While most of us will be looking at the medals, Lakeland Mills Ltd. president Keith Andersen will give a longer-than-usual gaze at the podium the winning figure skaters and short-track speed skaters will be standing on during the Olympic Winter Games.
That's because the podium is made out of blue-stained "beetle-treated" pine harvested from Forest for the World and processed at the sawmill - something that was celebrated Tuesday in the lead up to the Games, which start Feb. 12 in Vancouver.
Andersen called it a "real honour" to seek wood from Lakeland being used at the Games. The mill's products are shipped around the world, and "a little bit of extra advertising is a wonderful thing," he added.
The podium, to be in place at the Pacific Coliseum, is made out of kiln-dried two-by-fours from Lakeland that were converted to panels at Bayview Millwork Inc. in Surrey and then cut into complex shapes using sophisticated computer-controlled machinery at the University of British Columbia's Centre for Advanced Wood Processing.
Consisting of 241 pieces, the podium was then assembled at Canadian hardware retailer Rona's Vancouver 2010 fabrication shop, a community-based training centre that teaches carpentry skills to new Canadians and at-risk youth.
The pine was harvested from FFTW by TDB Consultants Ltd. during the dead tree and brush removal that started in fall 2008 and finished at the end of 2009.
Coun. Dave Wilbur call the news "another of those goose bump moments" following on the Oympic torch celebration on Friday.
"I have to rank this up close to that (the torch celebration), because I know when some of those gold medals are awarded to Canadians at the Pacific Coliseum, they'll be standing in front of our product," he said.
In all, 23 podiums will be put to use at the Games, each made out of wood donated by
communities, First Nations, and businesses from across the province. Another podium, made out of western larch from the Ktunaxa Nation community forest in southeast B.C. will also be used at the Pacific Coliseum.
Fact box
Wood from several other Central B.C. communities has been converted into podiums for the Olympic Winter Games:
- Western hemlock from McBride community forest for the victory ceremonies at Whistler Medals Plaza.
- White spruce from Fort St. James community forest for cross country skiing at Whistler Olympic Park.
- Underwater lodgepole pine from Cheslatta community forest for team biathlon and team cross country at Whistler Paralympic Park.
- Lodgepole pine from the Dungate community forest near Houston for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
- Paper birch from the Wells Grey community forest near Clearwater for wheelchair curling at the Vancouver Paralympic Centre.
- Interior Douglas-fir from the Likely-Xat'sull community forest for curling at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.
- Subalpine fir from West Fraser's Williams Lake operation for paralympic alpine skiing at Whistler Creekside.
- Coastal western red cedar from Pioneer Log Homes in Williams Lake for team biathlon, team cross-country and team nordic combined at Whistler Olympic Park.
- Interior Douglas-fir from the Cariboo Woodlot Association and the Blake and Brown-John families for the paralympic victory ceremonies at Whistler Medals Plaza.
Source: B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range
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