A fairly strong bout of straight-line winds came through the neighborhood
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/ Near bottom a link to wind-blown damage.

The large yellow house is 2 doors south of me. There was a nice maple that
did most of the damage to the front and a really healthy looking pine that
just blew down. We were lucky that we had no damage. All we did was pick up
the pieces in our yard that blew over from the damaged houses.

I did stop by one neighbor the next day and ask if he needed any help. He
thanked me but everything was under control for him. I went to the large
yellow house twice to ask if they needed help but no one was home. I
believe they are staying with friends.
Now the question. I would like some of the wood from the trees that blew
down for my lathe work but feel a bit like a vulture going over and asking.
Any suggestions on how to approach and what to say? I would certainly turn
a couple of nice bowls as a Thank You and drop them off.