It has been some time since this region has experienced prolonged sub zero temperatures, which is fine with me. When it does get that cold things happen. In January 1949, the temperatures plummeted to nearly thirty degrees below zero at Westwood. The millpond froze. When the Red River Lumber Company designed the facility, they placed piping from the powerhouse that forced steam air directly into the millpond near the sawmill. This system was no match for Mother Nature. To keep the mill operating it was necessary to use dynamite to blast loose the logs in the millpond.

Actually this practice had been in use for some years at the veneer plant section of the pond that did not have the benefit of steam heating and routinely froze. Fred Lendman, while a forester by occupation, worked odd jobs at the mill during the winter season. In the winter of 1950, Fred had the job of being the veneer log pond “monkey.” This job required Fred to keep a supply of logs going into the veneer plant and on occasion he would have to dynamite to blast open that frozen segment of the pond.

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