Shari's Wood Stove Lawsuit
Donation protected
This is a story is about my best friend, Shari. It is also a story about unfair lawsuits. It is also about how our basic rights are being taken away from us, one by one.
Shari and I heat our homes with woodburning stove inserts. We burn wood. All winter long. To stay warm. To beat the electric bill. We also process all of our own wood. All spring, summer and fall long. That is two women, both under 130 pounds, cut down dead trees, cut them to length and then split them, stack and carry them. We work hard and long. The picture of us is after a very long spring weekend. ONE WEEKEND. Between the two of us, we burn around 9 cords of wood. For those who don't know what a cord of wood equals - 4 foot high, 4 foot wide and 8 foot long. Now times that by 9.
Enough of our hard work....
Now the delimma. Shari lives in Marmora and her neighbor (who is a lawyer) objects to the smell of woodsmoke. I know many people do not like the smell of wood smoke. Personal preference. I love it. It smells like winter, home, warmth and burning wood. We, as humans, have been staying warm with wood fires since, well, since we were cold and figured out how to start a fire. The lawyer neighbor, who has all the legal resources in which to fight, has taken her to court to "cease and desist of wood burning". Actually, there were WAY more words than that, and those words were served to Shari by the Sherriff, and she had to hire a lawyer to go court to defend her right to heat her house in a EPA-certified wood burning insert. I went to court with her. After an hour and half of legal wrangling, the judge had to make a decision. In all fairness to the judge, he was trying to make both sides happy. He decreed that Shari could not start a fire or put additional wood on an existing fire from the hours of 6PM-10PM, with an additional "cease burn" from 9AM-12PM on weekend and holidays. But now it seems that this is not the end of it. That was a "temporary injunction" and court and lawyer fees are looming again.
Shari has already spent $2500 for her lawyer, which, if she had money like that, she would just turn on her electric baseboard heat instead of cutting, splitting and hauling all that firewood. Now she has to go back to court, she will have more legal fees.
This isn't just about helping Shari pay for a lawyer, it's about fighting for our rights, but also about helping stand up against a legal bully.
I am trying to raise $5,000. I am hoping that she will not need that much for her lawyer. But, if she loses the lawsuit, she will have to convert her stove to a gas buring stove. She will have to pay to have the gas lines run to her house, which will be close to $5,000.
We will have an outside bonfire, complete with hot dogs and s'mores at my house when this is finally settled.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for donating if you can.
Shari and I heat our homes with woodburning stove inserts. We burn wood. All winter long. To stay warm. To beat the electric bill. We also process all of our own wood. All spring, summer and fall long. That is two women, both under 130 pounds, cut down dead trees, cut them to length and then split them, stack and carry them. We work hard and long. The picture of us is after a very long spring weekend. ONE WEEKEND. Between the two of us, we burn around 9 cords of wood. For those who don't know what a cord of wood equals - 4 foot high, 4 foot wide and 8 foot long. Now times that by 9.
Enough of our hard work....
Now the delimma. Shari lives in Marmora and her neighbor (who is a lawyer) objects to the smell of woodsmoke. I know many people do not like the smell of wood smoke. Personal preference. I love it. It smells like winter, home, warmth and burning wood. We, as humans, have been staying warm with wood fires since, well, since we were cold and figured out how to start a fire. The lawyer neighbor, who has all the legal resources in which to fight, has taken her to court to "cease and desist of wood burning". Actually, there were WAY more words than that, and those words were served to Shari by the Sherriff, and she had to hire a lawyer to go court to defend her right to heat her house in a EPA-certified wood burning insert. I went to court with her. After an hour and half of legal wrangling, the judge had to make a decision. In all fairness to the judge, he was trying to make both sides happy. He decreed that Shari could not start a fire or put additional wood on an existing fire from the hours of 6PM-10PM, with an additional "cease burn" from 9AM-12PM on weekend and holidays. But now it seems that this is not the end of it. That was a "temporary injunction" and court and lawyer fees are looming again.
Shari has already spent $2500 for her lawyer, which, if she had money like that, she would just turn on her electric baseboard heat instead of cutting, splitting and hauling all that firewood. Now she has to go back to court, she will have more legal fees.
This isn't just about helping Shari pay for a lawyer, it's about fighting for our rights, but also about helping stand up against a legal bully.
I am trying to raise $5,000. I am hoping that she will not need that much for her lawyer. But, if she loses the lawsuit, she will have to convert her stove to a gas buring stove. She will have to pay to have the gas lines run to her house, which will be close to $5,000.
We will have an outside bonfire, complete with hot dogs and s'mores at my house when this is finally settled.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for donating if you can.
Organizer
Teri McCarthy Schnitzel
Organizer
Egg Harbor City, NJ
Inspired to help? Start a fundraiser for someone you know
