Pallet Company Donates Handcrafted Display Case to College

Published 06.21.2017

News

A Snyder County pallet company donated a handmade display case to Pennsylvania College of Technology during the Keystone Wood Products Association’s recent annual meeting on the college’s main campus.

Remmey, the Pallet Company – a KWPA member that has relied heavily on Pennsylvania lumber during 60 years of manufacturing durable shipping pallets – presented Penn College with the beautifully crafted piece by woodworker Abe Weaver.

“Penn College is the only college in the Keystone Wood Products Association region that offers a forestry and forest products curriculum,” said Don Remmey, company owner and president. “To show our appreciation to the college for training the next generation of forest industry personnel, we are presenting them with this beautiful wooden display case to use in the lobby of the Schneebeli Earth Science Center.”



Showcasing a display case constructed of Pennsylvania lumber are, from left, Don Remmey, the business owner who donated the piece to Penn College; Abe Weaver, the woodworker who crafted it; Elizabeth A. Biddle, the college’s director of corporate relations; and Erich R. Doebler, laboratory assistant for forest technology at the college.Walnut roping accents Weaver's handiwork ...A former pallet manufacturer in Beaver Springs, Weaver began working with wood after retiring in 2010. Starting with jewelry boxes for his wife and daughter, he honed his increasingly in-demand artistry on coffee tables, garment chests and gun racks. He has remained consistently busy in recent years making custom wood furniture and accent pieces.

“This display case is a beautiful piece that represents Pennsylvania’s hardwoods and the appreciation of our hands-on technology education that serves the forest products industry,” said Elizabeth A. Biddle, director of corporate relations at Penn College. “We thank Mr. Weaver for his talent in woodworking and Mr. Remmey for the gift that will draw attention to our forest technology major in a unique and artistic way.”

... as do this compass rose, of bloodwood and hard maple ...The donated cabinet, installed inside the entrance to the Earth Science Center south of Williamsport, incorporates Weaver’s trademark “inlay” style, including inlaid walnut-rope molding. The front panel of the case contains only wood species found in Pennsylvania: tulip poplar, American chestnut, chestnut oak, walnut, soft maple, cherry, ash, sassafras and white pine.

Penn College forest technology students harvested and prepped the wood for another piece of donated furniture: a bookcase made by The James Vanderlin Co. for Williamsport Area High School.“Both Abe and Don see the value of a hands-on education and honored that through their generosity,” noted Erich R. Doebler, laboratory assistant for forest technology at Penn College. “This case, which incorporates and highlights the characteristics of wood – including the ‘defects’ that Mother Nature intended – is a nice, functional and aesthetically pleasing piece of work.”

... and this attractively positioned floral inlay.In another donation at the dinner meeting, a cherry-and-hard-maple literature rack was presented by The James Vanderlin Co. to the guidance department at Williamsport Area High School. The South Williamsport business fashioned the piece from hardwoods harvested, sawn and kiln-dried by Penn College students.

For more about the two-year forest technology major at Penn College, call 570-327-4516.

For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education and workforce development, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.