2021 Annual Forestry Forum Pig Roast August 6 & 7th, 2021!

[Texas Ranger]

All the cell phones and so few pictures. :'(

[firefighter ontheside]

 @Texas Ranger there are some more pictures on the other thread about the roast.  Also Jeff should have some videos.

[Crusarius]

I felt like being lazy and just enjoyed the roast. I only pulled my phone out a few times to show some pictures.

[Jeff]

Jeff made his perennial post pigrost pilgrimage to the U.P. cabin. I do have video, but it may be a few days.

[Tacotodd]

It'll be ready before we can say "WHAT'S THIS?"

[terrifictimbersllc]

All the cell phones and so few pictures. :'(

I used mine to log onto FF to see what was going on.  Couldn't help it.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Well I did take some pictures

Here is somebody's motorcycle


 

Here is Jeff's truck, burl and door prizes



 

[Resonator]

Thank you to Wildflower for the FF mug (personalized with my name).  8)
She had them made up for each of the members who replied back in the Pig Roast thread head count.

[Magicman]

We got back home ~2:00 this afternoon.  2275 total miles driven.

Phone rung with a previous customer wanting 36 logs sawn and two more on the machine that I have not listened to yet.  Anyone would be crazy to saw in this heat!!  :-[

[Old Greenhorn]

We got home just a few minutes ago. Just under 15 hours door to door. I am pooped. Will unload and catch up tomorrow. Couple of beers before bed and that's it. The cats apparently missed us. ;D

[VB-Milling]

Thank you to Wildflower for the FF mug (personalized with my name).  8)
She had them made up for each of the members who replied back in the Pig Roast thread head count.

That is too cool for school! Wonderful icing on the cake to what sounds like a great weekend.  One year...

[Magicman]

The Pig Roast is a very special event that should be attended by all Forestry Forum members, and it ain't just about the pig.  We certainly did not drive 2275 miles just to eat a pulled pork sammich.  The fellowship and closeness between the FF members can only be experienced and very inadequately described.

A very Special Thank You goes to Jeff and Tammy who put their hearts into making this event the success that it is.  In addition to Jeff & Tammy there are the worker bees; Stacy, Jeremy, Mother, Joe, as well as neighbors and friends.  It doesn't just 'happen', they make it happen.



 
Tammy had a gift for each attendee that had previously registered.



Oh Wow, what can I say about Howdy's door prizes that he sent.  This is the one that PatD got !!!  It joins several other 'Howdy Ceramics' that she has.  Thank You my Friend for your precious contribution and it is my Prayer that you successfully recover from your bout with this dreadful Covid.


 
A special Shout Out goes to Logrite who sadly were not there but still were huge contributors.  PatD won a Gift Certificate and will now have to decide what to order.

Also a Thank You to the FF Friends who attended and enjoyed the fellowship at this Special Event.  See you next time. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I am not recovered yet and still have to off load the truck and such, but we are home and as promised I will do my best to catch y'all up a little and fill in a few thoughts to go along with the others. But first let me say it was a pretty special trip for us. (First one without kids in 35 years.) I too did not take many photos because I was too busy trying to get names, faces, states, and connections made in my head and that takes work. :D Jeff's videos will fill in some blanks, I'm sure. What a great bunch of folks to say the least.

On the drive out (which was the best and easiest long drive I have ever had) I had thought maybe @Bargemonkey changed his mind and made time to come:


 
But it wasn't him, wrong truck. ;D

We stopped in Toledo around dinner time and met with my wife's cousin and had a fine chicken dinner at their home. My wife had not seen him in 50 years, so that was neat. Even neater was this cottonwood tree in their yard:


 
(Wife used for Scale.)

