Editor's Product Pick: APEXConstruction Systems

Walls built from Apex Block cut heating and cooling costs by at least 60% and can reduce lumber requirements on a typical house by nearly 65%, the maker says. Blocks are made of cement and recycled polystyrene and lock together with a tongue-and-groove system, allowing walls to be stacked with no seam gluing. The blocks can be altered with standard carpentry tools. 800.252.8784.www.apexblock.com.

Lauding Lumber People

As the year ends, it's time for the annual honors from LBM associations of those who've stood out in their respective business regions. Here, a rundown of some honorees:

Bob Curtis, Lifetime Achievement Award from Eastern New York Lumber Dealers Association. Curtis owns Saratoga Lumber Traders Inc. in Ballston Spa, N.Y.

Tom Findlay, Person of the Year for Mid-Hudson Lumber Dealers Association. Findlay is branch managerat Williams Lumber, Hopewell Junction, N.Y.

Andrew Goodman, Lumber Person of the Year for New York & Suburban Lumber Association. Goodman is president and CEO of Sherwood Lumber Corp. in Maybrook, N.Y.

Stephen Howe, Lumber Person of the Year for Massachusetts Retail Lumber Dealers Association. Howe started Howe Lumber Co. in North Brookfield in 1965 with his father.

Gary Miller, Lumber Person of the Year for Central New York Retail Lumber Dealers Association. Miller is president of Baker Miller Lumber in Groton, N.Y.

Aileen O'Hara, Lumber Person of the Year for Lumber Dealers Association of Connecticut. O'Hara is director of Northeast Builders Supply in Cornwall Bridge, Conn.

Patrick O'Keefe and Joseph Umosella, Lumbermen of the Year for the New Jersey Building Materials Dealers Association. O'Keefe will retire at year's end as CEO of the New Jersey Builders Association. Umosella, who retired recently, founded Universal Supply Co. and Patriot Manufacturing Inc., both of Hammonton, N.J.

Patti Sinclair, Person of the Year at New Hampshire Retail Lumber Association. Sinclair is general practice group manager at Vitale Caturano & Co. in Boston.

Jeff Swan, Dealer of the Year, and LNS Sales, Supplier of the Year, for Western Building Material Association. Swan is president of Evergreen Lumber in Port Orchard, Wash. Lester Sjoholm founded LNS of Lacey, Wash., in 1985.

Jimmy Valenti, Lifetime Achievement Award from Long Island Lumber Association. Valenti is with American Lumber in Walden, N.Y.

People

Gerald Wille has been named president and chief executive officer of Edward Hines Lumber Co. He succeeds Edward Hines, who was elected chairman of the board. ...Kevin O'Meara resigned as Builders FirstSource's president and chief operating officer, following a third-quarter report of a net loss of $11.5 million and a 35% decline in sales. There are no plans to fill the position. ?Eric Ziedrich, president of Healdsburg Lumber Co. in Healdsburg, Calif., is the new president of the Lumber Association of California and Nevada. ?The Mountain States Lumber and Building Material Dealers Associationannounced its latest officers and board members: Max Guetz, Sedalia, Colo., president and director for Colorado; Bryan Hutchison, Hutchison Lumber, Pine, Colo., president-elect and director for Colorado; Bill Miller, Alpine Lumber, Westminster, Colo., immediate past president and director for Colorado; Dennis Gardner, Butterfield Lumber/Pro-Build, Midvale, Utah, secretary and director for Utah; Dena Cordova, Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber, Colorado Springs, Colo., treasurer and director for Colorado; Scott Yates, Denver Lumber Co., Denver, national director; Walter Foxworth, Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber, Dallas, director for Arizona and alternate national director; Steve Ker, Max Ker & Son Lumber, Idaho Falls, Idaho, director for Idaho; Paula Ervin, Randall Lumber & Hardware, Taos, N.M., director for New Mexico; Scott Good, Greybull Building Center, Greybull, Wyo., director for Wyoming; Mike Kimrey, American Building Specialties, Denver, associate director; Glenn Wurst, iLevel by Weyerhaeuser, Albuquerque, N.M., associate director. ?Eric Gerretsen is the 2008 president of the Western Building Material Association. He is part owner of Gerretsen Building Supply in Roseburg, Ore. ?Corey Brinkema is the new president at the Forest Stewardship Council-US. He previously was executive director of the Green Institute in Minneapolis. ?Pro-Build Holdings Inc. of Englewood, Colo., named Susan Plaza vice president of total rewards, running the compensation and benefits programs. She had been with the Strober Organization, a Pro-Build unit. ?Tom Lazzaro, president of HD Supply's interiors business CTI, is taking on the HD Supply White Cap unit. Meanwhile, HD Supply has made Mark Jamieson senior vice president and chief financial officer. He most recently worked at Ryder Systems. ?Mark Leggett has been named vice president of the dealer sales channel for KraftMaid Cabinetry and Masco Retail Cabinet Group.

Buy yourself something this holiday.

Dave McNally may have the ultimate playhouse. The president of Tri-Mac Do-It Center Inc. in Winona, Minn., always wanted his own lighthouse, and in 2005, he won the Smith Point Lighthouse on the Potomac River in Virginia in a General Services Administration online auction for $170,000. He says it's taken a little more than a year, but he's got 95% of the first floor renovated. "Every time I go out there, it's another adventure," he says. Want a similar adventure? The Point No Point Lighthouse, shown here, in St. Mary's County, Md., is up for grabs at www.auctionrp.com. Highest bidder wins ownership of the century-old lighthouse that sits in Chesapeake Bay. Be forewarned: the lighthouse has no public utilities, and there may be asbestos and lead paint present, according to GSA.