MEDIA INFORMATION

Industry Contribution Medals Presented to
Fields, Ehinger, Deardorff and G-P at Plywood
Industry Centennial Banquet

Softwood plywood industry leaders Fred Fields, Paul Ehinger, Don Deardorff, and Georgia-Pacific Corporation were presented industry contribution medals at the plywood industry centennial banquet held March 18 at the Governor Hotel in Portland, Ore.

Organized by APA—The Engineered Wood Association and Plywood Pioneers Association in recognition of the softwood plywood industry’s 100 th anniversary, the gala evening event was attended by more than 300 people, including manufacturers, suppliers, retirees, and other industry friends and stakeholders from throughout North America and beyond.

Fields, longtime president of Coe Manufacturing Company, received the Gustav Carlson Medal for Process Innovation in honor of his lifetime contributions to the technological advancement of the plywood industry. Gustav Carlson was co-owner of Portland Manufacturing Company, the small wooden box company in Portland, Ore. that produced the first commercial softwood plywood in 1905.

Ehinger and Deardorff were each awarded a W.E. Difford Medal for Industry Contributions, named after the legendary head of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association before and after World War II. Ehinger, a 31-year career executive with Edward Hines Lumber Company, Westfir, Ore. and principal of Paul F. Ehinger & Associates consulting, has served on numerous industry boards and committees over his long career, including a stint in the early 70s as president of the Board of Trustees of APA.

Deardorff, a founder and later president and sole owner of Fourply, Inc., Grants Pass, Ore., and CEO of Eagle Plywood Specialties, was similarly recognized for his years of service to various industry associations and causes, including APA, the American Wood Council, and the National Forest Products Association. He was chairman and president, respectively, of the APA and NFPA boards in the late 70s and early 80s.

Georgia-Pacific Corporation was presented the Bronson Lewis Medal for Industry Growth in recognition of the company’s pivotal role in expanding the demand for and production of plywood, particularly in the South. One of the largest manufacturers of plywood in the world today, G-P in 1963 built the country’s first southern pine plywood mill, in Fordyce, Ark., and has played an instrumental role in the growth of the southern pine plywood industry over the past four decades. The medal, named in honor of APA’s executive vice president from 1969 to 1984, was accepted on behalf of G-P by Terry Christiansen, longtime executive in the company’s structural panels division.

The centennial event was emceed by APA Chairman John Murphy, Murphy Plywood, Sutherlin, Ore., and William Bennett, retired executive of Champion International Corporation and president of the Plywood Pioneers Association.

Keynote speaker for the evening was Oregon historian and author Chet Orloff. An adjunct professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, Orloff is director emeritus of the Oregon Historical Society, founding president of the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, and director of the Pamplin Institute, whose goal is to advance citizen involvement in public affairs and to raise public awareness of Oregon history. His father, Monford Orloff, was long associated with the western plywood industry and served as chairman of Evans Products.

The evening also featured a half-hour video history of the industry that included taped retrospective interviews with several longtime industry executives. Earlier in the day, a commemorative plaque at the site of the first softwood plywood mill in the St. Johns district of Portland also was dedicated.

Financial sponsors of the banquet and other centennial activities were Georgia-Pacific Corporation; Ainsworth Lumber Company Ltd.; Eagle Plywood Specialties; Murphy Plywood; Canadian Plywood Association; Corvallis Tool Company; Hardel Mutual Plywood Corporation; Louisiana-Pacific Corporation; Martco Plywood; McKenzie Forest Products; Pacific Wood Laminates, Incorporated; Rosboro Lumber Company; Roseburg Forest Products Company; Swanson Group, Inc.; Boise Cascade; Borden Chemical, Inc.; Canfor Corporation; Coe Manufacturing Company; Dynea Overlays; Engineered Wood Research Foundation; Hood Industries, Incorporated; Plum Creek; Potlatch Corporation; Timber Products Company; Ventek, Inc.; Willamette Valley Company; and Yakima Resources.