Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Woodsmen's Meet – Saturday, April 17
Tim-brrrrr! On a brisk, spring day more suited for burning wood than cutting it, Pennsylvania College of Technology's Schneebeli Earth Science Center hosted the Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Woodsmen's Meet. Penn College students, whose team finished third overall, competed in 19 categories against their counterparts from four other institutions with forestry majors: Haywood Community College, Clyde, N.C., (which placed first); Penn State Mont Alto (second); Allegany College of Maryland (fourth); and Montgomery Community College, Troy, N.C. (fifth). The day's festivities included a 40th anniversary reunion of more than 40 Williamsport Area Community College and Penn College forestry alumni, one of whom – Ronald Yaple, of Sheffield, Mass. – drove 282 miles to attend.
— Photos by Tom Wilson, news bureau writer/editor
Four decades of forestry graduates are represented in an alumni group photo.
Amanda K. Fetter competes in the women's chain-saw event.
Penn College competitors stake out their turf with the Forestry Club banner.
Benjamin A. Walk. who placed first for Penn College in the dendrology category, doubles as a timer for the crosscut-saw competition.
The institution's forest technology alumni were given a commemorative "camo" cap.
Cody J. Fye lets the chips fly in the men's speed chop.
A shower of sawdust accompanies this event in the Stihl Timbersports Challenge.
With encouragement from teammate Aaron Andrews, at left – and supervision by faculty judge Eric C. Easton, at right – Kelly J. Tome takes part in the pulp toss for accuracy.
A production team for the ESPNU college-sports network, taping the competition for airing this summer, interviews Carson Wright, of Allegany College of Maryland.
Formidable faculty experience is represented in this gathering of those who helped shape the college's Forest Technology program. From left are Dennis F. Ringling, professor of forestry; Donald Nibert, who retired in 2009 as an assistant professor of forestry; James C. Pivirotto, retiring in May as an associate professor of forestry; Joseph Sick, the first director of the Earth Science Center; and Glenn R. Spoerke, a former faculty member who retired in 2007 as a curriculum specialist.
Mary A. Sullivan, dean of natural resources management, drew nods of recognition when she retraced forestry's 40-year history at Williamsport Area Community College and its succeeding institution.
Forest technology graduates Rhonda (Class of '96) and Thomas Holt ('89), of Kane – one of three alumni couples to attend the reunion – brought their children: Thomas, left; Taylor and Sydni.
Jack E. Fisher, laboratory assistant for forest technology at Penn College (as well as Forestry Club adviser and organizer of this year's woodsmen's competition) delivers the ground rules by bullhorn.
Coy R. Weller, left, and Brian A. Tomassacci – who took first in the event with teammates Sandra M. Angstadt and Michael C. Frantz – make the log roll look easy.
On an intemperate day that easily merited a sweatshirt, Michael C. Frantz dons an additional layer of warmth: his dog, Roscoe, the unofficial mascot of the Penn College team.
Matthew A. Daubert, chosen to participate in the stamina-testing Stihl Timbersports Collegiate Challenge, takes a healthy swing in one of the contest's four events.
Alumni look at old photos, yearbooks and other memorabilia during a lunch break in the Nature's Cove dining hall.
Coached by teammate Michael C. Frantz, Brian A. Tomassacci prepares to fell a pole as close as possible to a nearby stake. The duo placed third in the event.
Coy R. Weller is a study in determination as he heaves timber in the pulp toss.
Alumni relations assistant Becky J. Shaner welcomes 1977 graduates Nancy Morgan and Robert Fink, who traveled from Oil City to attend the alumni reunion.
Joseph Sick, the initial director of the Earth Science Center when it opened in 1971, reminisces with Brett A. Reaser, assistant dean of natural resources management.
Sandra M. Angstadt competes in the women's speed chop, ultimately capturing fourth place.
Penn College students Matthew A. Daubert, left, and Cody J. Fye wield axes for a Stihl Timbersports audience.
Just like clockwork, faculty and alumni timekeepers huddle after one of the events.
While built in competition, this fire carried the added benefit of warmth for attendees chilled by daylong winds and sparse sunshine.
Michael McGrady, left, and Thomas D. Miller coax a smolder during the water-boil event, in which participants had to build a fire and use it to heat soapy water until it bubbled from a can.
Valerie L. Fessler, director of alumni relations, welcomes graduates and their families.
In an effort strong enough for second place, Sandra M. Angstadt, left, and Amanda K. Fetter make a powerhouse crosscut pairing.
A hit with visiting forestry majors was this display of northern and central Pennsylvania forest samples, crafted by current students Kayla L. Kehres, of Roaring Branch, left, and Laurie A. Nau, of Jersey Shore; and begun last year by now-alumnus Dustin L. Rhoades, the most recent graduate to attend the forestry reunion, at right.
