Loggers and Truckers Honor Their Own at Annual Convention

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Program Director Cheri Birch with newly certified and recertified loggers Dan Nickerson, Bill Crouse, Bill Dirubbo, Heath Bunnell, Dave Bovill, and Bruce Bovill.

(LEBANON, October 25 ) The N.H. Timber Harvesting Council (NHTHC) held its 33rd Annual Loggers and Truckers Convention on Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Fireside Inn & Suites in West Lebanon. The event is an annual opportunity for professionals who work long hours, often six days a week, to get together to socialize and recognize outstanding members of their community. This year 129 people in the state’s forest-products industry and landowners attended. Also present were eight members of the N.H. General Court, including state Sen. Dan Innis (Bradford), Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Steve Smith (Charlestown), and state Reps. Ron Dunn (Londonderry), Richard Nalevanko (Alstead), Tom Schamberg (Wilmot), Dale Swanson (Nashua), Jon Morton (Manchester), and Tom Ploszaj (Center Harbor).

The annual raffle and auction raised $11,526 to support the Professional Loggers Program

This year’s convention saw the induction of a new chair of the NHTHC board with the traditional “passing of the axe” from Heath Bunnell of Monroe to Jake Bronnenberg of Loudon. 

Award recipients:

 The President’s Award recognizes a member’s service to the forest-products industry in the state of New Hampshire. The Kendall Norcott Award, named for a past executive director of the N.H. Timberland Owners Association (NHTOA), recognizes a member for service to NHTOA and NHTHC. The Isobel Parke Award, named for the first female chair of the NHTOA board, recognizes outstanding achievement by a woman in the forest-products industry and timberland community.

Also recognized at the convention were 29 individuals who earned certification or re-certification in the N.H. Profession Loggers Program (see a full list of certified loggers). This voluntary training and certification program (developed by loggers for loggers) is run by NHTHC and is co-sponsored by NHTOA, UNH Extension and UNH. This program’s objectives are:

  1. To provide consistent standards of training within New Hampshire’s timber harvesting and trucking industry.
  2. To conduct training programs that benefit loggers by improving work efficiency, safety, and environmental awareness.
  3. To provide public and professional recognition for loggers who complete training programs.
  4. To improve awareness of and compliance with timber harvesting and wetlands laws and regulations.

For more information contact NHTOA at (603) 224-9699 or info@nhtoa.org.

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