Tommy MacDonald Makes Video for Hardwood Forest Foundation

PARKERSBURG, WV — Tommy MacDonald, host of Rough Cut – Woodworking with Tommy Mac, a public television show sponsored in part by Woodcraft, is also the spokesperson for the Hardwood Forest Foundation and narrator of the foundation’s new Truth About Trees video for schoolchildren. The foundation was recently nominated for the State of Tennessee Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award for the video and its outreach program.

Tommy MacDonald Makes Video for Hardwood Forest FoundationIn announcing the nomination, Paul A. Young, administrator for Memphis-Shelby County Office of Sustainability, said, “The high quality of the Foundation’s educational curriculum deserves to be recognized with the highest honor our state provides.” Awards will be presented by Gov. Bill Haslam in June.

In Truth About Trees, a video available at www.hardwoodforest.org/truth-about-trees, Tommy leaves his woodshop to visit the forest in order to show children what is involved in turning a living tree into a piece of wood. He talks to a forester, a tree farmer and others along the way from the forest tree farm to the sawmill in order to learn why proper harvesting keeps the forest healthy, promotes tree regeneration, and ensures a habitat for wildlife. Young viewers also learn about the many products they use that are made from trees.

“To be nominated for the most prestigious environmental and conservation award in the state of Tennessee is huge for the foundation and its educational efforts,” MacDonald said. “Truth About Trees simplifies topics such as carbon sequestration and selective harvesting by offering a common sense approach to learning and making fun mandatory.”

The video is the newest component of the Hardwood Forest Foundation’s “Truth About Trees” program that was created in 2006. At the heart of the program is a kit that includes curriculum written in lesson format, videos, music, classroom games and coloring books to educate children, primarily third through fifth graders, about the benefits of properly harvesting trees. Kits are distributed free of charge to educators and forest products industry members worldwide.

“As spokesperson for the Hardwood Forest Foundation, Tommy spends most of his time working with children and teaching them the importance of properly managing forests,” Crystal Oldham, executive director of the foundation said. “He’s so natural with the children that they don’t even realize when they are knee-deep in educational curriculum – his level of fun is off the charts. In addition to working directly with children, Tommy helps develop and promote initiatives and provide educational opportunities in various formats, such as the Truth About Trees video.”

Among Tommy’s appearances for the Hardwood Forest Foundation was a trip In January to Las Vegas for the International Surfaces Event where the foundation presented the “Truth About Trees” program for local schoolchildren. In May he is scheduled to work with 250 children at the Western Hardwood Association ICE meeting in Portland, Oregon.

To learn more about the Memphis-based Hardwood Forest Foundation, visit www.hardwoodforest.org. Visit www.thomasjmacdonald.com to find out more about Tommy MacDonald and visit www.wgbh.org for more information about WGBH Boston, the producer of Rough Cut – Woodworking With Tommy Mac, which is distributed by American Public Television.

For more information about Woodcraft, please contact the store nearest you, visit www.woodcraft.com or call (800) 535-4482(800) 535-4482 . To learn about Woodcraft franchise opportunities, visit www.woodcraftfranchise.com or email [email protected].

Source: Woodcraft Supply

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