Man And Mill Go Hand In Hand
Brad Corkill really messed up Bud Groth’s retirement.
Bud had put in 42 years at family-owned Whiteman Lumber in Cataldo, Idaho, when Brad bought the place in 1988.
“I would’ve been gone a long time ago if it wasn’t for Brad,” the white-haired truck driver says, trying to hide his smile. “I wish I had another 20 years to work for this guy.”
Bud, who’s 68, likes his boss so much, he’s decided to stick around until at least May. That’s when he’ll finish 50 years of work at Whiteman.
“It was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me when I got Bud and his family,” Brad says. “We’ll have to hire two guys to replace him when he retires.”
Bud is so much a part of Whiteman, it may not work without him. He has pulled freshly cut lumber off the green chain, turned logs, hauled wood. He married the founder’s daughter. He has lived smack in the center of the mill site for 47 years. His son and grandson work with him.
“He’s at this window, that window,” his wife, Doris, says, pointing at places in her small home that overlook the mill operation, Cataldo’s marshland, the old mission. “He knows what’s going on here all the time.”
Bud retired once in 1992 but jumped at the sound of every incoming truck until he went back to work a week later. He had loaded and unloaded lumber most of his life, almost dying once when he was pinned between a truck and the logs.
“Never busted a thing, but it squeezed the oogy out of me,” he says with a chuckle.
His knuckles are so swollen from wear and tear, they look inflated.
He broke his foot once but never missed a day of work. He even pulled on his thick black work boots the day pneumonia nearly knocked him flat.
“It’s good clean work. You’re outdoors. It’s as good as it comes,” Bud says. “I don’t know of any better place to be.”
Thanks for the food
There’s no reason to go hungry or lonely on Thanksgiving.
There are North Idaho folks willing to share their turkey and trimmings this year, and they want nothing in return.
Coeur d’Alene School District employees will be hosts of the biggest feast in the Panhandle at Bryan School from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Everything is donated, including the cooking and cleaning. Patty Breuchaud, who planned the feast, hopes for 600 diners.
As if the food weren’t enough, school district people will read to all children who attend and send each one away with a book. Food for the body and the mind. …
Books pay off
Remember those used books you bought at the Silver Lake Mall from the American Association of University Women last spring? The money you spent is going toward a $500 scholarship for a Kootenai County woman.
Any woman with a four-year college degree may apply for the scholarship and use it for advanced studies. The deadline is Nov. 30, so call 772-9720 soon.
Beyond Christmas trees
It’s only five months to Arbor Day, so get busy designing Arbor Day buttons for Kootenai County kids. Tree enthusiasts want middle school and high school students in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland school districts to submit button designs by Dec. 15.
The contest winner will see his or her artwork on hundreds of fourth-grade lapels next spring and will get a T-shirt, savings bond and a dozen buttons to keep. Call 769-2266 for details.
Banner year
Maybe your team won the state championship one special year or you finally were able to buy that rambling old farm home you’d had your eyes on for 20 years. Tell us about your best year in up to 300 words and win a “Close to Home” collector’s T-shirt.
Spill out those good memories to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; send a fax to 765-7149 or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo