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- Santa Cruz Sentinel - "Chair
Man of the Board"
- Sunset Article - Best
of the West "Redwood Reborn"
Chair
Man of the
Used redwood lives again as furniture
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By
Kathy Kreiger
Sentinel
staff writer
It's
a chair that invites you to sit down, put your
feet up and let your troubles drift away with
the sunshine.
The chair's lines are classic, the wood well
sanded. The color is that mellow blend or earth
and fire that must have astonished the first
person to cut open these gaints and see the
hues inside.
It's a redwood chair even Julia "Butterfly"
hill might approve of.
And if you think redwood patio furniture can't
be evnironmentally friendly, the man who make
the chair would love to meet you.
"I've been working with redwood since the
60's, when I was a fence contractor," says
Tom Schot, Santa Cruz Native, self described
type A personality, and proud grandfather. "I'm
a redwood person."
These days, he's still in the redwood busineess,
but from a different angle: Most of the wood
he uses is recycled.
Water or vinegar tanks, barns, old houses and
even fences. You name it, he's found it, arrived
ahead of sledge hammers and bulldozers, and
taken it off to build chairs, tables and benches.
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"We're
not cutting down the old growth (trees),"
Schot says, "There's plent of second-growth.
There's plenty of tear-down.
"And if you make something out of it, you
give it a whole new life."
The first sign it's going to be a fun interview
are the rows of Frisbees lining the wall of
the small woden office behind the showroom,
which is filled with redwood benches, chairs
and tables.
Each Frisbee is printed with the name of a disc-gold
tournament dating back for years. It's another
of Schot's interests.
The good omens pile up like a big south swell
hitting the beach at high tide on a full-moon
night:
The big, bronze-colored Weber barbecue next
to the table saw. The photos of the grandkids
in the low-tech newsletter. The rainbow-colored
butterflies chasing each other on the computer
screen-saver. The semi-retired, semiconductor
industry businessman who bikes in to mentor
the owner because he has fun doing it. The 20-something
kid with a friendly smile, who offers his killer
barbecued skirt steak recipe, as he assembles
a redwood garden table he says will last 30
years - longer than he's been alive.
For
more Click Here!
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Top!
Sunset
Magizine's- Best of the West
Redwood Reborn
Recycling
an emblem of the West
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You
might not give a second glance to a dliapidated barn,
a fickety train trestle, or a collapsing wine vat, but
to craftsmen like Whit McLeod, Tom Schot, Brad Wilson,
andGarth Miller, they're things of hidden beauty. These
Northern Claifornia woodworkers know that many such structures
are made of old growth redwoods felled decades ago;
1/8 inch below the weathered surface are the same rich,
warm tones and tight grain the wood exhibited the day
it was milled. McLeod and his fellow crafters recycle
redwood (or, in some cases, Douglas fir, cedar, and
oak) into furniture, much of it intended for outdoor
use. Their quiet but powerful philosophy is, No standing
trees will be harvested for our products.
Redwood, the most Western, revered, and protected of
these woods, is particularly appropriate for outdoor
furniture because of its resistance to rot and termites.
And as the woodworking treasure-hunters know, old-growth
wood has a hand-someness unequaled by more recently
harvested lumber. Turned into tables, chairs, or benches
and protected with penetrating oil finishes, what was
landfill-boutnd wood can return outdoors, an example
of natural elegance and renewed life. |
Courtesy
of Sunset Magizine
Written by
Peter O. Whiteley
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Santa Cruz Trestle Chair
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"The West Cliff Howe Truss Bridge is the last of its kind in the state highway system. It stands where the county's first wagon bridge was constructed. The original was built by the town founder Elihu Anthony in 1849 from the "Bridges Span Santa Cruz's Past," Santa Cruz Public Libraries.
Anderson Pacific used heavy equipment to take down the trestle. Anderson Pacific is the engineering company that dismantled the bridge and is now rebuilding it along it's old lines with something more modern. The top of the trusses of the Santa Cruz Trestle were used in the new construction, June 2000.
This was the last train to go under the Santa Cruz Trestle before it was dismantled.
A Union Pacific train passes under the trestle three times a week. You will hear the whistle blow around 3:45 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as it heads down the tracks from Davenport.
Tom Schot, owner of Benches and his crew, Ben, Carlos, Martin and workers move and stack redwood timbers from the Santa Cruz Trestle.
"The timbers were up to 20 feet long, and made for some very heavy lifting. Schot sawed them into pieces six and eight feet long and hauled them off in his truck." Santa Cruz Sentinel, Thursday April 20, 2000.
The first chair in the Santa Cruz Trestle series was made for Sandy Lydon, Cabrillo College Professor of History
Joe Marlow, metal artist, is using the branding iron he fabricated for Benches. Each chair is branded and numbered. Tom Schot has the first 40 slats of the Santa Cruz Trestle wood ready for branding July 11, 2000. Joe heats the branding iron with a rosebud. John assisting in the procedure. The first batch of branded slats are ready for sanding. Each chair is handcrafted.
The following is a list of proud Trestle Chair owners. Due to the limited amount of material the trestle chair is an exclusive product. Ask us about our other history rich handcrafted Adirondack Chairs.
