On Saturday, July 13, the Maine Forestry Museum will induct Frank Orcutt, Casper Haines, Mike and David Kidd to the Logger’s Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will kick off the Maine Forestry Museum’s 43rd annual Logging Festival held on the museum’s fairgrounds. The Logger’s Hall of Fame began in 1985 for the purpose of honoring people who have worked in the woods for a significant part of their lives and who have made valuable contributions to logging in the western Maine mountains. This year’s inductees join a list of distinguished woodsmen, including Rodney Richard, Richard Hale, Luke Brochu, Patty Cormier and many others who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame over the last 39 years.

Frank Orcutt

Frank Orcutt
Frank Orcutt started working in the woods with his father, Francis Orcutt, in New Vineyard, ME at the age of 11. He started out piling four-foot wood and eventually progressed to sawing in the yard. Frank’s brother also worked with their dad, driving the skidder. Frank eventually moved up to chopping trees and working all aspects of logging. After graduating from Mt. Blue High School in 1976, Frank went into the woods full time with his father. They worked together for the next eleven years. In 1987, Frank decided to venture out on his own work in the woods by himself.

Frank cut on woodlots belonging to Walter Gooley and later Bob Leso for years at a time. Both Gooley and Leso were former Maine state foresters and had a particularly discriminating eye for good logging practices. Frank’s work habits, responsible logging practices and honesty enabled him to work for these men and on their lands for a good long time!

Frank has been a long supporter of responsible logging practices in Maine. Teaching forestry and wood harvesting at Norther Oxford Vocational School in Rumford, ME and being on the board of directors of the Certified Logging Professional program for approximately twenty years allowed Frank to share his experience and knowledge of the woods.

Frank shared his attitude about working in the woods . He always loved the work. “You have to love it to stay with it for an entire career”! Frank hopes the pride he takes in practicing good forestry and logging shows in the end result – a healthy forest left behind.

Another part of Frank Orcutt’s legacy, aside from his careful work in the woods, is his work with the youth in his community as a baseball coach and substitute teacher. Frank has coached all levels from local little league to high school varsity baseball at Mt. Abram High School. He is presently semi-retired from logging and spends more time as a regular substitute teacher at Mt. Abram. He says he has taught in every classroom except for band.

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Reflecting on his career of working in the woods, coaching and teaching, Frank said “Everyone you meet knows something you do not know, and can be a valuable resource”.

Frank lives in Salem with his partner of 14 years, Beth Hooke, who he credits for supporting his endeavors to the level of success that he enjoys.

In closing, we share a quote from another state forester who worked with Frank, the current Director of the Maine Forest Service and 2021 Maine Forestry Museum Hall of Fame inductee, Patty Cormier:

We don’t want to live without the wood products we use daily. Products that start their journey due to the work of a logger. We expect the best from our loggers, and we should if we really care about the environment. Frank has always represented thoughtful and practiced logging and has always been part of the answer to maintaining a renewable resource for years and years to come. When you bump into Frank, thank him for his work in the woods over many years, and for the wood we need for the items we use daily, and for doing so in a way that where he worked was better off with him having been there.”

Casper Haines

Garold “Casper” Williams Haines
Garold “Casper” Haines started working with his father, Basil Haines, at the young age of 8 years old with a 1946 Ole Ford Ferguson Tractor. Growing up, Casper did it all, running the tractor, using chain saws, and piling lumber. Casper reflected “back in the day, never heard of a chain break on a saw”. When asked, how many years he had been in the woods? Casper responded, “Too many to remember”!

Casper recalls while in school, he worked nights, weekends, school vacations.

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On weekends in the winter, Casper worked for Fosters Mill in King & Bartlett with an old D6 Bulldozer to keep the roads open, so wood could get trucked back to the mill in Strong, ME.
Additionally, he worked the backside of Sugarloaf with the Searles Boys. Casper remembers Ralph Sr. scaling out a spruce tree, and in that one tree, there were 1000 board feet! Ralph commented, “You will probably never see this again”!

At only 16 years old, Casper worked in Spring Lake, ME for Chouinard Logging out of New Portland, ME. Driving a B61 Mack and staying at a logging camp where you were “treated like a king”.

Casper noted in his early days as a logger, he worked with more Canadian loggers than American loggers. “The Canadiens were all around good people and sure could cut wood”!

He worked for Gary Dunphy of “Woodpecker Logging”. Casper stated Gary was one of the best people for which to work. He also worked for Boise Cascade and Kennebeck Pulp & Paper.

