Old Oak Harbor oak tree becomes part of B-C-S schools future

        An old oak tree that was in front of Oak Harbor Middle School on Church Street (formerly Oak Harbor High School), which was believed to be about 200 years old will now be part of the Benton-Carroll-Salem Schools District's future.
        The tree was damaged by lightning several years ago and needed to be cut down. It was taken down by Miller Tree Service. Ted Foust, who has worked with the district's summer maintenance crew, took the initiative and contacted King's Lumber in Wauseon to mill the tree into rough cut lumber planks.
        The Oak Harbor High School Structural Engineering class, with teacher Noah Neiderhouse, took a field trip to King's Lumber in spring 2019 to learn about the milling process and to witness the milling of the old oak tree. From there, the lumber was stored and cured for two years for use in future fine woodworking projects.
        Recently, the district found that it needed a new podium for use at graduation and other special programs. Jack Harris of the B-C-S Maintenance Department, thought that it would be a good idea to use some of the wood from the old oak tree to construct a podium. He then reached out to Bill Scherf, an Oak Harbor Middle School classroom assistant and woodworking craftsman to turn the wood into a podium for the school district.
        The Oak Harbor FFA also voted to work with Scherf to construct a podium for the annual FFA banquet and other special events.