Brookhaven’s residential areas still contain a few HurricaneGustav-felled trees – or what’s left of them – lying curbside andawaiting disposal. But one of the city’s wooded wind victims isbeing used to repay a debt of kindness instead of being sent to theburn pile.

An uprooted cherry tree at the residence of Ginny and ButchMcCardle at 411 Hardy Dr. has been lying on the ground waiting tobe transferred or transformed. Lincoln County Forestry AssociationVice President Lynn Davis on Wednesday morning got thetransformation under way.

Using his personal, mobile sawmill, Davis dissected the deadtree into fine cherry lumber that was given in thanks to ChuckJacobs, 89, as a woodman’s way of saying “thank you” for a set ofbookshelves Jacobs recently crafted and donated to the associationfor the storage of historical records in the Lincoln County PublicLibrary.

“Mr. Chuck didn’t charge us anything for building the shelves,so now we can turn back around and repay him for his generosity,”Davis said.

The opportunity to connect both ends of the Golden Rule wasfirst realized by Brookhaven Alderwoman Shirley Estes. RecallingJacobs’ kindness in the bookshelves donation and having recentlylearned of Davis’ sawmilling enterprise, Knothole Sawmill, LLC,Estes got permission from the property owners and brought the ideabefore Davis.

“I talked to Lynn about this cherry tree and how much Chuckwould like to have some cherry boards sitting by,” she said. “Itjust went from one thing to another. I don’t even remember when Ifirst heard about it.”

For carpenters like Jacobs, cherry is the epitome of hobbywoods.

“It’s good to work with; fun to work with,” Davis said. “It’sjust a beautiful piece of wood and it makes pretty stuff.”

Davis said cherry is one of the most desired hobby woods becauseof its density, resistance to shrinkage and ability to acceptfinish. He said the wood is “forgiving” in the shop and has a lotof character.

This particular cherry tree should result in some especiallyfine products due to some early-life injuries, Davis said. He hadbeen to Hardy Drive to inspect the tree before Wednesday morning’scutting and noticed the tree has extra growth from, most likely,overgrowing to heal an old wound.

“It will make some real figured-up wood and – especially formaking small things – it can just really knock your eyes out as farthe beauty of it,” Davis said.

Jacobs, who owns a personal woodworking shop and his beencrafting furniture and other items for approximately 30 years,still has a year to think of what he’ll do with his fine newlumber. The first step, he said, will be to load the boards ontohis rack for 365 days of drying out.

Already the wheels are turning. Jacobs was delighted to be giventhe gift of cherry lumber to feed his hobby, pointing out that thewood is hard to come by.

“I used to get cherry from Monticello Hardwood (Inc.), whichcame from around the Mississippi River, but I can’t get it anymore- it’s all gone,” he said. “It’s beautiful wood. I’ve made mosteverything out of cherry.”