New Wholesale Firm Has Offices and Yards 'ln Oalcland aird Fresno

Announcement is made of the formation of Pacific Forest Products, Inc., a wholesale and jobbing concern handling lumber and building materials, with yards and offices in Oakland and Fresno.

The principals are E. W. Spalding, Grants Pass, Oregon; Ray M. Spalding, Ashland, Oregon; E. J. La Franchi, Oakland; Willard La Franchi, Fresno, and Ella L. Moore. Oakland.

The Oakland ofiice is at 9th Avenue Pier, telephone TWinoaks 6866.

The Fresno branch office and yard are located at California Avenue at South 4th Str'eet, telephone Fresno 3-9588.

E. J. (Ed) La Franchi is general manager, and Willard La Franchi is manager of the Fresno branch.

The firm is represented in the Eureka area by Charles

Stcrts Betcril Trcining Course

Paul S. Collier, secretary-manager of the Northeastern Retail Lumbermen's Association, announces the opening of the first Retail Lumber Training Institute in the Eastern states. The first class started January 6 at the New Yor,k State College of Forestry. It will be followed in February with a similar class at Massachusetts State College. In March, the course will be repeated at Syracuse, and then back to Amherst in April.

J. Murray, Eureka, and by T. R. Greenwood, Eugene, Oregon, in .the Willamette Valley.

Ed La Franchi has been in the lumber business in Northern and Central California since 1931. Willard La Franchi has been in the wholesale lumber antl building material business in Fresno since 1932. He has a large acquaintance among lumbermen in the San Joaquin Valley atea.

Miss Moore has had 3O years lumber experience, and will be active in the business.

R. E. (Dick) .La Franchi is now associated with the company in the main office in Oakland. He was discharged from the Army Air Forces in January 1946 as a First Lieutenant, and spent most of last year in the buying office of T. R. Greenwood, Eugene.

Congncrtulctions

Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth G. Conway are the parents of a baby boy born at the Hollywood Hospital on January 21. "Ken" is with the Holmes Eureka Lumber Company, and is a member of the sales department in the Los Angeles office..

Don Doud, Defiance Lumber Co., Tacoma, Wash., was a recent Los Angeles visitor.

in o limited variety of colors, patterns, cnd grainsl for w6lls, drainboards, toble tops, bar tops, breakfost nooks, bothrooms, and decorative dctails; from an exclusive Los Angcles stock now being built up dt our worehousc, Special pattcrns and colon moy be ordered for shipment in the very near future, how to cli his that climb can be negotiated, will a fierce enthusiasm lfiat 4!l before it, and overcome all He may even lift to heroic heights by the very force of the pathway oL a amply that no the road he seeks who believes with enthusiasm. In the'Hermit on crusade, everything mmable catches fire. To say such th! cannot be done not history. is to say that you All men are to such influence. are more or less Even the malleable.

One poet says that "thrice armed is he whose cause is just;" while stitl another declares: "So many Gods, so many creeds, so many roads that wind and wind, when all this old world really needs, is just the art of being kind." ***

Lately I've been in touch with a crusader. Being myself an emotional lout, he has fired me with much of his own enthusiasm. Unlike most crusades which are generally highly controversial in their nature, this one will stand the test of logic. The only strong enemy that this crusader has to overcome in his drive, is inertia. So, of course, he shall win his crusade. **<>f

My crusading friend is a very old lumber friend of mine, known and acknowledged to be one of the stand-out personalities in the whole lumber industry, Mr. Ray Saberson, of St. Paul. Mr Saberson is the merchandising professor of all the Weyerhauser interests. That is his business job. But right now he is devoting all his time and genius and developing enthusiasm to a new side-line he has taken on; the old Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo.

