Warming Hearths

Bryce Smith volunteers his time to take truck loads of fire wood to needy families such as Dwight Boling who suffered a stroke in November – Staff Photo by Michael Williams

Last November, Dwight Boling, 57, suffered a stroke which left him with limited mobility. Upon his release from the hospital, Boling found himself facing a number of concerns about his health, medical bills, finances and the encroaching winter.

“When I got home I didn’t know what to do,” Boling said. “I heat my home with firewood and I didn’t have a stick of wood in the house. I couldn’t afford to buy any. A friend suggested I call Warming Hearths and a couple days later when Bryce Smith showed up with firewood, I was almost in tears.”

Warming Hearths is a program that was started through the Great Smoky Mountain Lumberjack Feud. The popular dinner show cuts numerous logs in their show which pits two families of lumberjacks against one another. At the end of the show, the pieces of logs needed to be disposed of. Rather than throw away wood that could be put to good use as firewood, Rob and Sheila Scheer, owners of the GSMLF decided to begin a program through which they could donate the wood to needy families. The timber athletes, who work in the show as the two feuding families, volunteered their time to load up the discarded wood and take it to the homes of those who would otherwise have no means of heating their homes. Using referrals through churches and local organizations, the timber athletes were able to find numerous families throughout Sevier County that needed firewood.

“In the dead of winter there are so many families that are in need of wood,” Said Bryce Smith. “Rather than have this wood wind up in a wood chipper or a landfill it ends up warming hearths.”

Earlier this week, Smith backed his pickup truck into Boling’s yard. The older gentleman met the young timberjack with a smile and a friendly handshake. Boling smiled when he saw the piles of firewood on the bed of the truck. Smith went to work unloading and stacking the wood near Boling’s home for easier access. As he unloaded the truck he regaled the older man with stories about the wood and pointed out the differences in the various types of wood he was unloading.

Since his stroke, Boling has received six truck-loads of wood delivered to his door courtesy of the timber jacks at the Lumberjack feud.

“These folks helped me get through the winter,” said Boling. “They are a Godsend. This was a life saver for me.”

Needy families in need of firewood can call Andrew Mattison with the Great Smoky Mountain Lumberjack Feud at 865-286-1178.