`A love of nature grew into hardwood business`

By Sherris Byers
Herald Writer
A 50-foot fall changed the direction of Richard Bruening’s life.

Bruening, a Wilmington resident, is the owner of Bruening in the Backwoods in Hadley, a business that specializes in kiln-drying hardwoods, such as oak, cherry and maple, to make furniture, cabinets, flooring and moldings.

“We also make window and door casements, and solid wood paneling,” said the New Castle native. In the wood-drying business for more than five years, Bruening in the Backwoods was born out of his appreciation for nature, and being laid up on his back for nearly two months from a previous business he owned — a billboard company.

“I was self-employed in the sign business since 1974, and purchased a billboard company in 1984,” said Bruening. “I had sold the company in 1993, but still did some signs on the side.” That changed in May 1997 in West Virginia. A high wind pushed him off the sign he was work-ing on, 50 feet above the ground.

Incredibly, he sustained no broken bones, only a cracked pelvis. “I don’t remember much about that time,” said Bruening, referring to a head injury he received from the fall. Though he was in rehabilitation for a month in a Harmarville, Pa., rehabilitation center, he left there in a month.

“It was definitely touch and go there for a while,” said Bruening.

Since he had been involved in different aspects of wood-drying prior to his fall, he decided to get involved in it full time.

After sharing his business with various partners, he began looking for a location of his own in March 1998. “I was friends with some people in Hadley, and one of them described a building for rent that was the size of what I needed,” said Bruening.

The business has been housed there for approximately a year now, with Bruening providing de-livery as well as the drying of lumber. Being the only kiln-dried wood business in the area also gives him an edge in the business world.

“We did a large amount of work for a contractor in Warren, Pa., and I’ve done work for people in Butler, Beaver and Lawrence counties, as well as Mercer,” added Bruening.

“I wanted to try something new, and I’m very comfortable with this,” the self-proclaimed “hippie out of the sixties” said. “I consider myself a naturalist, and this is one way I can enjoy the art and beauty of wood.”

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Updated May 21, 9999
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