June 20, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FERNDALE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NAMES VALLEY LUMBER OWNERS TROY LAND AND MARLA LALOLI GRAND MARSHALS OF FOURTH OF JULY PARADE

“If the whistle blows, I go.”

That’s the mantra of Troy Land, the newly named grand marshal of the 2023 Ferndale Fourth of July Parade, set for noon on Tuesday, July 4, sponsored by the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce. Land has served as a Ferndale volunteer firefighter for 37 years and is now among the few firefighters responding to daytime fire whistles in the Ferndale Fire Protection District. The Vietnam War veteran has also owned and operated Ferndale’s Valley Lumber with his wife, Marla Laloli (co-grand marshal), for 37 years. The couple, who have been married for 50 years, each work 60-plus hours weekly at the anchor Ferndale business, supplying lumber, paint, Victorian moldings, and just about everything else homeowners need in the Victorian Village to keep it sparkling.

“I’m just a whistle chaser right now,” Land said in a recent interview, sitting in his back office at 657 Shaw Ave., surrounded by product brochures, billing statements, and boxes of files. (The entire business is still operated by paper, including no product bar codes. “You’re a name, not a number,” Land quipped.) He was a company captain for several years, and in 1998 he was named Fireman of the Year. Land and Laloli live in Fortuna, and these days Land returns across Fernbridge for evening calls only if a structure is on fire.

“I usually get stuck driving the tender,” Land said, noting that he has a Class A license. He first started driving trucks in Vietnam, where he was a Seabee from 1969-1970 for the U.S. Navy. “I learned to drive truck there, when I drove an ammunition truck at 19 years old. ‘Here, kid, take that truckload of bombs,’” he reminisced being told.

Land said he’s “threatened to quit” the fire department a number of times, considering he is now over 70, but “during the daytime, there’s nobody here.”

Land joins Tipple Motors owner Jerry Lema, chief Dennis Del Biaggio, and a few other volunteer firefighters who live and work in Ferndale to respond to daytime emergency calls, most of which are medical. Doing the math, Land estimates he has responded to several thousand calls over the past 37 years.

As the owner of Valley Lumber, Land and Laloli have assisted with hundreds of local remodels, new construction projects, and repair jobs. His specialty is millwork, and he often works at his home shop creating replica gingerbread trim and window moldings for Ferndale’s “painted ladies.”

One of his signature projects, a 13-foot high Victorian dollhouse, is now on display at Ferndale’s Hadley Gardens, which opened to the public in 2022. The dollhouse was known for years as “The House That Troy Built.” He constructed it over the course of 800 hours in 1995 as a fundraiser for the Ferndale Volunteer Fire Department. The ¾ scale replica of a Victorian home was valued at $30,000 almost three decades ago. The masterpiece was later purchased by the late Willis Hadley, a Ferndale resident and benefactor. Now the dollhouse has found its permanent home at the park at 655 Main St.

When the earth quakes in Ferndale, locals can rely on Land driving his forklift around town, delivering plywood for businesses and homeowners to cover their broken windows. It was just moments after a major temblor hit Ferndale in April 1992 that Valley Lumber sprang to action.

“I always get credit for that,” said Land, “but I headed up to the fire hall. It’s Marla who organizes the crew and the plywood and gets them uptown. She should get a lot of credit for things that happen around here.”

When asked if people pay for the post-earthquake plywood, Land shrugged and said the business “doesn’t keep track of it.

“People come in and pay,” he said. “It’s all on the honor system.”

Speaking of paying, Land and Laloli still allow customers to “charge” their purchases. It’s not uncommon for customers to grab some items and ask whoever is at the front desk to “write it down.”

“I probably shouldn’t let people charge, but hell, people pick up four 2x4s and just yell at us as they’re driving out of the yard,” Land said. “I’m sure I’ve lost some through the years, but 95 percent of people are honest as can be. I can’t punish them for the five percent of bad apples.”

As for retirement, Land said he recently purchased the historic Valley Lumber building from the Renner brothers and is hopeful about selling the business soon. He’d like to see the back room restored, complete with its overhead drive flatbed system. The structure was built in 1882. Cream City Mechanical Company was established by R. A. Simpson in 1886, building butter boxes for the dozens of creameries in the valley, as well as mechanics for the bustling dairy industry. (You can still see the business’s original safe with Rufus Simpson’s name on it in the Valley Lumber back office.)

“There’s always been something being built here,” said Land. “I don’t know if I have enough time left in my life to restore it, but I’ve got all the old tools, and I know where they go,” he said, adding that he’ll still make Victorian moldings in his retirement and spend time at his summer place in Honeydew, as well do yard work at his and Marla’s home in Fortuna.

“Heck, I can’t find the yard, it’s so overgrown,” he said.

Until then, you’ll continue to find Land and Laloli at Valley Lumber, providing products and services to Ferndalers and saving folks a trip across the bridge. And when that fire whistle blows, Land will go.

The Ferndale Chamber of Commerce is delighted to honor Land and Laloli for their years of dedication to Valley Lumber and service to the Ferndale community.

The 118-year-old Ferndale Chamber of Commerce is the sponsor and coordinator of the Ferndale Fourth of July parade. Parade entry forms are available at visitferndale.com. Register online or download the form and drop it off at the Ferndale Emporium at 344 Main St. by July 1, or mail it to P.O. Box 325, Ferndale, CA 95536. Parade Day check-in starts at 11 a.m. at Arlington and Fifth Streets. Email info@visitferndale.com if you have questions about the parade or are interested in being a volunteer.