00 Sandy Lydon
0 Joe Tranchina
1 Sandy Lydon
2 Doug @ Anderson Const.
3 Doug & Bob @ Anderson Const.
4 Dave @ Anderson Coast
5 Marty Hapner
6 Marty Hapner
7 Al & Rose Osterkamp
8 Al & Rose Osterkamp
9 Greg & Jeanne Fernandez
9A Geoffrey Dunn & Siri Vaeth
9B Geoffrey Dunn & Siri Vaeth
10 Greg & Jeanne Fernandez
11 Stephanie Mills
12 Stephanie Mills
13 Cameron & Jean Logan
14 Cameron & Jean Logan
15 Linda Jordon
16 Chris Norton
17 Stephanie Mills
18 Kristen Klass
19 Kristen Klass
20 Jane Ried
21 Bonnie & James Kayer
22 Bonnie & James Kayer
23 Mary Alsip
24 Mary Alsip
25 Cindy Petsche
26 Cindy Petsche
27 Susan & Irv Burnett
28 Susan & Irv Burnett
29 Paul Curtis
30 Paul Curtis
31 Mel Anderson
32 Mel Anderson
33 Mel Anderson
34 Mel Anderson
35 Rob & Matie Cornett
36 Stephanie Mills
37 Stephanie Mills
38 Stephanie Mills
39 Stephanie Mills
40 Matthew Hart
41 Matthew Hart
42 Michael Baker
43 Michael Baker
44 Stephanie Mills
45 Stephanie Mills
46 Stephanie Mills
47 Stephanie Mills
48 Corinne Colendich (for Kim)
49 Mary & Larry Donatoni
50 Mary & Larry Donatoni
51 Christine Eckstrom & Franz Lanting
52 Christine Eckstrom & Franz Lanting
53 Beata Chapman
54 Beata Chapman
55 Sheri Howe
56 Sheri Howe
57 Dan Coyro
58 Dan Coyro
59 Laura Page
60 Laura Page
61 Elaine Olsen
62 Glen Schaller
63 Bill & Patty Sutherland
64 Baie & Matthias Netzer
65 Baie & Matthias Netzer
66 Bruce & Jan Ross
67 Bruce & Jan Ross
68 Kathy Scott
69 Kathy Scott
70 Donald & Susan McCarty
71 Donald & Susan McCarty
72 Cathy Vance
73 Cathy Vance
74 Janet & Michael Scarpelli
75 Janet & Michael Scarpelli
76 Dale Henderson
77 Joni Janecki
78 Dale Henderson
79 George Wilson
80 Joni Janecki
81 George Wilson
82 Duane & Frank O'Sullivan
83 Duane & Frank O'Sullivan
84 Charles Kieffer
85 Victor Huey
86 Victor Huey
87 Ken Gilbert
88 Ken Gilbert
89 Laura Cohen
90 George Wilson
91 Joni Janecki
92 Tacy & Jeff Mayer
93 Tacy & Jeff Mayer
94 Tacy & Jeff Mayer
95 Tacy & Jeff Mayer
96 Ken & Mary Ann Lown
97 Ken & Mary Ann Lown
98 Anthony & Alice Volpe
99 Anthony & Alice Volpe
100 Kevin Roberts
101 Nola McGehee
102 Nola McGehee
103 Rod & Roz Lum
104 David Skinner
105 David Skinner
106 Laura Cohen
107 Ruth & Brian Locher
108 Ruth & Brian Locher
109 Larry Johnson
110 Doug & Jackie Pio
111 Franz & Laura Duy
112 Franz & Laura Duy
113 Sophia Broekhuis
114 Tom McTighe
115 Kelly Free
116 Rob Free
117 Joe Esperanca
118 Dennis & Sally Swanson
119 Robb & Denise Reiling
120 Karen Wichekmann
121 Phil & Kristin Scofield
122 Phil & Kristin Scofield
123 Dennis & Joyce Mullen
124 Dennis & Joyce Mullen
125 Mandy Brook
no# Hospice (Dale Henderson)
126 Ford & Amy Young
127 Tom McTighe
128 Dan Kraft
129 Dan Kraft
130 Dan Kraft
131 Dan Kraft
132 Matt Sarrell
133 Tom & Vicki Schot
134 Fran Adams
135 Bill & Patty Sutherland
136 Jackson Chen
137 Rich Blomseth
138 Helen Yu
139 Rich Blomseth
140 Bruce Meyer
141 Bruce Meyer
142 Jerry Christenson
143 Mardelle Milton
144 Mardelle Milton
145 Janet & Jim Churchill
146 Janet & Jim Churchill
147 Jean O'Loughlin & Micheal Wallach
148 Jean O'Loughlin & Micheal Wallach
149 Chris & Venesa Jahr
150 Janice Solimeno
151 Sophia Broekhuis
152 Sue Alustiza
153 Terry Sousoures
154 Lee Ann Preece
155 William Hoffman
156 Lori Robson
157 Terry Sousoures
158 Judy Moring
159 Andy Moring
160 Mike Daws
161 Mike Daws
162 Carol Ames
163 Paul Ames
164 Mary Sanchez
165 Gil Sanchez
166 Jon Clark
167 Leah Drake
168 Darby Kremers
169 Janice Solimeno
170 Darby Kremers
171 Darby Kremers
172 Janet Thelen
173 Janet Thelen
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