Asheville, North Carolina
2000 Southeastern Region Teachers' Tour
14 - 17 June, 2000

Thursday 15 June, 2000

Asheville, NC Teachers'     Tour Homepage List of Hosts

Wednesday Orientation Balsam Mt. Inn - dinner

Thursday Bent Creek Biltmore Estate - lunch Ethan Allen Columbia Carolina Mt. Smokehouse - dinner

Friday T & S Hardwoods Jackson Paper Blue Ridge Pkwy - lunch Cradle of Forestry Taylor Ranch - dinner

Saturday Closing & Evaluation

Bent Creek Research and Demonstration Forest

Our first stop Thursday morning was at Bent Creek Research and
Demonstration Forest, where we learned about the variety of research underway.

    
Our host, forester Erik Berg, taught us a lot about the types of trees common to the south, and
western North Carolina in particular.  We discussed silviculture, disease, succession, different
management techniques, wildlife, and the various lessons they've learned at Bent Creek over the years.

    
Tom Inman of the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Inc., an expert in hardwoods,
sponsored the entrance fee at our next stop at the Biltmore Estate.

Biltmore Estate

Biltmore Estate, the largest private residence in the United States, is located in Asheville, NC
on 8,000 acres.  The 250-room mansion was built by George Vanderbilt in 1895.

Jay Davies, Teachers' Tour Facilitator Extraordinaire,
helped keep us on time for our many stops.

Looking out behind the estate 

The Biltmore Estate Winery

    
Here's a couple beautiful shots from the Foundation's pre-tour visit back in November of '99.

    
After exploring the massive estate, we gathered in the loft of the
Stable Cafe for a wonderful lunch before heading out for mill visits.

Jay Davies, Eric Canton, and Renee King are ready to roll.

Ethan Allen, Inc

After lunch, we visited Ethan Allen's massive furniture plant in Old Fort, North Carolina.

    
Don Garrett, Plant Manager, leads teachers through an exclusive tour of the plant.
All the lumber received at the plant must meet stringent
requirements for quality before it's used in Ethan Allen's furniture. 

    
All the wooden furniture accessories are created on site.
Here, a table leg is turned in the lathe and peg holes are drilled in a table top.

    
Much of the furniture created by Ethan Allen has "worm" lines, scratches, and small dents added
to it for a natural effect that customers want. 

    
Complete sections move through the plant on an assembly track.  Here, stain is sprayed on.

    
Final parts are added, and the furniture is inspected. 

The huge warehouse is full of completed furniture awaiting pickup.

Columbia Carolina

          
Jeff Tuckey, General Manager at Columbia Carolina, leads teachers into the mill.
Logs are cut to length.

On the right, a log is peeled into veneer sheets.

  
Long sheets of peeled veneer (left) are chopped into ply (right) to make panels.

Jeff speaks with teachers about
making plywood, one of the oldest engineered wood products.

Mountain Smokehouse

We enjoyed an excellent barbeque dinner with all the fixin's,
and with live music ta' boot...

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