FARMINGTON — On Thursday, May 27, students in the forestry and wood harvesting program spent the day outside using what they had learned in the classroom in an abbreviated logger’s meet.

In most years students in the program, which is part of Foster Career and Technical Education Center on the Mt. Blue Campus, would be competing against similar programs from around the state. This year, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the state meet was canceled. The meet was also canceled last year.

This year, 15 students from area schools are enrolled in the program. Five of them are in the advanced program.

Program alumnus and school board representative Jesse Sillanpaa served as a judge. Lisa Mason-Tyler judged and kept score.

“I have had all of Lisa’s kids (in the program),” instructor Rodney Spiller said.

“The teachers have been great,” assistant Dean Merrill said. “They’ve brought a lot of classes over to watch. The ax throwing station has been a big hit.”

“This is the most fun day we’ve had all year,” Spiller said. “We’ve been together (with the students) without 14 feet separating us.”

Merrill will be retiring at the end of the school year. This will be the second time he retires from the program. The first time he stepped down after being the instructor for several years. Spiller, who was Merrill’s assistant, became the instructor. Merrill returned a few years later.

“This is my final retirement,” Merrill said.

Some typical events at the meet were modified to match what was able to be taught this year, Spiller noted.

“We weren’t able to do as much hands-on training this year,” Merrill said.

“Most of these kids don’t know what a logger’s meet is,” Spiller continued. “It was canceled last year, none this year.”

As a sporting event, it falls in with competitions and the school board said it could be held, he added.

“Jesse’s on my advisory board. He’s in the construction, wood industry,” Spiller said. “He knows the importance of technical education.”

Other board members, Monique Poulin (interim superintendent for Regional School Unit 9) and Foster CTE Center Director Melissa Williams stopped by to watch some of the competition.

“They were pleased we were holding it, it was good to see them out here,” Spiller said.

The events at the loggers meet are designed to demonstrate skills that loggers, wood harvesters and foresters need to be successful in their work. Safety is always the top priority in the program.

The log scaling event tested students’ ability to determine what a log would provide in board footage. Six log “cookies,” each with its length written on it with a marker, were used. Each student needed to figure out the maximum log length and the resulting board footage based on the diameter of each “cookie.”

“The guy on the landing is the most important guy,” Spiller said. “Measuring out your product, he can make or break a business real quick.”

Being able to identify the log species is also important, Miller noted.

Events with the top three finishers were:

Axe Throw: First Mason Rowe, second Will Brey, third Luke Beaulieu

Dot Split: First Valerie Barker, second Reynold Foss, third Josh Hebert

Pulp throw for distance: First Josh Hebert, second Reynold Foss, third Mason Rowe

Pulp throw for accuracy: First Junior Tyler/Levi Tyler, second Reynold Foss/Adam Meng, third Will Brey/Luke Beaulieu

Cookie cut: First Reynold Foss, second Mason Rowe, third Josh Hebert

Cookie Stack: First Junior Tyler, second Cole Sillanpaa, third Josh Hebert

Precision bucking: First Josh Hebert, second Mason Rowe, third Cole Sillanpaa

Scaling: First Josh Hebert, second Reynold Foss, third Junior Tyler

Firewood length competition: First Reynold Foss, second Junior Tyler, third Cam Couture

General knowledge competition: First Josh Hebert, second Valerie Barker, third Mason Rowe

Boring Station: First Cam Couture, second Mason Rowe, third Junior Tyler

Felling Competition: First Junior Tyler, second Cole Sillanpaa, third Mason Rowe

Tug of War: First 1st Josh Hebert/Lallah Tyler/Reynold Foss, second Mason Rowe/Cam Couture/Valerie Barker, third Cole Sillanpaa/Junior Tyler/Allison Blauvelt

Loader Competition: First Cole Sillanpaa, second Josh Hebert, third Mason Rowe

Crosscut: First Josh Hebert/Cam Couture, second Junior Tyler/Mason Rowe, third Cole Sillanpaa/Reynold Foss

Sportsmanship Award: Allison Blauvelt

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