NELMA Archives - Page 14 of 15

Kennebunkport, Maine Hosts NELMA’s Fall Events

Posted on October 7, 2013 by

Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport, Maine

A picture perfect autumn setting on the coast of Maine greeted NELMA’s members and guests for their annual golf tournament and Board of Directors meeting, held September 19 and 20. Eighty golfers took to the links at the Webhannet Golf Club in Kennebunk Beach, Maine on day one of the event, followed by a reception and awards dinner at the Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport.

This year’s golf outing winners included the following: 1^st Place – Low Net Score was won by the team of Brett Anderson (J.D. Irving), Rob Hoffman (Capital Forest Products), Tom Merkert (Capital Forest Products), and Alden Robbins (Robbins Lumber). 1^st Place – Low Gross Score was won by the team of Chris Brochu, Jason Brochu, and Rich Smith all of Pleasant River Lumber, and Greg Garrison of Lumbermans Associates. This year’s Putting Contest was won in a “Putt-Off” by Chris Bagley of CES, Inc., and the Longest Drive winners were Rose LeBarron (NELMA) and Joe King of King Forest Industries.

Brett Anderson, Tom Merkert, Alden Robbins, Rob Hoffman Chris Brochu, Rich Smith, Jason Brochu, Greg Garrison

Additional event photos may be viewed here.

Day two of the meeting began with an economic forecast presentation by Paul Jannke of Forest Economic Advisors (FEA), titled “Will Lumber Prices Surge Again in Early 2014 and Other Topics of Interest”, and was followed by the bi-annual meeting of the NELMA Board of Directors. Several reports updating Association activities were presented to the Board which included reports from the Advisory Committee, Grading Services, and NELMA Administration. An Inspection Program update was provided by Matt Pomeroy, NELMA’s Director of Inspection Services, which included an overview of the Lumber Inspection Program, the Pelletized Fuel QC Program, the 9Bloc Pallet Inspection Program, the potential for an Export Lumber HT Certification Program for Hardwood, and an update on the Norway Spruce Lumber Testing project. NELMA’s Treasurer, Randy Caron, reviewed the Association’s financial status for 2013 and presented the proposed 2014 budget, with both receiving approval by the Board of Directors.

Additional program updates were presented to the Board on additional industry important topics, which included an update on the Softwood Lumber Agreement by Zoltan van Heyningen, Executive Director of the U.S. Lumber Coalition; a review of an initial draft version of “The Water Usage Plan for Log Watering Facilities” by Denis St. Peter of CES, Inc. and an update on the Softwood Lumber “Check-off” Program activities by Alden Robbins of Robbins Lumber.

Terry Walters, Chairman of the Board, closed the meeting with an announcement that NELMA will be conducting a Strategic Planning Conference December 3 and 4, 2013 at the Harraseeket Inn, in Freeport, Maine, with further details to be provided to the members in October.

Mark your calendars for the 2014 NELMA Annual Convention, to be held April 10 and 11 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. The Association is very pleased to announce their post-meeting theatre event as they have secured prime seats for the Tony and Grammy Award winning musical “The Book of Mormon”, set for Friday evening, April 11.

Architectural Monographs: Design A Community Center Building

Posted on September 27, 2013October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

In 1919, the fourth annual White Pine Architectural Competition challenged architects to design a community center building and civic center group plan for a small riverside town in New England with a population of about 5,000 people. Designers were asked to design a structure that would harmonize with other public buildings in the area, made of painted white pine “in the character so well developed in that part of our country.”

The community center building was to contain a town council chamber, offices for the town officials, permanent voting booths, and an assembly hall for 700 “equipped with a stage and a motion picture machine.” The contest required it to be finished on the exterior with white pine. Beyond this building, the general civic center plan required a freight depot, an open market, stores, offices, a high school, an art museum and other public buildings.

The judges note that the entries showed ‘a general weakness,’ but that most of them grasped not only the scale of such a building, which was to be a social center for a small village, but the importance that the act of voting should be given within it, and the need for equal accommodations for both sexes in the gender-separated club rooms.

“A few points, however, are evident to any student of the times. One is that women and men must be placed on a practical basis of equality as far as accommodations are concerned, and women must be given absolutely equal rights in and access to such main features as the gymnasium and swimming pool.”

