On May 25th 1961 President Kennedy, in a speech to a joint session of congress said:

"First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him back safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

The result of this was from 1961 to 1975 The United States set forth on a mission, unsurpassed before or since, to do precisely what Kennedy proposed.

Michigan Maple Block did its part. We were asked to provide a block which was used in the forming of the nose cone of the Apollo re-entry vehicle.

On July 20th 1969 President Kennedy's, and indeed the Nations goal, was achieved when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.

In the late 1930s the world was a far different place. It was about to be plunged into a world wide war which would consume the people and resources of nations around the globe.

In 1939 the United States started a project to research nuclear fission with the ultimate goal of producing a bomb the likes of which the world had never seen. This venture was dubbed the Manhattan Project and was a reaction to the fears that Nazi German scientists would beat the allies to this weapon.

Michigan Maple Block Co. played an important role in this program. Our company was asked to provide what turned out to be the largest laminated block ever made. This world record block was used as insulation for the nuclear reaction to prevent the escape of radio activity.

While we hope never to have to produce a block for this propose again we are proud of our contribution to our nations history.

From the assassination in 1914 of Prince Ferdinand in Sarajevo to the Meeting of the League of Nations in 1920 to mark the end World War I Wood Welded Butcher Block was there. To the left you see an advertisement produced by the then called Petoskey Block & Mfg. Co.(now Michigan Maple Block Co.) discouraging people from discussing war efforts. This was done as a increased measure of security in a time of great need.

The US Navy knows the value of Butcher Block. Every US warship in the fleet up until the 1980s had a Michigan Maple Block Co. Monarch Butcher Block on board. It is kind of awe inspiring knowing our block has been at every major US naval engagement of the 20th Century. On a recent tour of the USS Yorktown near Charleston SC we were pleased to see our Monarch Butcher Block still on display in the officers galley. We also found blocks in the bakery and the machine shop.

Today we regularly provide Butcher Block to the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard and the Marines.

In 2003 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (IFBI) opened a new Headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. The Wood Welded Companies were there to help. We were commissioned by our distributor to manufacture 200 tops for the laboratory at this crime investigation facility.

We are proud that our tops are doing their part in fighting crime and terrorism.