The 40-acre timber that eccentric inventor Fred Francis once roamed, communing with nature, will be providing lumber to help local high school students become the builders of tomorrow with the help of Joe Doddroe.
The owner/operator of Country Men Millings, located near Francis Park, met with the Wethersfield Board of Education at its February meeting and offered lumber he harvests from fallen trees to students to build horse-drawn wagons and chariots for the trails being restored through the woods. He will also provide wood from the timber for the students to use for other projects for years to come. Most of the wood, Doddroe said, is hickory, red oak, white oak and cherry.
Wethersfield High School has a busy woodworking shop where students turn out individual projects such as desks, cabinets and bed frames under the direction of instructor Jeremy Trill. Carpentry students also build ramps, decks and sheds for community residents. They also make triangular flag boxes for the Kewanee Veterans Council and built picnic tables for the Little Log Cabin site.
Doddroe said he has an agreement with the City of Kewanee to remove fallen trees while someone else has an agreement with the city to harvest a number of standing trees to thin out the forest.
Proceeds from the sale of the lumber will go to pay for much-needed repairs at Francis’ Woodland Palace, built in the 1890s.
Doddroe said he thinks Mr. Francis would approve of the use of lumber from his timber going to give young people an opportunity to learn and serve the community. Board president Dan Bryan thanked Doddroe for his generosity.
Country Men Milling has also made the offer to the Kewanee School District.
In other business, Superintendent Dr. Andrew Brooks reported that the League of Women Voters has tentatively planned a candidate’s forum March 19 at City Hall for those on the ballot in the April 1 general election.
Wethersfield will have a race for school board this year with five candidates running for four seats on the board. Incumbents Steve Newman, Angie Ryan, Allyson Schiltz and Paula Baker are seeking re-election to four-year terms while former Kewanee park board member Andrew Verstraete is also running for a seat on the board.
Dr. Brooks said the school’s lunch program recently received an “overall good report” following a routine audit by the Illinois State Board of Education. He said cafeteria supervisor Ladosha Bystry and her staff consistently provide an excellent selection of items on the menu with many offerings not found in many other school lunch programs.
The district has also taken advantage of a program offered by the state to encourage schools to acquire some of their food from local producers. Brooks said last year the lunch program received beef from a local producer and this year the cafeteria will receive beef, honey and eggs, all from area producers. Altogether, the school has been reimbursed by the state for using $10,000 worth of locally produced food.
Following a brief executive session the board “sadly accepted with many thanks,” the resignation of Tricia Lay as Student Council advisor.
Mrs. Lay, the high school business teacher, has been STUCO advisor for the past six years. She has been instrumental in helping students to organize the Holly Jolly Christmas Festival, the Community Christmas Dinner, and raising funds to plant new trees in Windmont Park, as well as assisting with the Frank H. Craig Wethersfield Alumni’s annual summer reunion.
The board also approved a Grow Your Own Program agreement with Zachary Bush who was then hired as a math teacher for the 2025-2026 school year “pending appropriate licensure.” Bush is a 2013 graduate of Wethersfield High School.
The board accepted the resignation of Cam Yeater as PE and driver’s ed instructor and weight room supervisor at the end of the school year and approved John Rico as head high school softball coach for the coming season,
It was announced that District 230 will be on spring break from March 15-23.
