch and afterward there is bingo, which costs $3 a month. Call 627-4044 to reserve your seat between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Paint the town at LRHS

Make way for the sun. Paint some sunflowers. Make it your own by changing the colors. Join the Lake Region High School class of 2019 and 2018 for a fun, creative night to support our kids. The paint night will happen Thursday, Jan. 28, from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Lake Region High School cafeteria. Sign up ahead of time to reserve your spot on the event’s Facebook page or at www.eventbrite.com.

The afterlife of a tree

Have you ever wondered what happens to your trees after you’ve hired a tree service company to come in and remove some? Obviously, they must go somewhere. Well, that usually depends on the tree species, the size, length and quality.

Oftentimes, the trees are loaded onto a truck with a “log loader” and hauled away to a concentration yard, where they are further de-limbed and de-knotted, measured, cut to specific lengths and sorted and piled, depending on the final destination.

For example, the largest and straightest white pine logs might go to Hancock Lumber’s Ryefield Mill in Casco to be milled into trim boards and lumber (assuming they pass the metal detector test). Small and low quality wood may go to Catalyst Paper to be made into paper or burned to generate electricity.

Likewise, it may go to Old Castle in Poland to be ground up into decorative mulch, or it could end up heating your home as wood pellets. Low- and medium-grade hardwood will typically end up as split firewood or, again, wood pellets. High-grade hardwood logs will go to a saw mill to become finish lumber or veneer for furniture stock. Hemlock saw logs may go to Red Mill in Casco to be milled into structural beams or railroad ties.

Quite often, a log will be handled two or three times between your property and its final destination. The uses listed above are only a drop in the bucket compared to all the potential uses for trees and wood. Who would have known that one of the most useful and versatile items known to man would be growing right under our noses.

Even in this high-tech world we live in, wood is all around us, and new uses are being discovered every day. Wood, for the future as well as the past. The author is general manager of Q-Team Tree Service in Naples and is also a licensed arborist. He can be reached at RobertFogg@Q-Team.com or 693-3831. I am happy to have Mr. Fogg send in these interesting articles, and glad to know the trees are being put to good uses.

Lake Region Middle School Geo Bee

Good luck to the kids who qualified for the LRMS Geo Bee to be held next Wednesday, Jan. 13, at the school. Study hard kids! Stay tuned to this column for the results.