Sunbelt Expo 2003 Moultrie, Ga.

[Kevin]

That looks like one of those FBI stings where they tell all the bad culprits they just won a new sawmill, get them all in one place, take their picture then throw the cuffs on em.  :D

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Mebbe so, but, ya Don'T see any body wearin Mukluks, hats wif earball flaps or them fluffy snow bunny suits ;D ;D ;D

  We watched the chainsawin boys go through all the safety stuff speech, about steel toes, chaps, helmet with screen, gloves with NO ??? fingers and ear covers. Asked my son if'n we should step forward and show off the Southern version of chainsawin fashion wear. He didn't think so : : :D :D :D :D

[Bigdogpc]

All ya'll that didn't make the Expo missed out on a real show!  The Forum folks is even more likeable inperson than they are from just readin' their post.  What a great bunch...obviously we have ALL been eatin' good!  More than a few of us need to stand a little closer to our razors...then again, that much face showing might spook the younguns

[DanG]

Razor?  Whut's dat? ???

[Tom]

I'm coming back from the near-dead.  Just before leaving for  Moultrie I got a scratch in my throat and it got continuously worse on the trip until I was wishing I had stayed at home.  Looking back, I wouldn't have missed it for the world and had a great time.

Fla. Deadheader and his son, Ed, showed up at my place Monday evening and met my whirlwind wife.

They made us a present of  one of the cypress rounds that Terri had decorated.  Gael took a picture down in the hall and hung it in its place.  I'll see it every time I come into the house.  Terri has quite an eye and it is prettier in real life than the pictures Harold posted.  I'll perhaps try to take one of it later.  Y'all would be envious. ;D

 We ate supper and made a trip to the airport where she rented a Jaguar to pacify her until I returned with her suburban.   We got to bed about midnight and back up at 5 am to head out.  The trip was non-eventful and I was looking forward to a big breakfast at Shoney's.   We found a motel and made arrangements for rooms to be held.

That fair grounds gets bigger every year.  We drove straight to the front of the parking area and went inside.  First we walked through the buildings with the everyday hawkers selling kitchen knives and such.  Then we toured the grounds trying to get as much under our belt as we could before the "reunion" the next day.  

I visited with Mike McNail at the Baker exhibit and with Dave Mann at the Wood Mizer tent. Then we hoofed it way up front to the AG2 building and visited with our pretty new member from Baker, Samantha.

Finally it was closing time and we headed out to the motel.  

I did OK right away getting my room but Harold and ed ran into a brick wall with the clerk who was dead-set against letting them share a room.  She finally put them in two singles, much to our chagrin.  It was shift change so, when I got to my room, I called the new clerk and was told to come back down and she would fix it.  We did :D  Turns out the other clerk was easily confused and was having a bad day to boot.

Slept good and ate a big breakfast getting back to the show at about 10:30 am.  We went to the Husky exhibit to make sure where it was and decided to have a seat.  A fellow next to me elbowed me in the arm and said "I'm bigdogpc".   I looked up, a little bewildered because it was so early but he assured me that he was a Forestry Forumer. :D

He had his father with him too.  His dad is a cool, upbeat kind of guy and they looked enough alike that I would have know they were kin.  

Then came Jwood.  I thought I was looking in a mirror for a moment.  Jwood is a laid back, quiet fellow that gives initial impressions of lacking much education.  Kinda like a country lawyer. :D

Dang called on the phone and said he was on the way.  He had come in the back gate.  Dang couldn't wait to talk to sawmill John so we trouped over to the MD exhibit.  The whole way we were jabbering and laughing like we had known each other for years.

Jwood and I did the smart thing and found the Mennonite restaurant.  Thinking the others were behind us we trotted off to eat.  That was some good chow and much better than the hot dogs and bar-b-cue sandwiches offered on the fair grounds.

When we returned we found that there was a "man-mountain" visiting.  Crosscut had arrived and was fitting right in.

Closing time caught us unawares and it was 5 PM before we knew it.  Everybody said their goodbyes and headed for home.

I came home with 3 cant hook handles and 40 lbs. of sweet potatoes.  It was great fun and the members I met were even better guys than I had expected them to be.  

[Sam]

Oh yeah, we met Sam. Nice young lady. Hadda beat off one of the Baker boys, though. He had a wild look in his eyes. : : He was hangin out pretty close to Sam's booth.

 :D :DThat was just Bryan, our sawyer, he's really quite harmless! ;D  He'd been out looking around and stopped by to see how things were going before heading back out to saw another log.

It was great talking with you guys, I was really glad you stopped by. Sorry I missed the rest of you's.

I have to say though, I was really disappointed...I didn't get any grits the whole time I was down there!  :'(

Sam

[Tom]

It must have cost you a lot of money to get rid of the Grits, Sam.  I think they charge you to not put grits on the plate. :D

The Shoney's breakfast bar is the time honored traveling restaurant in the Southeast.  They serve some pretty good grits and lots of bacon to go with your eggs and stuff.  They are one of the few places that cook grits long enough anymore unless you luck up and find a little local restaurant.

I can understand why Bryan was taking a break and trying to get away from the logs.  Y'all bought, what appeared to me to be, Loblolly Pine.  It can make some fine lumber but it can also be the most cantankerous stuff in the world too.  It's full of tension and the center cuts may jump right off of the mill.  The rest of it can make a sawyer look pretty inexperienced by causing the band to follow the grain and creating wavy boards.   The slightest little wear on the band will cause unpredictable results.  

He was probably trying to regain his sanity. :D :D