Being referred to as a chip off the old block is as close as you can get when explaining the Groff and Groff Lumber lineage behind the 27-year-old mill and lumber source business. New owner Doug Grove assumed the reins in June.

Once you're exposed to the smells and sounds of a family business, especially when that business revolves around wood, it often happens that the love for that business is in your blood from an early age. A 12-year veteran of the specialty lumber business, Grove is the stepson of previous owner Chris Groff. Chris Groff is, in turn, the son of Bill Groff who, with Rick Hearne, started the business at 858 Scotland Road, Quarryville, before Grove was even born.

Recognized worldwide as a cabinet-grade lumber yard, Groff and Groff Lumber also enjoys the connection it has with the local community and the homeowner, do-it-yourselfer and crafter. Everyone's welcome to peruse the stacks and bins of varying grains, colors and scents specific to exotic and domestic specialty woods.

Some of the wood comes from as far as Africa, Italy and South America, while much of the local wood cut and dried at Groff and Groff Lumber comes from within a 40-mile radius. The wood is sold by the board foot, which makes sense to handypeople, or by the piece, which appeals to the non-woodworkers among us.

"We're all about the small guy, and invite people to walk in and pick through the materials," Grove says. He adds that they do a lot of work with schools and encourage students to ask questions and brainstorm ideas.