Macdonald Report

Congratulations to all 79 contestants who attended the 34^th Annual Interior Championship on May 23, 1998 at Williams Lake.  The contestants show a great deal of pride and interest in their grading skills which contribute to the benefit of the lumber industry as a whole.  Junior contestant prizes were awarded to:

·         Thomas E. Nascou of Riverside, Williams Lake, BC.

·         Adrian den Otter of Canfor-Netherlands, Prince George, BC.

·         Bhupinder Parmar of Houston Forest Products, Houston, BC.

This year’s champion was:

·         Balbir S. Nagra of Finlay Forest Products, Mackenzie, BC.

followed by:

·         Shawn Metivier of Slocan Group, Mackenzie, BC.

who tied with:

·         Satwant S. Sandhu of Riverside, Williams Lake, BC.

third place went to :

·         Kirpal S. Parmar of Slocan Group of Radium, BC.

Pat Doyle of Crestbrook Forest Products of Cranbrook, BC

 won the top position of past champions.

The Caribou Lumberman’s Association did a great job in hosting this years event which was also well attended by guests from other Canadian and American agencies, industry leaders and a significant delegation from Japan.

BC Coast Championship Results

The 66^th Annual Coast Lumber Grading Championship was held at the Cedar Hill Recreation Complex in Victoria.  33 contestants applied their skills in grading 100 samples of lumber products produced on the Coast.  Leading the junior category was:

·         Garry Russell of MJS Lumber in Surrey.

 followed by:

·         Harry Kullar of TimberWest – Cowichan.

This years champion was:

·         Iqbal Purewal of Interfor-Mackenzie Seiza.

followed by:

·         Ray Chiu of Interfor –Fraser Mills in second

and

·         Gurdev Shahi of Mill & Timber in third.

John Booth of MacMillan Bloedel -Chemainus Division lead the championship in the past champions event.

Canadian Mill Services Association under the guidelines of Miyeko Homma hosted a great event in Victoria that was enjoyed by contestants, visiting agencies and industry leaders alike.  Macdonald Inspection is proud to be part of this event by participating on the examining committee.  A valuable exercise at both the Interior and Coast Championship events, is the meeting of all the BC grading agencies as well as representation from other Canadian and US grading agencies, the regulatory and rules writing organizations such as Canadian Lumber Standards, American Lumber Standards and the National Lumber Grades Authority on the Friday before the contest.  Not only is there input and verification of the grades for the exam but it is an excellent opportunity to establish concerns on grade interpretations so everyone has the same understanding of our lumber products.