Last week's speaker was Michael Bug Deakin
Zen and the Art of Salvage
Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary had the privilege of listening to speaker Michael Bug Deakin this past Thursday morning. Michael owns and operates Heritage Salvage located in South Petaluma. This local business is renowned for its expertise in repurposing reclaimed building materials to create custom designs for people's homes and businesses. Bug proudly proclaimed that Heritage Salvage has created one-of-a-kind designs for over 200 restaurants, taverns, wineries, and breweries throughout the United States, and tens of thousands of homes in our country have a custom-made piece of carpentry from Heritage Salvage.
Heritage Salvage has an excellent reputation for high quality, well-crafted designs used from reclaimed lumber, timber, and slabs, but rest assured they do not take themselves too seriously. Bug describes himself as a "media slut," where he has partnered with local a media group to educate the community about the power of reclamation. Whether it is with wood or a small town, Bug has your back when it comes to the culture of reclaiming something old, bringing it back to life, and making it flourish once again.
He is the Weird Al Yankovich of the lumber industry. He created a commercial singing "60 Ways to Love Our Lumber". A tone-deaf homage to how something old can be transformed into magic. Clad in a sailing captain's uniform, Bug belts out a reggae tune about Paroda, a native tree of Costa Rica that only gets cut down when it benefits the health of their forest's ecosystem. This lumber is rare and there are occasions where it can be procured at Heritage Salvage to create a beautiful piece of furniture to showcase in your home or business.
Bug's notoriety for bad singing and fantastic craftmanship led to another epic music video promoting a salvage themed show on the DIY Network. He stuck with the maritime theme and sang about shiplap. He is filmed pulling a piece of lumber out of the Petaluma River with a fishing pole. His inspiration was a visit to Crater Lake. He points out that Crater Lake is clear-shiplap is murky. He sought to clear that murkiness about shiplap by singing this song.
Other adventures that were shared with the club about reclaimed wood were: selling used doors to music legend Tom Waits and asking him why he was purchasing so many doors. Waits response-"buy the door now and look for a doorway later..."
Bug helped a successful San Francisco accountant open the first Gay Sports Bar in the United States by selling him used bleacher seats. Today there are two of these sports bar locations in San Francisco, one in Los Angeles, and one in Chicago. Another fun fact: it is easier to take gum off the backside of a used bleacher when it is cold outside.
Heritage Salvage has played a huge role in helping build a state-of-the-art baseball park in Petaluma. He built and auctioned off an inlaid table with a bat and baseball, and in 2019, each team member of the San Francisco Giants autographed the table.
Bug is a true Sonoma County luminary. He supports environmental activists, artists, and fosters a foundation of creativity that is unparalleled.
Heritage Salvage is open for business Tuesdays through Saturdays. They also have a sawmill, woodshop, and metal working area on their three-acre property. When you visit, it's guaranteed you will procure some incredible pieces of reclaimed wood to elevate the design of your home and/or business. And if you're super lucky, you may be an extra in Bug's next music video...
Click HERE to see a limited time recording of Bug's presentation. You don't want to miss it!