We drove a little further up 23 and found a huge Cabela's, so after exploring a bit we found a motel and holed up for the night. They must have had an Asplundh convention in town because the parking lot was more than half full with their rigs. And yes, those guys filled the lobby eating continental breakfast in the morning, just like another day at the Conesville Country Store. :D


 


We got a full breakfast elsewhere and finished the drive up. I loved the roads, good drivers around us and 78mph all the way. We arrived at the camp, Bill was already there of course and waiting for us. Doc and Georgia arrived a little later. We wasted no time getting settled in.





I think it's a pretty safe bet that when you get two or more of us together, we are either gonna find a way to get into a little trouble or have a little fun, or perhaps both. I got a short clip of Bill working out on our campsite distraction:

VID 20210805 175929467 - YouTube

Before long other folks started showing up: TerrficTimbers and his wife, then Magicman and Miss Pat, Doubletree Belgiums pulled in two sites away from us, then the Boss himself came on by. We had us a get together going there for a while. Enough folks that I may have missed some.


 
(Doc on the right, Miss Pat, Lynn (MM), and FFOTS's feet on the left, and mine in the center.)

Friday we went over to lend a hand but the Brokaw crew had everything pretty much handled. We (they) did get the pig on and got it seasoned up and browned over and seared. Jeff is shown here just doing a second coat and checking the progress.


 
Friday evening we came back for a fine dinner, then Saturday was the event, of course.
I was so busy bouncing from one conversation to another that I only took 2 photos. One is poor, this is the other.


 

The day itself was super, the weather was perfect, and a great time was enjoyed by all. The conversations, the meal, door prize fun, and everything else could not have been better. (I may put up some other thoughts on this in a separate post.)

Sunday, most folks were either gone, packing out, home, or on the road already.  Brent and his wife actually managed to leave the campground twice! (yes, there is a story there.) We headed up to the house for a final 'thank you' and found they had no power on that whole side of the lake! So we hung out in the pole barn saying our final goodbyes and thanks as well as one or two last stories. Jeff was getting ready for his escape to the UP. (They got their power back just before Jeff left with Steve.)
Pat and I headed down the road to Coleman to visit the Veteran's memorial and I found it quite moving. We spent a while walking around and reading bricks and all the other dedications, etc. The main sculpture is amazingly well done.


 

I also found this piece, just about 100' from the main plaza to be very nicely done.


 

On the drive back we stopped at Jay's sporting goods and the military surplus place next door to it, but I was a 'good boy' on both counts. ;D We never did find 'Cops and Dounuts' but I saw their billboards. Not sure what that is all about, but we will catch that next time.
Late afternoon I got a text from Jeff that we all had forgotten to bring some pork back for the folks at Hidden Hill, so Tammy ran it over and Pat and I delivered it, mission accomplished. In the process I had a chat with Joe about his woodworking and need for benches in the camp. He had a bunch of questions, so I suggested he think about joining the forum to get them all answered. :D Hopefully he will follow up. In the meantime, he asked that when I make our next reservation I remind him about the benches so he can order some unfinished slabs for me to deliver. ;D (Lets see, standard delivery cost is $1.00/mile, so.....)

We left at 7:45 on Monday morning and the drive home was a bit less fun. My GPS kept trying to get me to go through Canada and we took a wrong turn near Flint before I caught it, which cost us 20 minutes, then it tried it again further south (Detroit) but I wasn't buying it. So I fought with the GPS all the way home because I wanted to avoid that 5 mile back up on I80. We finally pulled in around 10:30. I had 3 beers and went to bed. For the first hour trying to sleep all I saw when I closed my eyes were two long lanes in front of me that disappeared over a distant rise and a white line ticking by.
What a great time we had! Thank you everyone.

