The beautiful birch ceiling that arches over the Ross Commons dining hall didn't have too far to travel. David Duclos, owner and operator of Tioli Inc., a local woodworking business, assembled the ceiling panels at his Middlebury shop. Of all the hands the wood passed through, Duclos's were perhaps the most important. For it was Duclos who shaped the rough lumber into the finely crafted panels that catch the sunset and bring a warm golden glow to the dining hall. After visiting Duclos at his Middlebury shop, I was impressed not only by his level of craftsmanship but by the care he took to adhere to VFF's vision. It was apparent Duclos understood his role in contributing to sustainable forest managment practices. 
David Duclos at home in his Middelbury woodworking shop, Tioli, Inc. Duclos crafted the ceiling for the Ross Commons Dinning Hall.
Duclos gives instruction to his staff as the panels are assembled according to a template.
The process of building a panel involves many steps, the first of which is material management. Duclos and his workers spend a considerable amount of time calculating lengths to minimize waste. As Duclose says, "a 10' bundle does not yield two, 61" pieces, but does yield two, 57" pieces while an 8' bundle yields one 61" piece and one small piece to fill a splice row." The task is a mind-numbing bit of number crunching but is an essential step in maximizing yield and represents the principle advantage to processing wood at the small-scale, local level.
As the wood is sized through a series of crosscut and straight line rips, the good "shorts" are pulled aside for use later in drawer side material. Any high-grade material over 6" is set aside for use in a splice row later. Once all the panel slats are molded to uniform dimensions they are sanded and assembled into a 7 to 9 slat panel. Then after a final machine sanding the panels receive a sealer coat, a finishing hand sanding, and a final top coat of stain. Once they are dry the panels are packed in wax paper for shipment down the road to Middlebury College. 
The finished panel is the product mutiple sandings and stains.
The Tioli Inc. workshop in Middlebury Vermont.
Duclos performing a cross cut rip of a panel slat.
By the end of the process, almost all the raw lumber has been converted into beautiful panels. Those unusable scraps that remain feed woodstoves for winter heat while the sawdust and shavings go to bed cattle. Such is the sustainable vision and discipline that Duclos brings to his work, a sample of which now hangs for all to see in the Ross Commons Dining hall. 
Sorting the rough boards and the panel assembly template.
Next: Stark Mountain Woodworking Inc.