Some of Casper’s favorite hobbies are hunting and fishing. Back in his prime, Casper always had his 4 beagles Spark, Burt, Bandit, and Katie nearby by his side for rabbit hunting. The excitement in Casper’s eyes revealed that hunting with his dogs was undoubtedly a favorite pastime!

Casper resides in Salem Maine, with his significant other Tanya Winter.

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Casper has two children Garold of Avon, ME and Amanda who resides in Kansas.

Casper commented, “people who are self-employed have to be self-motivated to get up and go to work. You can’t take a day off, just because everyone thinks you can.

I am always “Happy in the Woods. There is no better place to be”!

David Kidd III
David Kidd III was raised in New Vineyard, ME on a 75-acre homestead. His father, David Kidd II, was a logger and frequently cut wood using horses on their own land. Dave grew up helping his father in the business. At age 9, Dave helped his father pile wood using a pulp hook and would drag heavy twitch chains to hook up felled trees.

In 9th grade, Dave helped his father cut wood on Jim Flint’s land located on the outskirts of downtown Farmington. Jim Flint was very pleased with the results of the nicely selective cut. Mr. Flint took a liking to Dave and offered to send him to forestry school. Preferring the outdoor woods work over indoor schooling, Dave declined the offer. Eventually, Dave managed the 55 acres, Flint Woods in Farmington, ME. Additionally, Dave managed Jim Flint’s 300 acres of land on Bonney Point in Rangeley, ME. These 300 acres are now owned by the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust.

Most of Dave’s free time was spent working in the woods. So, it was an easy transition to become a full-time logger after high school graduation in 1982. He cut wood for numerous contractors including Harry Gordon, Bob Hargreaves, Rodney Powers, Mark
Beauregard, Pete Tyler and Bob Thorndike.

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Dave enjoys the challenge and excitement of cutting on steep ground providing him the opportunity to use his skills and knowledge to get large and difficult leaning trees safely to the ground. His goal is to leave a high-quality residual stand of trees.

Dave lives on the old family homestead with his wife Lauren. Together, they operate the Kidd Family Farm selling fruit trees, Maine maple syrup, and fresh vegetables from their productive gardens. Dave has a daughter, Emily, and a son, David IV, who reside in
the area.

When not logging or tending to the family farm business, Dave likes to deer hunt, fish, work on log cabins and spend time with friends and family. Having purchased a portable sawmill, Dave expects to do more log cabin restoration work. However, Dave still has a passion to grab his chainsaw and skidder and work on a woodlot he knows he can improve!

Mike Kidd (Posthumous Inductee)
Mike Kidd grew up in a logging-oriented family in New Vineyard, ME. By the time he reached 8 years old he worked alongside his older brother, David, helping their father produce wood. At their young ages, they assisted their father by piling 4-foot pulpwood and dragging twitch chains.

Mike worked with his father and brother throughout high school. Upon graduating high school in 1984, as a skilled woodsman he entered the logging profession full time! He could operate a chainsaw and skidder as well as anyone.

Mike cut wood for Harry Gordon, Pete Tyler, Bill and Bob Hastings and Mark Beauregard. He was a hardworking and fun-loving guy. Mike tried to live life to its fullest and enjoyed being on the edge. He could cut and yard a large volume of wood in any given period. He liked to “freight” the skidder he was using and brought large twitches to the landing when working on commercial timberland.

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When working on private wood lots, often he would use his chainsaw to make benches for the landowners to sit on in the vicinity of interesting land features. Also, he sawed out unusual portions of a tree and left them for the wood lot owners to enjoy.

Mike especially liked to help people. When working on a logging job with other crews he was known for lending a helping hand to his fellow woodcutters. Mike loved the independence of being a logger. He liked the challenges that operating a skidder and cutting wood on mountainous terrain provided. The close encounters with wildlife were high on his list of the benefits from logging.

Mike lived in New Vineyard his entire life. He had a son and daughter who stayed in the area.
When not logging Mike spent time fishing and hunting. He enjoyed recreating with his children and their neighborhood friends. Ensuring they would have as much fun as possible; Mike would load a bunch of kids and their sleds in his pickup truck and travel to the top of a long hill. The kids would slide down the hill. Then Mike would pick them up at the bottom of the hill and bring them back up so they could do it again!

Mike worked as a logger until he became physically unable to do so. He passed away at the early age of 39 due to cancer. Mike would still be in the woods today had he not fallen ill to this terrible disease.

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