[Old Greenhorn]

 I was going to add some personal perspective in the previous post and decided against it at that time because I wanted to get normalized (in so far as is possible) before any comments because I wanted the words to come out with some coherency. These threads do get read years down the line for reference or memory jogs and I can see folks that are on the fence about attending a pig roast looking back through previous years to get a feel for it before they made a decision. I know that I did just that when I started thinking about it 3 years ago.
As this was our first PR I thought it would be my one chance to share the 'first timer's' experience. You know if you think about it, driving over 800 miles each way to sit with folks you met online in 'some kind of forum' can sound more than a little weird or even risky to most folks. I do know that some of my friends looked at me funny when I told them that "No" I had never actually met ANY of these folks. (But my friends know I do weird stuff all the time and they accepted this as just another 'thing' figuring one day it will bite me and maybe this will be that day.)
From my reading I had decided (guessed) that this was a lot like our family reunions. Folks from all over the country and sometimes international, held every other year, some of whom you don't know or never met before, but at least you are related in some way and others you know really well. Those things can sometimes get cliquey and break into smaller groups that are hard to penetrate. I was concerned about sitting in a corner with one person, or just my wife for the whole day. Worse, maybe my wife wouldn't have a good time and be reminding me it's 'time to go' all day.
Yeah well, none of that happened. As I have written previously in not so many words, it was a weekend of pure joy and relaxation. With each new person met came new introductions, conversations, subjects, knowledge, and deepened friendships and respect. The pig roast and all the other food, door prizes, music, kids playing, dog ball throwing and stuff like that became just the back drop for some really good visiting with folks. I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend, truly. You can't buy that kind of experience because there are too many critical ingredients that are very hard to find. You can't call a travel agent and 'book a trip' like that.
 Some personal highlights from my perspective were first putting some faces to names and hearing their actual voices. Being able to have a free flowing conversation with a bunch of folks I had gotten to know (I thought) pretty dang well on the forum. Sitting down and getting a consultation with Lynn (MM) as a Journeyman Sawyer about a project I am contemplating was like gold for me. Spending time with Doc and Bill just shooting the breeze and maybe getting our hands on some small task working together was more fun that one might think.
I had brought a small rustic bench I made for a door prize and my wife added one of the hand printed quilted table runners she makes to the pile. I was a little concerned that my bench was not up to the standards of the master woodworkers in our group, but nobody said anything that I heard. When they awarded my wife's runner it went to Georgia (Doc's) wife who had looked at it and really wished she had one, so she was very happy. When they gave away my bench, the woman who won that let out a 'whoop' because she had her eyes on it and was extremely happy to have gotten that. That made my day even better than it already was. (bonus points!) These are small things, but they made a difference for me.
Equally interesting to me were the things I did NOT experience. Often in groups such as this there are folks who like to talk about those who are not present in critical ways. ('oh, I met him once, he is a nutcase' or 'that guy talks a good show but he really has no idea what he is doing'). I heard none of that, zip, not one word. What I did hear was just the opposite: "Oh if you ever get a chance to visit him you HAVE to stop in, he has quite the setup and is the nicest guy you'll ever meet" and things of that nature. Folks asked me about members I know personally and what their 'set ups' were like and how they do things because they wanted to know, not hear somebody knock them down. (I got asked about Bargemonkey several times and most wanted to know how it is he manages to work those hours he does and not drop dead. That's a question I am still looking for an answer to myself.)
So yes, we are all busy and have lives and on the face of it driving half way across the country (or even ALL the way) may seem like a lot for just a weekend to shake hands with people you never met before. But to get away and be with folks of a like mind (regardless of diverging political leanings) to relax and talk and share knowledge on common and not so common interests can be priceless. I do know that there were more than a few folks answering texts and taking phone calls from their shops and clients all weekend, I got 3 myself, but the world did not end because we got away for a few days.
So if you are reading this and thinking about attending, maybe I gave you some food for thought. I do know for myself, fixed income and all, it was worth every penny, every mile driven, every traffic slow down, the night in a not so great motel room, and the long 15 hour trip home. The pig roast provided food for my soul as well as food for my belly, not to mention the re-charge and inspiration.
I hope we see you at the next one!

[VB-Milling]

Very well articulated OGH.

[Nebraska]

Thanks Tom. I would really like to try for next time...

