2025 Year-End Reflection

It’s hard to believe 2025 is in the rearview. 2025 marked 150 years since our family arrived here in 1875.

St. Boniface Catholic Church in Sublimity sponsors an event on the Saturday prior to Halloween called Tombstone Talks. Each year about one half dozen families tell the stories of where their ancestors come from and the challenges they endured to arrive in this fertile area. The ancestors come alive from the cemetery as their descendants tell their remarkable tales.

This year lightning and a windstorm caused the event to be moved from the cemetery to inside the church. The winds howled and the lights flickered causing everyone to feel like the dead were returning from the afterlife. I recommend attending this historical and fun event next year.

Two years ago, my friend Chuck Adams lost his wife after a long battle with cancer. Unexpectedly their special needs adult son died within a week of his wife’s passing. On November 1st, I was so elated to attend the wedding of Chuck and his new wife Kathy.

The heartwarming story of how they were matched up by a server at Chuck and his son’s favorite coffee shop delighted all the attendees.

Forty years ago, Chuck had worn a tuxedo and top hat to his first wedding, and he wanted to do it again. So, he ordered a top hat and when it arrived three days before the wedding the hat size was too small. It was too late to get another hat.

The next day Chuck visited his favorite coffee shop and seated in his late son’s usual chair was another special needs young man wearing a top hat. Chuck asked if he could borrow the hat for his wedding day and the young man obliged, solving Chuck’s top hat dilemma.

Sometimes you find the grace of God in the most unexpected places. Thanksgiving and Christmas have just passed, and I cherished the time spent with my family. It’s a time of reflection on the gifts this life has given us. Faith and gratitude calm the turbulent times that test us.

2025 was a challenging year for company operations as imports and interest rates combined to subdue demand for our products. Tariffs on Plywood are beginning to take effect, and interest rates are easing slowly. Our family is cautiously optimistic for an improved 2026.

We thank you for your perseverance and dedication to our family business entering its 104th year.

We continue to believe the future is promising and keep our perspective focused on what’s most important; our health, our families and helping our community.

Best wishes to you and yours.

Rob Freres