Woodland Owners of the
Southern Alleghenies
2016 Annual Meeting with Jack Winieski
The Woodland Owners of the Southern Alleghenies (WOSA) held their 14th Annual Banquet at Slick’s Ivy Stone Restaurant on November 10, 2016. Thirty-two members and 3 guests were treated to a delicious dinner, followed by a presentation on Pennsylvania nuts and fruits by the Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Nut Growers Association, Jack Winieski. Jack brought many samples of native fruits and nuts to show members, and explained that grafting allows the grower to produce a tree that will yield nuts in about 7 years, compared to 25 if grown from seed. Grafting also preserves the characteristics that are desirable in a tree.
Jack Winieski, Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Nut Growers Association, brought an assortment of hickory nuts, walnuts, pecans, and persimmon. More information about the Association can be found at http://pnga.net
Write-ups & Thanks
President Don Oaks (left) presented the Woodland Owners of the Southern Alleghenies' Gifford Pinchot Award to Jerry and Todd Clark in recognition of their excellent work ethic and low-impact techniques when logging. Vince Clark was absent from the photo.
2014 Gifford Pinchot Award
Don Oaks, WOSA President, presented the Gifford Pinchot Award to Jerry Clark, Todd Clark, and Vince Clark, in recognition of their outstanding work as loggers who use low-impact equipment and techniques to harvest timber. The Clarks, who own and operate the Curtis Clark and Sons Logging business near Everett, learned some of their work ethic and techniques under John Mash, a professional forester and manager of the Green Ridge State Forest in Maryland. They were recognized for their good logging practices in 2004 when they received "Loggers of the Year" Award in Maryland. Jerry and Todd Clark have continued their training in the Pennsylvania Sustainable Forestry Initiative Program and have been accredited as "Qualified Logging Professionals" since 1997, with over 70 hours of continuing education credits.
2016 Ben & Carole Tresselt Scholarship awarded to Sarah Elyard
"I just wanted to drop a line to you and all of the WOSA members to again reiterate how thankful I am for your support and the wonderful dinner I was able to attend! I am actually wearing my tshirt today, and had such a wonderful time with you all the other night. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the nut grafting. Both my mother and I were reminded again how truly small the world is when Jack mentioned that he knew the eye doctor that my mom worked for in college- he taught her how to graft trees, and it was so special for her to meet someone who knew of Dr. Rife and still has one of the walnuts he grafted. She sends her thanks as well. We are planning on growing the nuts from Jack, so with a little bit of work and research we might be able to get them to germinate. I hope to be in the area in March for the annual meeting, or at least close enough to be able to make a trip home for it.
Please pass this on to any of the other members who weren't able to attend the meeting. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas season!”