On the weekend of April 8, Purdue University hosted the 59th Annual Midwestern Foresters Conclave. This is an annual event where college students throughout the Midwest gather together to compete in physical and mental Forestry events such as speed chopping, crosscut saw, tree identification and many others.
The students that competed in this day–long event are definitely the rugged, gritty, outdoors types. On Saturday morning, the weather was a chilly 40 degrees that quickly changed to rain. Later in the afternoon, the sun came out and warmed up to 80 degrees and all attending ended up sunburned.
Pike Lumber Company was a major sponsor for the event. There were a total of 18 Pike employees and family members working the event in different capacities. Roughly 225 hungry people were served a hearty lunch of beef stew, biscuits and cobbler that was cooked over open fires with cast iron kettles by Pike.
The majority of all the event judges and timers were also staffed by Pike Foresters. School bias was avoided due to the fact that Pike Foresters represent 7 different schools. Between events, our veterans mixed and mingled with the students in hopes of finding the next high quality forester to join our ranks. As our company grows, we are always on the look out for new quality recruits.
In an unforeseen upset, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point won the overall combined event in a land slide, knocking off the reigning 16-year champs, Southern Illinois University.