FARMINGTON – A 17-year-old New Vineyard boy has been named tops in the logging field at his school. In addition, Seth Webber and fellow student loggers also earned an award for good sportsmanship.

Webber, a junior at Foster Regional Applied Technology Center, was named Student Logger of the Year. The recipient of the award must have a great attitude – a positive attitude, be a super student, have great attendance and be able to demonstrate actual hands-on logging skills, instructor Dean Merrill said.

“He’s just a great, great student,” Merrill said. “I count it as a privilege to work with Seth this year.”

The 125-pound state champion wrestler has gained most of his muscle logging and farming at the family’s homestead.

“It’s awful strenuous work running a chainsaw all day and pulling cable,” Webber said. But he doesn’t mind. He’s been on riding on his dad’s skidder since before he was old enough to walk, he said. “It’s something I got hooked on to. It’s fun. It’s just what I do. I haven’t really done anything else except cut wood for my dad and raise beef cattle.”

Webber and his classmates were awarded the Sportsmanship Award during last week’s 27th annual Junior Woodsman’s Competition held at Oxford County Fairgrounds in Oxford.

Both Merrill and co-instructor Ron Hodgdon said they were pleased with that award, which their students have earned three years in a row, and the numerous other awards students brought home from the high school meet.

Webber said both logging and farming are hard work. But that doesn’t bother him.

“I guess in life you can’t be afraid of hard work,” Webber said. “You can’t get no where being lazy.”

The New Vineyard teen has learned about in the forestry/wood harvesting program.

“Here you just don’t learn to cut down trees,” he said. “You learn how to manage a forest, grow trees and the regeneration of trees. You learn all about the environment and all the certain standards you have to meet working in the woods.”

Next year, he said, he’s going to take metal fabrication. He doesn’t know what he wants to do yet after graduation, he said. His dad, Scott Webber, wants him to be a teacher.

“I don’t know if it’s for me,” he said. “I’m one of those hands-on type of guys.”

Not only has Webber excelled in the program, he has been on the honor roll for the last two years. He got off to a bad start freshman year, he said, but after that he has earned good grades and his academic letter.

Webber said he likes to do good work both in the classroom and in the woods.

“I want to do good enough work so my dad approves,” he said of logging. He makes sure he doesn’t scar up trees to protect them for future marketing.

His father logs part-time at home and works a full-time job as a truck driver.

Webber said it will probably be the same for him – he’ll work full-time in one field and part-time as a logger.

“I don’t know if I’ll log full-time because when I get old enough to work on my own as a full-time employee, the wood market might not be there,” Webber said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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