Last fall they made him take the job of Snark of the Ifniverse, which he did with considerable trepidation. But the thing grew on him with mighty rapidity as he dug into it, until today he is all that a crusader should be, as described in the opening paragraph of this piece. What started out as a campaign to make Hoo-Hoo a great and good and benevolent and practical driving force in the lumber industry, has become a definite crusade, gathering force and momentum with every jump. By this time-and the drive is new-both Saberson and all his friends have been sucked into the vortex of the campaign. The same sort of enthusiasm that crossed the Brifue at Lodi and made the great charge of the Light Brigade, has gotten tangled up with the Hoo-Hoo crusade.

Saberson's hope-backed by stout faith-is this: to make Hoo-Hoo something big and useful throughout the lumber industry; a vehicle in which all parts and portions of the industry can join together for the purpose of better acquaintance, better understanding, more fellowship, and more helpfulness. The way this can be done is through the organization of Hoo-Hoo Clubs in all lumber centers, and the holding of regular meetings, luncheons or dinners. In the retail lumber organizations, only the dealers act. In wholesale groups, the wholesalers meet alone. But in the Hoo-Hoo Clubs, splendidly exemplified by the several successful and permanent ones in California, all departments of the industry meet and join hands.

* ,i ,1.

They do not meet to talk lumber, or to talk building. In the Hoo-Hoo Clubs of California the programs are almost exactly like those of the Rotary, Kiwanis, Lion, or other service clubs. The programs are seldom on the subject of lumber. They are educational, instructive, amusing, or entertaining. Lumber is only talked around the tables and informally. The only difference between these Clubs and Rotary Clubs for instance, is that all those present are lumbermen, giving them a closer tie than in other Service Clubs. I say "Other" Service Clubs, because that is exactly what a modern Hoo-Hoo Club is; a SERVICE CLUB. They should meet monthly, or semi-monthly at the most, have regular officers and working committees, and it is surprising how easy it is to get out the attendance at such meetings, and to hold such clubs together. I mention the California Hoo-Hoo Clubs because there are more of them than in any other state or district, and they have the largest membership. They go right along happily and successfully, and the attendance and enthusiasm seems spontaneous. What is done in California can certainly be done elsewhere.

In the old days Hoo-Hoo was mostly a series of initiations, or Concatenations as they are called, and there was nothing in between to hold the fabric of Hoo-Hoo in place. Also in the old days they got too careless about the qualifications of the membership; they spread Hoo-Hoo out too thin. And so Hoo-Hoo went into eclipse, especially in the South, where Hoo-Hoo was born. You will remember ifyou are an oldster in the industry that Hoo-Hoo was born' 56 years ago in a small town in Arkansas, and that for quite a number of years it played a very prominent part as the "playground of the lumber industry." It sank into

(Continued on Page 10)

(Continued from Page 8) eclipse for the simple reason that it had no regular job, was accomplishing nothing between initiations. In the new HooHoo that Saberson is ballyhooing so successfully, the initiations play a very small part in the picture. It is the Clubs, their meetings, their programs, their good fellowship, and their respectable and respectful philosophy that gives HooFfoo something genuine to work for.

*tF't

But let Saberson, himself, tell the story of his plans, his hopes, and his Hoo-Hoo ambitions. In a recent letter to me, he has this to say: "fn your 'Vags' you have been preaching the same gospel to your readers that I have recently to Hoo-Hoo. You know how your readers like it. I have found the same thing to be true of Hoo-Hoo. You have penned many an able editorial concerning the need in the lumber industry of cooperation, friendship, understanding, good will among men, the Golden Rule. The lumber industry is now crying out for a wider application of these saving virtues. Where wilt the answers be found? God knows it is time to bring back to the lumber industry some of the essential virtues it seems to have forgotten. HooHoo is the best medium through which it can be done.