Architectural Monographs: A New Beginning in Modern Times

Posted on August 16, 2013October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

In 2006, nearly seventy years after the last White Pine Architectural Monograph was published, NeLMA revived the series with Volume XXVII, Issue I, ‘A Historical Perspective And A New Beginning.’ The series that started in 1915 to promote the use of Eastern White Pine was an industry favorite during the 1920s and 1930s, gaining a readership around the country, is back with a fresh perspective, covering new ground.

Each issue of the White Pine Monographs has featured diverse topics relating to the architecture and construction industry in the United States, particularly the use of wood, with a special focus on Colonial buildings. A unique author, often an architect or architectural historian, wrote each introduction, and the issues included large photographs, sketches and blueprints.

The revival “takes a glimpse at the past while keeping a pulse on the future,” opening with ‘The King’s Broad Arrow: A treatise on early building with Eastern White Pine,’ and continuing with features on sheathing techniques and craftsmen inspired by the original White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs.

Also featured in this issue is the story of Limington Lumber, an Eastern White Pine lumber mill that has survived and thrived during the industry’s transitory phases over fifty years.

Read more at the White Pine Monograph Library.

Architectural Monographs: Historic Architecture of Marblehead, Massachusetts

Posted on June 21, 2013October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

The little town of Marblehead, Massachusetts lies on the coast just north of Boston, replete with humble yet beautiful early American architecture. This picturesque settlement was built upon the rocky coastline, resulting in meandering streets and tiered houses with charming, oddly-shaped yards. Volume IV, Issue I of the White Pine Architectural Monographs details some of the most notable historic buildings in this four-mile-long peninsular town.

Wooden clapboard houses with gable or gambrel roofs and brick chimneys are the most common type that can be seen throughout the town, but many different early architectural typologies are present. Several houses date to before the year 1700, though many have been altered in the centuries since.

This historic record notes the Lee Mansion as “one of the finest mansions in New England of its period,” and celebrates the “exceedingly graceful spire” of Abbot Hall. However, “in a word, austerity is the distinguishing characteristic of building in Marblehead.”

Read more at the White Pine Monograph Library.

Architectural Monographs: The Early Dwellings of Nantucket

Posted on May 29, 2013October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

Dramatic, intricately detailed doorways, captain’s walks and white picket fences are among the iconic features of historical houses on the quaint island of Nantucket, located off the coast of Massachusetts. Though today it’s a quiet village, populated mostly by tourists and part-timers with summer vacation homes, it was once a bustling community. Nearly four hundred years after it was settled, Nantucket is home to some of the finest surviving examples of 18th and 19th-century New England architecture, with decidedly sea-influenced flavor.

Volume III, Issue VI of the White Pine Architectural Monographs details these homes, providing a beautiful array of historic photographs of the island’s standout architecture. Written in 1917, this account of early Nantucket dwellings reveals the strong Greek influences seen in majestic white columns as well as seaport practicalities, like the rooftop captain’s walks giving residents a view of the water.

“There is a certain rule-of-thumb following of Greek precedent, influenced by hands and hearts which have builded many ships; a certain tightness, of ship-shape-ness: newel posts rails etc., suggest the crude but strong and rugged work of the ship’s carpenter. They look as if they had weathered many a salty storm and stress, yet inexpensive – there is no ostentatious display.”

“As Quakerism declined, and fortunes began to be made rapidly in whalebone and oil, the wealthy ‘Sea Captains’ built more imposing mansions, such as the two porticoed houses on Main Street at the corner of Pleasant Street.”

Read more about these structures at the White Pine Architectural Monograph Library.

Architectural Monographs: A $12,000 White Pine House Contest

Posted on May 17, 2013October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

A 1917 architectural contest challenged entrants to design a residence almost entirely made of Eastern White Pine, including the exterior siding, window frames and casings, doors, brackets and mouldings, for a family with an annual income of $5,000 (roughly $88,500 in today’s dollars.) Detailed in Volume III, Issue IV of the White Pine Historical Monographs preserved by NeLMA, the contest left the architectural style and layout of the house “to the ingenuity of the designer.”

The house was to cost $12,500 and be fit for a family “of taste and refinement.” The Monograph shows the plans for the top designs, with first prize awarded to a stately design with spacious gardens, beautiful views from each room, and “a perception of charm and imagination to an unusual degree.”

Some of the beautiful details that can be seen in these home plans include carefully wrought trim, cornices and columns, as well as interior elements like mantels, which were generally the centerpiece of any well-appointed home. As was befitting for the time, the homes included servants’ quarters as well as living space for family members and guests. See them all up close at the Monograph Library.