By Linus Parr
On December 30 and 31, 2019, a storm covered the Eastern Upper Peninsula with heavy ice and snow. I was on Neebish Island and left for Newberry before the island lost electricity—it always does.
As I drove past the high school upon my return, I noticed people cutting up a tree in front of the high school. The tree had fallen in the storm. It was an oak, and I wanted it – I don’t know why. The guys were cutting up straight 8” round limbs into firewood length. I pulled over and called Superintendent Stacy Price and asked, “If I can find someone to mill the tree, can I have it?” She said yes!
I made a Facebook post asking if anyone in the Newberry area could help me get the tree milled.
Meanwhile, the log disappeared. Jack Thomas wrote on the post, “Linus, the log was picked up at the school by Rich McNamara of Clarence (Mick) McNamara logging. Rich and Mick have been doing logging and trucking for more than 50 years out of Newberry.”
Thomas had counted the growth rings and found about 50, so he believed the tree was planted around 1970.
I was told the tree would be milled at David Carmody’s place, and I accepted. On May 20, 2020, I got invited to David’s place to help mill the wood; Heck yeah, sign me up!
He has a Wood-Mizer bandsaw which can take 12’ logs, but the red oak was 13’. They decided to cut it into 7’ and 6’ pieces.
Both logs were milled into 8/4, 5/4, and 4/4 boards. Quite a few of the boards measured 18” to 20” wide. The heart of each log was cut at approximately 7” square (nice for the lathe). It took two loads for my old trailer to haul it back to school. It was stacked and stickered in the corner of the garage. We put bricks and other heavy objects on top of the pile of lumber to help the oak dry straight.
The wood sat stickered and drying for years. We tossed around ideas for the wood; we wanted to make a statement piece. About a year ago, Mrs. Price and I discussed building a boardroom-size table from the red oak for the superintendent’s office. I thought that would be a nice legacy to the red oak tree, a piece of furniture to be at the school for many years. Many drawings and ideas went around, and we settled on the table you’re looking at here.
In January 2024, the table project was assigned to students in my Construction Technologies class. Spencer Neeb took lead on the project; helping him was Gabe Luck, Riley Vansetters, Cameron Skeans, and Gavin Nutkins. We spent more time in planning sessions than building it because we only had one chance to get it right.
Making the table
It took two students to handle the heavy boards during the milling process. The boards were planed to 1½ thick, cut, mitered, and sometimes chiseled to get them to fit. Once fitted, they were taken apart and fitted with #20 biscuits to hold the edges together.
With the table upside down, all of us began the routing process—we had to get that 3/4 piece of plywood to fit into the center. This took several passes.
Remember that the students are only in this class for one hour a day. Allowing for cleanup time, it’s not a lot of time. The routing process took about two weeks by itself.
In the meantime, I kept moving the project forward so the students had the materials they needed. We needed a metal frame to strengthen the overall structure, so I created a spec drawing of the metal and went to Kinross Fabrication & Manufacturing in Kinross. They created exactly what we needed using 1” x 2” US steel.
I picked it up a few weeks later, and students got busy sanding the metal down before painting it. We drilled holes and used traditional plug screws (half wood screw and half machine screw) to mount the metal to the wood. After that, we could flip the table anytime, and students spent a lot of time sanding out imperfections.
The legs
The school wanted farm-style X legs, so they laminated 6 layers of the red oak measuring 6’, milled and squared them and cut them in half. We needed to cut the angle about 28º to get the table height of 29”- 30”.
Spencer had an excellent idea: he found the center of both halves and drilled a hole in each. He put a dowel peg in the hole so he could pivot one half. When we found the correct angle, it was drawn on both halves at the same time. This kept everything level, creating identical angles at all points.
We cut the center of each half in a 28º angle, then slid them together to create a lap joint. The center of the X, the lap joint is held together with a dowel and peg (no screws). The black pipe that goes from X to X gives stability and minimizes left/right swaying. A one-inch piece of red oak was placed on top of the X and was secured to the table.
The top
The students chose a blue/green background to mimic Lake Superior. They worked hard to seal the live edge, getting it ready to pour the epoxy. Live edge can create air bubbles in the epoxy if not sealed. Every corner and crevice was sealed with silicone sealant.
The class wanted to put the Newberry arrowhead in the center of the table, so Shannon Manty donated the arrowhead you’re looking at.
Two days before summer break, Matthew Rahilly learned that I didn’t have any rocks for the project yet. He reached out to Carol Derusha, who donated a large bag of exactly the size rocks we needed—thank you, Carol!
Students sifted through the rocks to select the ones they wanted. They placed the rocks, and Spencer did the epoxy pour and heat gun work. The legs and tabletop were sealed with polycrylic and suddenly, we were done.
The final table measurements are: 4’ x 8’ x 29 1/4”
The students took our vision and made it theirs. I couldn’t be prouder of what they have created and really hope you get to see it in person—it is amazing!
I love making and creating art regardless of the medium. Sharing my passion for the arts with my students is one of the greatest feelings there is for me as an artist and teacher.
I’ve learned this in life: “I do not look at something for what it is, but instead look at it for what it can be.”
Newberry High School’s red oak tree has become new again and will serve so many for years to come.