A new home for a very special mill

[Dave Shepard]

It looks like it says "Sold to Tom Cadenhead, Jacksonville, FL" I think I remember that.

[Chuck White]

You done good Scott!

Definitely brings a tear to a guys eye, especially at the cemetery and on Veterans Day!

Thank you so very much for posting!

Chuck

[Bibbyman]

I love a good story with a happy ending.    :P

Say, anyone know where his firts mill is?  He sawed a couple million board feet on a Wood-Mizer LT40.  Last I remember he loaned it to someone that needed a mill.

[schakey]

Wonderful just wonderful  smiley_clapping  thanks for the story.

[customsawyer]

Good story. Congrats on the new mill.

[submarinesailor]

Scott,

Job good!!!!!

I too have been wondering what had happened to Tom's mill and I'm very happy to see that it has gone to a new "good" home.

THANK YOU for letting us know about this.

Bruce

[slider]

Well done Scott,nice mill.

[wwsjr]

I had the good fortune to be at Sawlex, meet and talk with Tom the day the mill was unveiled. He was one happy sawyer. Just to sit and talk with Tom was something I will never forget.
Willie

[Jemclimber]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful story. 

[Happycamper]

Scott,
  A heart warming story, you are very fortunate to have the mill and I can only imagine the pleasure you will have using it.
                                       Jim

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I also have thought about Toms mill from time to time.
I am glad it is in good hands and back up and running.

Jon

[Dad2FourWI]

What a neat story!!!!

... and yes, I admit that both my wife and I both shed a tear reading this!!!!

-Dad2FourWI

[scsmith42]

All:  Thanks for the kind words.  Hopefully Gael will be able to log in and share some thoughts of her own. My brother and I really enjoyed our time with her; we did a little road work while we were there and she fed us like kings and regaled us with stories about her and Tom.  Clearly, like Tom she is a very special person and I'm sure that Tom's life was never dull!

To answer some questions..

TR: the mill is labeled "Sold to Tom Cadenhead, Jacksonville FL", which I intend to leave in place.

Bibby - I recall that Gael mentioned that Tom's old Woodmizer went to a local fellow that used to mill with Tom. 

All:  Gael still has Tom's Kodiak flatbed truck which she would like to sell. It has a Cat Diesel, and I think that it's either a 5500 or 6500 series truck.   

Today was a good milling day; we churned out a couple of thousand board feet or so of pine siding with Tom and a few hundred bd ft of white oak for a customer with the Peterson.  Milling a 36" SYP was fun too!  Mainly we took our time in order to get a good feel for the controls and not bend/break/strike anything.  Tomorrow we plan to mill some more siding and I might even experiment with some band mill quartersawing as well as experimenting with the setworks.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

You may have snow on the ground in the morning Scott. 

[red oaks lumber]

well done sir, well done! thankyou

[coastlogger]

What a great story. I hope,when my number comes up,that my "stuff" gets even a fraction of the appreciation and love you have bestowed on Tom's prized mill.Well done,and thanks for sharing it in such a thoughtful manner.

[fat olde elf]

And the legend lives on.  Good job Scott..... Only on the Forum......God bless us all.

[CHARLIE]

Scott, thank you for this post.  I certainly appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness.  I also appreciate all the help you and your brother gave to Gael while you were there getting the mill ready for the trailer.  I can't think of a better place for Tom's mill and I'm sure Tom is smiling knowing that the mill is back in operation.  I am grateful that you took the mill to the cemetery before you left for home. I know that helped Gael a lot and was very meaningful to her.  Scott, you are a good man.  I know the mill is in good hands and will be cared for and worked hard.    I like that you call the mill Tom.

[Gael]

Scott -  after speaking with you the first time you called in regards to purchasing the mill I knew that you would not only take care of the mill but respect the history and after reading your story as Tom would say "good show!"

Some of you might remember a story that Tom wrote about the time Baker showed up and pulled his first mill back to Missouri for repairs and he stated that he wanted to chase after the mill as it went up the driveway and not let it go.  I now know how he felt as when it went out in a cloud of dust all I could think was "NOOOOOOOO, what have I done, come back!"



 



 

Then we went by the cemetery and as Scott mentioned it was an emotional moment but it also felt right.


 



 

The numbers on the back of his stone are the location, section nine, plot 631.

Scott and Jeff met the family that adopted Tom and I, Bobby, Allison and her boys (she has 4) still talk about Tom and miss him also, in this picture is Allison, a truly wonderful person and the daugher we never had or as Tom would say "the son I never had"  she is one of a kind like him.



 

It was a very poignant moment when the mill crossed over the FL/GA line for the last time



 

Tom enjoyed sawing in Folkston and surrounding areas in Georgia and northern Florida.  Every now and then when business would slow down he would start to worry and I would tell just get in the truck with the mill on the back, have lunch at the Okeefeenocce restaurant in Folkston and come home, sure enough by the time he would arrive back the phone had already started ringing. 

The pictures of the mill running and piling up sawdust did my heart good, I know that Scott is the correct person to have the mill and will take care of "Tom" as he deserves. 

I appreciate all the time and effort that Scott and Jeff did in helping fix the driveway, when Kevin (Scott's brother-in-law) showed up to take pictures of the mill and I joked with him about it was an adventure to get to the house and gave new meaning to the saying "over the river and thru the woods to the Cadenhead house we go"  :D  then Scott brought equipment  (a land scrapper, I have got to get me one of these!) for Jeff to work on the driveway while he worked on the mill, the generosity of their time and thoughtfulness of working on the mill there so that I could hear her run one more time on the property will always be remembered. 

It was a great three days, once Scott had the sawmill running and Jeff was running dirt on the backhoe all felt right in the world for the first time as these were the noises I was used to hearing and had missed. I regret that we were not able to take pictures of you both at the Holey Oak tree (still need to find it)

Thought I would end this on a funny note:  the night that Scott and Jeff showed up they both have on red T-shirts and seemed like pretty nice guys but here I was with two men I have never met in the middle of the woods, I had informed my neighbors that they were coming and had stopped over at Allison's on my way home that afternoon to pickup up her shotgun which she had loaded with brass cased double .00 buckshot and had placed it on the floor by the bed.  So during dinner a neighbor called and wanted to know if the white truck with the trailer was them and if they seemed OK, so I went on and informed Scott and Jeff of the concerns that my friends had of me being there alone with them and told them about the shotgun at that time just for good measure.  The next morning at breakfast when inquiring on how they had slept and such, Scott mentioned that he had wanted a glass of water but decided to only go to the bathroom to drink from the faucet as all he could think about was if he went to the kitchen to get a glass I would come out of the bedroom with that loaded shotgun and it was just too funny

I know that Tom is telling me "You did good, Gael"

[scsmith42]

Gael, thanks for your great post and pix; it brought a both a laugh from my gut as well as a tear from my eyes!  Jeff and I really enjoyed our stay, and we both feel that we made some new friends.

I'm headed back out to work more with Tom.  Today I'm going to experiment with quartersawing with him and perhaps explore the setworks too.

Take care.

Scott

[Weekend_Sawyer]

That was a wonderful post Gael.

Thank You
Jon

[fishpharmer]

Thanks Scott and Gael.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Great stories Ms. Gael. I see this is your first post.......so I just have to smile and say.....

"WELCOME TO THE FOREST FORUM!"

I love the pictures you posted......very, very nice. 


*****Scott....I believe I would have drank out of the toilet before I would have went to the kitchen!  :D :D :D*****

[Chuck White]

Great post, all the way!  8)

[thecfarm]

Well I can say one thing,Gael can tell stories just about as good as Tom could.   ;D  ;D