Hauliwood Party Held

And come they did.

Friends and family of Lona and Walt Pekovitch gathered Sunday and held a Hauliwood Party (first you choppy de wood and then you "hauly de wood") and gathered, cut, loaded, unloaded, and stacked it again. They did so to help the family out when the time to do things like this gets set on the back burner, as Walt flits between his job with the State Highway Department, and trips to see Lona who has been hospitalized since September in Billings.

After four months of being in the hospital, Lona was in rehab and looking forward to coming home, only to have a setback when cancer was diagnosed.

When word was shared that the woodpile was getting low, the text messages and phone calls turned into a small group that made a difference in a matter of hours that warmed both Pekovitch's hearts.

They were from various occupations and walks of life and ranged from "somewhat older than the rest of them," down to the rambunctious energy of their two-year-old granddaughter.

Oren Mackay lined out with grandmother, Penny Mackay to harvest downed trees for the firewood on her property. His partners in the act of kindness were Mike Plouffe, Flint Schaaf, Wes Lundstrom, Randee Shannon, John Wiese, Rob Wiese, Gage Abrahamson, and Scott and Corrine Hould.

While the adults were busy, young Seterah Pekovitch, daughter of Walt and Lona, and granddaughters Sidney and Teddi Hould, and Jackson Nelson explored nature and enjoyed what Mother Nature has to offer. Four family pets joined the efforts, though their main duty was to provide location as to the wanderings of the youth.

The gathering of the chain saws, axes, and wood splitter started in the early afternoon and the combined noises lingered after darkness when Teddi was ecstatic about the full moon peeking through the skeletal limbs on the trees.

Downtime from production was limited as the group utilized on the spring-like winter day. Truck and trailer loaded, and bonfire extinguished, the party disbands and separates. Some called it a day and others headed out to Pekovitch's for a feast and treat of bbq ribs prepared by Walt and a variety of pizza a group purchased.

The day had stretched into the night and just before 9 p.m., the wood had been stacked on the lower deck.

Kindness and paying it forward is still alive and well, and this group is a testimony. John and Rob were there for Walt from their military connection and Hould's are family. Gage, Oren, Penny, Wes, Randee, Jackson, Mike, and Flint are "brothers and sisters from another mother" as the saying goes when bloodline and DNA aren't either available or important.

Lona continues to be in Billings between the hospital and rehab, awaiting additional results of tests.

This small community is not without its share of acts of kindness and helping hands and giving hearts; perhaps you have been part of one. They show up in the form of meal trains, housekeeping, lawn upkeep, errand running, babysitting, helping combine a crop, or helping with branding or calving. If given the opportunity to be on the giving side, don't pass it up.

A weekend day well spent, a lesson was also learned ~ wood warms you twice...once when you chop it and again when you burn it.