TnERE Is No SUnSTITUTE.

The Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association rePresents ovet 220 independendy owned lumber manufacturers throughout the Southeast. Members of the association produce 4.5 billion board feet of quality hardwood and softwood ptoducts annually. Call (404) 361-1445 to request your complimentary copy of the 2003 SLMA Membership Directory, or visit us online at wwwslma.org.

Jeff Hanks, Bill Hanks Lumber, Danbury N.C., was elected lst v.p. of the Hardwood Manufacturers Association. Tony Parks, Anderson-Tully Co., Vicksburg, Ms., is 2nd v.p. New directors include Lyman Shipley, Coastal Lumber Co., Weldon, N.C.; Charlie Netterville, Fred Netterville Lumber. Woodville. Ms.; Herbert Kwasniewski, J.C. Lumber, Elkins, W.V.; John Jones, Ward Timber Co., Linden, Tx., and Al Whitson, Jr., Whitson Lumber Co., Clarksville, Tn. Executive committee members include Netterville; Pem Jenkins, Turn Bull Lumber, Elizabeth, N.C.; Bill Buchanan Jr., Buchanan Lumber Birmingham, Aliceville, Al., and Orn Gudmundsson, Northland Corp., LaGrange, Ky.

Terry Lee Soley, maintenance supervisor, Millville Lumber, Snow Hill, N.C., recently married Lori Ann Pusey. Tommy Gunn, Mungus-Fungus Forest Products. Climax. Nv.. is returning from his Army reserve stint in lraq, report co-owners Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus.

Lumber Tag Firm Loses Flag

Two high school students have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a 9-ft. flag hanging at Lumber Tag Specialties, Cypress, Tx.

The U.S. flag hung vertically outside the business until March 22, when owner Victoria McCord received a call while attending a birthday party that there had been a fire. When she arrived, all that remained of the flag was a char mark on the metal siding.

"Had the fire gotten into the rafters under the eaves, it could have caught the insulation on fire," she said. "I would have been ruined."

Three cars passing the business spotted some young men fleeing from the fire. One driver called 91 I , another stopped to help clean up the mess, and a third briefly chased the suspects and noted their license plate number.

The suspects were charged with arson and criminal mischief.

"I'll be a lot happier when the building's painted and I have an apology," McCord said. "I hate to see a kid go to jail because of stupidity."

The flag had draped the casket of McCord's brother, an Army veteran.

The bright side, she said, is how the community responded soon after the blaze; many neighbors gave her flags to replace the one she lost.

New Owners For Wickes

An investment group has acquired 5lVo of Wickes Inc.'s outstanding common stock, giving it majority ownership.

Imagine Investments acquired 2.8 million shares of the lllinois-based retailer, replacing Riverside Group Inc., Jacksonville, Fl., as the majority shareholder.

Now that Riverside Group no longer has an ownership interest in Wickes, J. Steven Wilson has resigned as president and c.e.o.

Recently, New Jersey-based distributor Bradco Supply Corp. offered $7.2 million to buy the remaining Wickes shares it did not own. Bradco already owned l57o of the firm's stock.

Robert Mulcahy III, a director since 1988, has been appointed chairman. The board has also established an executive management committee.

Mill Settles Anti-Age Suit

A former lumber yard manager forced to retire when he turned 65 agreed to settle his age discrimination lawsuit for $97,000.

Jesse Daughhetee had worked for Burlington Cooperative Association, Burlington, Ok., for 33 years, before being fired in 2001 after he refused to retire.

The lumber co-op attributed the termination to financial reasons, but replaced Daughhetee with a male employee in his early 20s.

Burlington Cooperative Association agreed to provide age discrimination training, post a notice defining and prohibiting discrimination, inform workers of their rights, and establish a procedure for workers to submit allegations of discrimination.

Blueprints As Marketing Tools

Associated Press will now allow building product companies to advertise in its study plans and blueprints purchased by customers of the AP House of the Week.

AP's weekly home plan is distributed to I,600 AP member newspapers and study plans bought by homeowners represent a potential construction of nearly $250 million in new homes.

"We think there is a place for advertising in our home plans," said home plan publisher David Bradley. "Advertising is an additional source of lesitimate information for readers."

Cedar Group Takes On Synthetics

The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association has launched a $2 million marketing campaign aimed at curbing the inroads that composite and vinyl have made into the western red cedar decking and siding markets.

The association, whose members produce 65Vo of the world's western red cedar, will emphasize its tradition- al place as building product for decks and siding.

By featuring spoofs of plastic and synthetic building products in print ads, the association hopes to highlight what they say is "natural beauty and durability of western red cedar."

The campaign will target home builders, building material dealers and homeowners.

"Western red cedar is what every plastic and composite substitute dreams of being," said the association's Peter Lang. "This is their wakeup call."

Lang added that cedar has to be thrust back into the public eye as a building product with proven durability.

"Substitutes may come with guarantees," he said. "But only cedar provides the time-tested assurance of centuries of real performance."

In addition to the ad campaign, the association is introducing a new visual image with the words, "Real Cedar," to appear on all western red cedar products from WRCLA members.

The association hopes that the campaign can protect western red cedar's market share, which has slipped in recent years because of stiff competition for composites. Western red cedar now holds 4Vo of the siding market and lOVo of the decking market.

The campaign will emphasize that western red cedar, among other attributes, contains natural compounds that act as preservatives, lays flat and straight for decking, and has excellent noise reduction qualities.

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