SAUK SSA AUK KR RAPIDS APID AP DS HERALD HEER H RA ALLD D | SA SATURDAY, ATU TURD RDAY, RDAY RD AY Y, DE DEC. C. 2 21, 1 2019 1, 201 019 | Page Page Pa ge 1B 1B
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Sauk Rapids Herald | Saturday, December 21, 2019
Paul’s Fireplace Wood strikes a cord yearround in homes, businesses BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Paul Wilczek Jr. and Sharon Wilczek stand in front of dried, split and crated wood at Paul’s Fireplace Wood Dec. 11 in Little Falls. The mother-son duo operate the business which supplies wood to residential and commercial accounts.
Lakes areas and commercial restaurant accounts such as Rafferty’s Pizza, Famous Dave’s and Punch Neapolitan Pizza. The company also ships nationwide. The idea for the business, at 17502 Heron Road, Little Falls, was sparked over 35 years ago when the Wilczek family
built its first home in a dense wooded area. Clearing the oak trees for construction, Paul’s father began selling hand-split wood to area residents. Soon, the endeavor expanded and the family began harvesting the raw agricultural material and building an inventory. “He started selling 100
cords a year back then, and we’re up to 2,500 (cords per year) now,” Paul said. Working with contractors who clear land for the Department of Natural Resources, Paul’s Fireplace Wood receives the majority of its inventory in the winter months. The wood arrives as
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erry Christmas ! M From Rod, Jake, Paula, Nate and everyone at Fluegges Ag!
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LITTLE FALLS – Nothing brings as much comfort as the sound and warmth of a crackling fire when below-freezing temperatures and winter winds have Minnesota residents in retreat. The Wilczeks, of Little Falls, know this well. Owner Sharon Wilczek and her son Paul Wilczek Jr. operate Paul’s Fireplace Wood – a company that has built its business on the ambiance of the flame. “We don’t do a lot of the boiler fuel; we don’t do bulk heating,” said Paul, operations manager. “We sell some of our scraps that way, but the majority of it we call pleasure burning.” The Wilczeks said pleasure burning is any type of recreational fire where people are relaxing and taking in the atmosphere of a dancing fire. The bulk of their patrons include residents that span from the Twin Cities metro through the Brainerd
8-foot logs. Employees process the wood into 12-, 16- and 24inch lengths and split the wood into smaller diameters, ranging from 1.5-8 inches. “We get it hauled in straight maple, straight oak, straight birch and then we’ll do different blends of 50% birch, 25% maple and 25% oak,” Paul said. All orders are custom, and the company also supplies woods such as cherry, apple, mesquite and hickory which are used to add flavor with cooking or smoking. Sharon, who is the office manager and accountant, works with each customer to supply the best blend of wood for their needs. “The mixture of the oak, maple and birch work really well,” Sharon said. “The birch is the wood with the white bark. It starts a little easier and gives you that snap, crackling, roaring fire, but yet that oak and maple are in there to give you that nice heat on those cold, cold evenings. When you have a mixture of wood, they have a choice of fire. Sometimes, if you just want the ambiance and you’re entertaining, you’ll use more birch. But yet on those
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