Huckabee Shines Fox News Spotlight on Original Lincoln Logs

Lights! Camera! Original Lincoln Logs! Through former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's TV show on Fox News this weekend, the nation was introduced to Chestertown, New York and the new owners of Original Lincoln Logs Ltd. According to news reports here and here, more than 100 residents came out Saturday afternoon to watch a taping of a Fox News program that praised Stephenson Lumber for providing jobs in a region that has been hard hit by this recession.

Huckabee, who was a 2008 Republican presidential hopeful, has been using his TV show to profile how small businesses have helped the economies of communities across the nation. Huckabee was not present during filming, but conducted interviews via satellite from a studio in New York City.

"It's great for the town, it's great for the Adirondacks," said Larry Stephenson, owner of Stephenson Lumber, told the local paper. "It's great publicity."

You can view a video of the story here.

In January of this year, the Stephenson Group bid $2.4 million for much of the assets of bankrupt log home producer Original Lincoln Logs Ltd. (Chestertown, NY), a 31-year-old pioneer of rustic dream homes. The lumber company, headed by Larry and Debbie Stephenson in conjunction with their daughter Erin Brothers, purchased Original Lincoln’s manufacturing facilities and its $23 million backlog of orders, as well as the rights to the Lincoln Logs brand name, its trademarks and its copyrights.

The new Original Lincoln has rehired 20 out of the 48 people who lost their jobs. Another employee is set to start today. Stephenson, along with log home salesman Adam Snead and a former local newspaper reporter for the Post-Star, were interviewed by Huckabee via satellite.

Stephenson admitted he was a little nervous to address the nation. "Are you kidding me? Of course I am." The Fox show, called "Huckabee", picked Lincoln Logs as an example of what businesses can do to stimulate the local economy. The taping lasted about 15 minutes.

On Sept. 19th, the owners of Original Lincoln Logs Ltd. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Albany, NY. As a result, the company's assets were sold at auction Jan. 28th. Lincoln's demise joins a growing list of those companies hit by the downturn in new home building, tightened credit and increasingly jittery consumers.

The company, which employed 48 and offered homes under the Snake River Log Homes brand, sought protection from $3.4 million in losses from acquisitions dating back to 2003, a growing list of delayed orders and higher energy costs. The move affected more than 80 builder/dealers nationwide.