"r have found rroo-rrJo u;*;. from what r expected. Frankly, I haven't been very interested in it for a long time, largely because of the sophomoric antics of the old days at the initiations. You know the story. But I find Hoo-Hoo is far beyond that stage. In Boston a few evenings ago, just as an illustration, I saw the kind of an initiation that would have done your heart good' an inspiring affair put on with dignity, followed by a grand dinner, and lots of good fun. \il/e can have them everywhere. California is one of the best Hoo-Hoo states, largest membership and most clubs. There arc 532 active members in the Hoo-Hoo Clubs of California. High class men are now showing an interest in many states from Florida to Texas. There is room for at least forty good Hoo-Hoo Clubs in the South. **

"Seems to me like a grand and glorious opportunity to do a great job for the lumber industry. At least I'm going to give it my best for a year, although the Lord knows I would rather be home with my family in front of the fireplace. But the possibilities and opportunities for Hoo-Hoo have me inspired. Hoo-Hoo Clubs can be at least as successful and interesting as Rotary, Kiwanis, Exchange, Lions, Optimists, and other Service Clubs. Men instinctively like each other when they become acquainted, when they have an opportunity to get together and thaw out, when they meet on common ground and on a friendly basis. Such contacts become of vital importance between men with kindred interests. There is a great work to be done in the lumber industry. The Steel industry would love to have an order like Hoo-Hoo within its ranks, but never had it. Other big industries likewise. But lumber has the vehicle, the opportunity, and the need. *

"During the 56 years floo-Hoo has lived, countless other orders have been born of pedigreed parents in gilded halls; and have passed into silence. But Hoo-Hoo not only lives on but today is the proud possessor of the fattest bank roll in its history, and is growing at the healthiest rate it has evcr known. Its roster contains the names of the great and the near-great in lumber. The answer is simple. HooHoo lives because it has been held together by the golden threads of fraternalism, friendship, understanding, and the Golden Rule. Hoo-Hoo can be made great, and in turn can bestow great blessings on the lumber industry, and on the lumber people. I am pleading for help to make this dream come true. Organize Hoo-Hoo Clubs. Put them to work. Furnish the lumber industry with this stout and kindly cord to hold its people together in good will. I need your help."

Well, that's the story. I agree with everything Saberson says. Today the lumber folks have no general get-together organization. The retailers, the mills, the salesmen, the wholesalers all run by themselves. They have no common ground for meeting. Everywhere in the country where there are Hoo-Hoo Clubs, they are highly successful. No lumber city that owns such a club would be without it. It is respected, respectable, useful, practical, and colorful. It is a place where all lumber men may meet, eat, and get better acquainted. Hoo-Hoo having refused to die in spite of everything that has happened to it in 56 years, proves it was made to live. It would seem that it should have the blessing and support of this entire industry, wherever located. It conficts with no other organizations, with no other lumber associatitT, Y works to help them all.

The chief function of the lumber business is to provide for the material needs of mankind, to increase the wealth of the world and the happiness of mankind. In this mighty effort it has a strong arm that will help if it is used: HOO-HOO.

New Ycrrd crt Pittsburg

Rivercrest Lumber Co. has been established on Highway 24, ll miles west of Pittsburg, Calif., by Virrce Di Maggio and N. A. (Nick) Chiapero. Mailing address is P. O. Box 928.

Mr. Di Maggio was for many years with Redwood Manufacturers Co., Pittsburg, and Mr. Chiapero was a local businessman.

From Tree To Home

A tree is a tree when it's standing up, But it's something more when falling; So we'd better be running, lickety split When we hear the fallers calling, "Timber-r-r-r !"

A tree is a tree when it's lying down, But when hauled away from the hill, Detopped, debranched and sometimes debarked And shunted into the mill, it's a log.

Now, a log is a log when cut and slashed Into various lengths and sizes, And used by the builders with art and skill, In their manifold enterprises, it's lumbe:.

Lumber is lumber when piled in the yard, Or stored in the finish shed, But when it's transformed into good stout walls With a shingled roof o'i'er head, it's a house.

Now a house is a house when it stands alone, On a bit of Columbia's loam, But when lived in and cared for and dearly loved, It's more than a house, it's a home.

-Adeline Merriam Conner