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After watching her grandson attempt to cut down apple trees and nearby utility poles with his toy chainsaw, Roberta Berry knew something had to give. That’s when she turned to her husband Ed, a Certified Logging Professional since 1996, and asked, “why don’t you teach him the correct way to cut down a tree?” If that wasn’t enough to move him to teach the technique to his four-year-old grandson Weston, she concluded by reminding him, “you are always saying it is better to train someone than to retrain someone with bad habits.” The challenge was accepted
With some plywood and a pre-cut cedar log, Ed assembled the perfect training tree for felling. A log screwed to a base, cuts made in the correct spots, including the “beaver tail” and wedge, and a hinge. As a proponent of logger safety, and preparing the next generation to work in the woods, Weston and Ed’s other grandchild, Emerson, get to hear firsthand about being a logger. And now their love for their “Bampa” is paired with learning the proper way to cut down a tree.
During a recent training session, Ed’s daughter Mary recorded Weston, decked out in the appropriate safety gear, carefully following instructions, and shared it with us. While it may be too early for him to enroll in a certification class with CLP, it’s never too early to be inspiring the next generation. And if Weston’s skill is any indication, while he will be safe, no tree will be.
Ed and his son Robert run R.A. Berry & Son, Norridgewock, Maine.
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