'Wm Penn'

Well it's almost the end of the year already and this is the last editorial for 2010.   After last quarter's musings when I shared my opinion that the US dollar's devaluation is used to carry some of the debt of the rest of the World, I guess I'll tone things it down a bit.  Defending Old Glory and the American way is not a battle necessary to fight here. We fight those battles globally, defending more than just currency value, recognize it or not.....if you get my drift.  Anyway, thanks for all the comments, pro and con.That's what makes the world go round.

We are, and have been, busy this year.  HORIZON's core business of producing container load quantities for our overseas customers is back to a steady flow.  Perhaps not 10 containers a week, but a flow where we can comfortably manage and insure quality and consistency.The big increase we have seen on our front has been in the smaller more specialized shipments, primarily here within the States.  More and more I see perfectly packaged pallets (say that 5 times fast) leaving the company destined for unique projects in which we are proud to play a part.  William Penn commented that wood is "a substance with soul".  It is rewarding to perpetuate that soul.

A testimony to HORIZON's thorough inventory tracking system...... 

Earlier this year we received an email inquiry from a gentleman in Germany.  He had just taken possession of his new dining table. To quote his message, "Since Monday this week we are proud owners of our new dining table, custom-built from the gorgeous walnut wood from your stock. Our project was started  when we selected the planks at the wholesaler nearby Frankfurt. Robert, our carpenter, built the dining table. The dimensions of the table are 75 x 39 x 30". After completion the walnut wood has been sealed two times with organic linseed. The harmonic grain of the walnut planks has been preserved. The dark walnut wood offers a nice contrast to our parquet floor made out of oak wood and the rest of our furniture."

Obviously this message came from a man
 who know and loves his wood. His passion shines. He went on to inquire about the origin of his walnut, wanting to know where and when the trees were harvested. This information would finish, in his mind, the story of his table.

Our records indicate this Walnut tree, as well as several others, in pack #6768 were growing in Wayne County, Ohio and cut at the end of May 2009.  This forest tract was a private farm but the timber was under a management plan so only professionally  marked trees were harvested.  We  personally have known the logger for many years and  value his high reputation for quality workmanship.  We purchased the logs on June 5th and these pieces were sawn here at our factory on June 9th.  After cutting we steamed these planks for 80 hours to stabilize the color and dry kilned them until October 19, 2009.  The particular tag number you gave me shows that this tree was graded by our staff as an A1 quality which indicates a superior log.  It had been  cut into 6 matching planks of 53mm thickness.  I hope your carpenter was equally impressed."