[Tacotodd]

I DO know that the next time that I go; at least 3 days earlier! It seemed as though every time (I inferred) that there are/we're pretty-party party's. I personally don't see anything wrong with that & maybe party is the wrong word; but it was like I was at a party. Fun from the time I was there until the time that I left. And I have started pre-planning for the next time a pig roast occurs! I'm THAT jazzed with the thought of it. Jeff won his little ice cream bet with OGH concerning me & my appearance, doc H still blows my mind because his appearance looks so much different than his avatar (even though he told me that it did). Meeting with & yackin with GAB was priceless (for some old dumb farm kid (inside joke concerning mine & GAB's conversation)) the fun & personal conversation with crusarius fairly late into Saturday was great. The wife & I had originally planned on staying all day Sunday, but seeing as 99.5% of attendees were going to be pooped out (including us) we decided to check out early, not penalized for it, and take a relatively slow & easy trip back home. And the said part for us, 16hrs to arrive to the PR, 26 to get home; at one fuel place we admitted to each other how beat & sleepy we were that it was safer for the ENTIRE world if we would just get some sleep right there, 3hrs later from being asleep in the cab of the truck and I felt like a new man! Right about 10min normal travel at home where there is a choice between directions to go and both are approximately the same time/miles, I had just (250yds) started one exit and suddenly EVERYONE turned on emergency flashers! Sat there about 8 hours! Oh well, considering that there was NO way back prior to our exit without becoming a MAJOR traffic accident we just sat there! But we got home with no mechanical or other problems, so I was quite happy!!!!

[Cedarman]

When you think about attending the pig roast and figure the cost and the money lost, which would you rather have years down the road?  A pile of money or a pile of memories that bring a smile to your face.  I don't know of anyone that has not had a good time at the PR.  I have been to quite a few.  One of which is WDH throwing his hat on the floor when I fooled him with a piece of wood. Fooling Danny with a piece of wood is a very rare event and took some planning. Being the nice guy he is, he let  us pig hunt on his place a few years later. Really missed him this year.
OGH hit the target.
My kids and grandkids had a great time.  Jeff and Tammy even had a nice rock pile for the little grandkids to play in. The older two said they want to come again, so that says a lot about it being great for the whole family.

[Tacotodd]

Yeah Cedarman, people and places can take your money, but only biology can take your memory!

[WDH]

Ian harvested a nice pig, too.  I missed you guys much.  I am pleased to hear that the Newton's held up the standards at the pig rendering before the pig eating. 

[Magicman]

One of which is WDH throwing his hat on the floor when I fooled him with a piece of wood. Fooling Danny with a piece of wood is a very rare event and took some planning.

Yup, you got him with ERC sapwood and I got him a couple of years later with Walnut sapwood.  Yes, Walnut!!!  ;D

I was talking with Marty last evening about the Pig Roast.  I jokingly made a statement about driving 2275 miles for a pulled pork sammich, and he instantly set me straight.  The Pig Roast ain't about the pig.

[Magicman]

I am pleased to hear that the Newton's held up the standards at the pig rendering before the pig eating.

 
Verification. 

[olcowhand]

The Pig Roast ain't about the pig.

You (Marty) said it.
This may be an indicator of the kind of folks I normally hang out with, but I've rarely been to a gathering with 100% nice people in attendance. The Pig Roast is a very uniquely positive experience.
Steve

[aigheadish]

Sounds like a lovely time. Even though I'm a new guy maybe I'll show up at one sometime. 

I've been to similar events (although usually just an afternoon or evening) where the meetups consist of random strangers with like-minded hobbies or interests and it's pretty amazing to get together and it's a really nice time. I've even hosted one a few weeks ago at my house and it went great!

I'm happy to hear this one sounds like the same deal.

[Crusarius]

My experience and expertise and passion really lies more in working with steel than wood. I was still welcomed with open arms and want to thank everyone for everything. Especially Tammy and Jeff.

Thanks everyone, looking forward to another one!