DIXFIELD — The Irving Forest Products sawmill will host its annual Log Suppliers Open House from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday.

Jay Wheeler, the procurement forester at the sawmill, said Monday that the May 9 open house will be the 15th since the mill opened in 1998.

“We’ve done it since we started here, and it seems like people keep coming back,” Wheeler said. “We take our log suppliers on a tour through the mill, where they get to see how the wood they provide us gets turned into boards. It’s pretty neat.”

The number of log suppliers and their family members who attend the open house has grown over the years, according to Wheeler. He expects this year to be no different.

Following the tour of the sawmill, Wheeler said log suppliers will meet for a lunch cooked by employees at the mill.

“They can do meals like you would not believe,” Wheeler said of the employees. “It’s pretty unique what we have. We have an in-house crew of six to eight guys who can do meals for large crowds like this. They’re really good at what they do.”

The open house will take place, rain or shine.

“Once we get everything set up, we follow through with it,” Wheeler said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s raining, snowing or sunny.” He also pointed out that last year,  280 people attended the open house, despite the pouring rain.

“We’re big on teamwork here, and we have an extremely loyal group of people,” Wheeler said. “I think it will go well.”

The Irving Forest Products sawmill currently employs 230 people.

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