by Bill Moore

young people deserves some nice Christmas words from all of us. Keep up the good work, Bill, and grab a drumstick from that Christmas turkey. Merry Merry.

.... Yes, Gerry, there were some nice things in this rather odd forestry year. We had a good first half on the market side. And we had a modest forest fire summer. For those things we can be grateful. We had a good amount of rain for our forests in the first half and then a great dry spell for our Expo visitors.
....One has to admit that the second half was not as good as we would have liked. The “will they – won’t they” game of countervail – tariff – higher stumpage was and is a sad situation for our forest industry. The strike that crippled so much of our forest economy was possibly the most senseless action in the 40 year history of the IWA – management relations. I wonder when we will stop bashing ourselves in this province. It will take some time to repair the damages to pocket books and ledgers.
....With the above recorded, let us now get back to Jolly St. Nick time and cast our poor thoughts and re-member the niceties of good ol’ ’86.
....First off – a Merry Christmas card to our friends across the border – loggers, sawmillers and forest folk. Let’s remember we are cut from the same cloth and we enjoy the same standards. We are both suckers for plastic credit cards, Thanksgiving turkeys, booing the umpire or referee, Kentucky Fried and old Bogart movies.
....The greatest hurt we could both do is to turn a deaf ear to each other.

These difficult days of tariffs and lost jobs will be over sometime. And the blame lies with unthinking politicians, not the average American. Let’s keep the spirit between us, because no-where else on earth is there a friendly border such as ours.
....Here’s to both of us – Yank and Canuck – Merry Christmas.
....Now let’s see, here’s a nice embos-sed Christmas card to Jim Pattison, who bossed the World’s Fair in Vancouver. What a show, and how the 22 million folks that went through the turn-styles loved it. Our forest industry was well represented there too, with the Loggers Show. Over one million people cheered on our choppers and climbers.
....Thank you Mr. Pattison, we tip our hard hats to you, sir.
....I’d send a nice Christmas card to the men and women who run our Forest Service. Seldom do they get snowed under by praise for their forestry tasks on our behalf and no doubt they need a special sense of humor to see the funny side of the politicians they work for. There’s been a lot of bosses there in the past year. Just keep on smiling folks, because come the revolution the assistant deputies might be eating the straw-berries! Happy Xmas Forest Service.
....I’d like to send a Christmas card to an unsung hero of the forest around us. To the Junior Forest Wardens’ Bill Myring. His dedication and untiring work  on  behalf  of  our  red - shirted

....Then I’d send a really fancy, lacey Christmas card to those ladies who belong to a fine group – Women in Timber. Maybe they are not as well known in Canada as the western U.S. states, but these gals perform a real service to the forest industry. I was impressed with the presentation they put on for the Oregon Loggers’ conference last February in Eugene. Their display of forest products and related subjects all meant for tours of grade four children from the surrounding schools, was a terrific piece of work.
....They are watchdogs at the legis-lative buildings, looking for subjects that could help or hinder the forest industry and they stand toe to toe with the loggers and millmen in seeing the forests are not forgotten by policy makers in government. A Merry Christmas to you nice ladies – may your Xmas stocking runneth over!
....In these days of low bank balances, not to speak of deficits, I would remember a fountain of strength, that rock of Gibraltar – our bank managers. Yes siree. I’d make up a real nice Christmas card for these knights in armor who guard our humble savings. May your “vaults find no faults” with our loggers who are a wee bit frail from the end-of-year’s unfriendly bank balances. As Micawber said to young Copperfield, “something good is bound to turn up soon!”
                         (Cont’d on pg. A19)

erence of those beauties, the forest industry machinery salesmen. Never have so many owed so much to so few – and not asked for a discount. They perform great services to our industry by their constant vigilance of our worn out, rusty machines. They can always be counted on to suggest that a shiny new gizmo is just what we need to bring record breaking looks to our books. Bless you lads, and may Christmas be kind to your bulging purchase orders.
....Well there’s my list of Christmas cards for this season. And I suppose it will be a quieter holiday season for many attached to the forests around us. But there’s always the gift of a smile and a pleasant word, if you can’t afford a new Oldsmobile.
....We’re a lucky bunch that live by the trees. We don’t have the clogged highways of the major North Amer-ican cities (although we had a taste of

it in Vancouver at Expo time).
....We really have the world by the tail, but unfortunately we don’t know what to do with it. Let’s hope we learn.
....Sorry I didn’t have a nice card for all of you, but here’s a happy Santa greeting to retired cookhouse cooks, logging camp watchmen, blacksmiths and former P.F. men.
....Then there’s scant-haired gentlemen who used to be brushcut whistle punks. I’d never forget sled-builders, steam-pot firemen and real high riggers (the kind with hand saws and axes, not powersaws).
....To many friends – and, oh yes – to forestry executives with five year contracts.