Kim explains the saw at the chainless ‘safe station’.
Enthusiasm wasn’t dampened by a little afternoon rain last Thursday when female high-school students learned how to safely use chainsaws and cut tree cookies at the Women Can Do Expo at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont. The Expo is an annual event put on by Vermont Works for Women, an organization dedicated to helping women advance in non-traditional careers and investing in the next generation of working women. NorthWoods Stewardship Center has participated for the past 6 years running a chainsaw skills booth. The workshop booth consists of two stations, the beginner’s safety and starting station, and the cookie cutting station.
“Rev it up, really make some noise!” Kim encouraged the young woman starting her saw.
Meg lends some advice in preparation for cutting cookies with the working, chained saw.
It was the station with the “safe start” saw, one with the chain removed to minimize the intimidation factor for first-time sawyers. Many students boldly approached the tent we shared with Ashley Fife who was running an axe skills station – immediately getting into the protective equipment we provided (chaps and helmet with built in eye and ear protection). Others took some persuading, and the zero-risk nature of starting the saw that had no chain on it appealed to these more reluctant adventurers. Their faces lit up as they started the saw at Kim’s station and revved the engine, adding to the din of the Expo.
With their personal protective equipment (PPE) on and their chainsaw starting and safety skills newly learned, they graduated to using a chainsaw with the chain on to cut a tree cookie, a thin horizontal cross-section of a tree, at Meg’s station. Many of the young women took home one or both of their tree cookies as souvenirs of their first time wielding a chainsaw.
We are proud to say that despite some initial reluctance, every single person who came through the chainsaw skills booth survived the experience!
A satisfying pile of tree cookies!