November 9 was a wonderful day for numerous Sabine Parish school programs and organizations that received almost $60,000 in grants from Weyerhaeuser of Zwolle, which has turned their annual awards ceremony into an early holiday tradition of sorts.
Zwolle Mill Operations Manager Anthony Ebarb was on hand and pointed out how Weyerhaeuser supports the communities that supports them. For almost everyone in the room that received a grant, there was a story about how they were connected through the mill through a relative, parent, or brother and sister. Some, such as Zwolle Chief of Police Daniel Thomas, were former employees of the mill who have moved into other sectors of employment.
The grants awarded and money amounts are as follows: --The Town of Zwolle and Zwolle Police Department received $10,000 for the purchase of radar guns for speed enforcement; --The Converse High School softball team received $6,000 for the purchase of a batting cage, netting, protective screens to be placed inside existing batting cages, home place mats, and the replacement of the foul ball poles; --The Many High School baseball team received $6,700 to help with the building of a concession stand structure; --The Zwolle High School softball team $6,700 to help with the purchase of the replacements of nets and labor on the backstop. They will also be able to purchase a screen, protection equipment, sand, grass seed, backstop padding, and wind screens; --The Pleasant Hill High School PBIS were awarded $5,000 to help with the expense of reward trips, incentive and rewards, manipulatives, assemblies/speakers, and parental/outreach events; --The Sabine Parish School Board Special Education Department’s Talented Arts Program received $8,000 for the purchase of supplies for music and art supplies for the art talented students, as well as special education students that are enrolled in life skills classes; --Ebarb High School $5,000 for their baseball and softball facilities. The purchase helps with the purchase of bricking and the extension of the home and visitor dugouts. There will also be an extension of the baseball and softball irrigation systems; --Ebarb High School PBIS received $5,000 to help with the purchase of Positive Behavior Propaganda for display around campus, reward trips, and prizes for student Rebel Bucks awards; and --The Friends of Toledo Bend received $5,000 to help develop the display materials and mounts for their museum, which will highlight the early logging history of the area and its progression to the present day.
Art Educator Kat Woodruff was extremely grateful and thrilled for the talented art and music students in the school system.
“When our three teachers applied for the grant we created a diverse wish list of supplies,” she explained. “In addition to basic supplies these funds allow art students to experiment with various 2D and 3D art mediums such as printmaking, fiber art, sculpture with wire armatures, and work with polymer clay. Music students will have more equipment to expose them to different types of instruments and sheet music to extend their knowledge of different musical genres and composers.”
Anthony Ebarb and Unit General Manager Stephen Peskar were also pleased to announce that the mill was going to see changes in the coming years, in the way of millions of dollars being poured into various improvements. Those passing by may have noted that fencing and are currently being installed, and a plan is also in motion to upgrade the office buildings of the facility.
“We’re fencing and changing the plant to make it safer,” Ebarb explained. “As it stands now the facility is too open and anyone can get onto the grounds.”
More improvements to the mill are set to be announced, as it has become a strong supplier of veneer products. A recent scale improvement has got their turnaround time for unloading log trucks to under ten minutes.
“We’re also doing our best to get these guys in and out of the mill so they can bring in that second load,” Ebarb said.
Local schools and organizations are encouraged to apply for next year’s round of grants. More information can be obtained by calling the Zwolle operations office.