| As a pioneer and leading company in the timber industry, especially in wood preserving, Page and Hill started before the turn of the century in the Eastern part of the United States. The Big Falls, MN yard and treating plant was opened in late 1946. The operation employed approximately 30 full time employees at that time except during the spring peeling season when about 150 additional people would migrate in to hand peel the poles and posts that had been delivered durning the winter logging season. This type of operation was fairly constant until 1968 when the ownership was taken over by V. R. (Dick) Hufnagle. Mechanical peeling machines have replaced the need for the 150 men that emerged on the yard for the "hand peeling season". In 1968 three sawmills were set up with accompanying planer and chipper. The mills sawed mainly timbers and lumber as raw material for the treating plant, which was Pentachlorophenol, (Penta), an oil-based perservative. While a large portion of the treating was sawed material the plant does produce treated fence posts, building poles and poles for REA and utility companies. The plant is, as it has been since 1948, a government and American Wood Preservers' approved plant. The last day of 1986 put a mark on the Company's history. Through much work and determination a new treating plant had been installed and the first treatment was run. Chemonite "ACZA" was the new Waterbase preservative to be used in Big Falls. The company maintains exceptional ability to satisfy its customers as it begins its operation from the logging of the timber until the finished products. With its own fleet of trucks, often times delivery is much easier. Reforestation was also an important faction of the business. V. R. (Dick) Hufnagle operated a Tree Farm of over 700 acres on which he planted approximately 675,000 trees over the past 20 years. In 1982, Dick was chosen as Minnesota Tree Farmer of the Year by the American Tree Farm System. Then again in 1990 and 1999, took the same honor. In 2000, he was a finalist in the North Central Regional Tree Farmer of the Year. Mr. Hufnagle's health became bad in November, 1999 and passed away December 23, 2002. Since that time, his two sons, Richard and Aaron continue to carry on the legacy of his dreams. |
