MFA’s Annual Meeting will take place on Thursday, October 30 from 5:30 – 8:30 pm at the 1761 Old Mill Restaurant in Westminster, the same location as last year. Registration and social hour with a cash bar will open at 5 pm, the meeting will begin at 5:30, dinner will be served at 6 pm, and the meeting will wrap up by 8:30 pm.
The meeting is supported by generous sponsorship from Farm Credit East and North Country Procurement. The cost of the meeting will be $35 for MFA members and their guests, and $45 for non-members.
Keynote speaker for the meeting will be Dr. Steve Rich from TickReport.com. Lyme Disease and the ticks that transmit it are a major concern for our members who work in Massachusetts forests. There are a number of new developments in research concerning ticks and tick diseases
The meeting will also feature the presentation of awards, and we have some deserving winners this year.
The Friend of Forestry Award will be presented to the Northeastern Loggers Association. NELA publishes the Northern Logger magazine, which MFA offers at a 50% discounted rate to members. This award recognizes individuals or organizations that share and communicate the benefits of forest management, and NELA clearly does that extraordinarily well.
The Douglas B. Cook Wood Producer of the Year Award is named for a former MFA board member and owner of Cook Forest Products in Upton who passed away in 2018. This year, the award will be presented to Joe Podolak of PDS Forest Management. Joe is a timber harvester from Hadley who does a lot of work with Gutchess Lumber. Joe is well-regarded in the industry for his honesty and integrity, and works with his son with smaller equipment as a more traditional logger.
The Howard F. Mason Forester of the Year Award is named for the legendary forester known for his work with Peck Lumber. Howard received our highest honor, the Lambert Award, in 1996 and passed away in 2008. This year, the award will be presented to Mary Wigmore. Mary has had a long and distinguished career as a forester, working on significant projects such as the Tri-City Forest Carbon project in Holyoke, West Springfield, and Westfield. She has mentored many young foresters, taking a special interest in supporting women foresters and serving as an outstanding role model for them as a true professional who has earned tremendous respect.
The John H. Lambert, Jr. Forest Stewardship Award is named for the late State Forester. He was the first recipient of the award in 1993, and it was named in his honor. It is MFA’s highest honor, and it recognizes an individual who has not only had an excellent career in forestry, but helped establish MFA and/or had a significant impact on forest policy in Massachusetts. This year, the award will be presented to Fred Heyes. Fred is the owner of Heyes Forest Products in Orange and is a longtime MFA Board Member, currently serving as Secretary and a member of the Executive Committee. Fred has served on countless commissions and working groups developing forest policy in Massachusetts and is viewed as a priceless source of knowledge and institutional memory who can point out what others miss. This award is long overdue.
We’ll also share information about MFA’s legislative and regulatory work, our financials, and election of board members.
We hope you’ll come join us to honor these outstanding award recipients.
Registration is now open. Fill out the form, and on the next screen, if you are registering more than one person, click “Submit Another Response.” Once all attendees are registered, proceed to the payment screen and pay for all attendees combined.
Click here to register online.
Or you can download a paper form and mail it in with a check.
We hope to see you on the 30th!