Fessenden Firewood        

(510) 236-4789

686 South 30th Street

Richmond CA 94804

 

A Warm Welcome

 

 

May 13, 2020


Hello everybody!  


The pre-season sale is about to begin! Most customers will be receiving their 2020 newsletter soon, but if for some reason you don’t receive it, the contact information for Wood ‘N Beez is at the bottom of this page.  This is the best time to buy this year’s supply of firewood!


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Escrow closed on the FF woodyard March 29th, and in an instant FF was no more.  Forty five years of selling firewood in the Bay Area --- from the Nixon administration to the Trump years (an odd bracketing, don’t know what to make of that!) --- it ended so quickly, and I can’t begin to make sense of it all yet.


But these are the particulars: the new owner is Angel Valdez, and his company is Wood ‘N Beez.  Angel’s father has been a supplier of FF for years, and the Valdez family has a long and deep relationship with just about every aspect of the firewood industry.  For many years the Valdez family filled the Cal-Oak boxes of firewood that Safeway sells.  Angel is honest and hardworking, and the quality of his oak and almond will be really high--- perhaps better quality than some of our wood, as he will have more control over how the wood is cut and also how it is split.  Give Wood ‘N Beez a try; I’m quite sure you’ll be glad you did.


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The city of Richmond has been giving us some pushback on the location of our yard (grandfather-ed in, in a residential area), and this was the single biggest reason for retiring now.  That, and the criminalization of wood burning which the Air Quality Board has done.  Chris and I were both born in 1948, and that is a lot of life, and a lot of firewood. I could have negotiated a couple of more years with the city of Richmond, but it seemed pointless.  It seemed like now was the time.


However I will keep the website for the time being, and use it as a site to post my poetry.  I am a writer now, as well as a wilderness guide.  Those that are interested in poetry can read a selection of my poems here, and give me feedback if you like.


Also I am keeping information that is relevant to firewood use here, and those who are interested in wood burning should look at it, especially the section on cord measurement.  Firewood users should protect themselves by knowing how to measure a cord!  Also, my open letter to the Air Quality Board, where I address woodsmoke concerns, will be interest to many.


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Wood ‘N Beez can be reached at: 510-326-8640 and 530-218-8237,  and speak to Angel or his wife Ofelia.  The ‘Beez’ part of Wood ‘N Beez refers to the beekeeping that the family does.  Honey bees are needed to pollinate the almond and walnut orchards in the Central Valley.  Farmers need the bees, and Angel and his family provide them.


Thanks again everybody, and God bless you!


Bruce and Christina Fessenden


© Copyright 2019, Fessenden Firewood