State Christmas tree harvested from Marenisco

By CHARITY SMITH

csmith@yourdailyglobe.com

Marenisco - The Michigan state Christmas tree, a 63-foot blue-spruce, was harvested on Wednesday morning from a property on the outskirts of Marenisco, following a brief ceremony.

"It's all about bringing people together that makes this so special," said Jeff Canfield of the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget which orchestrates the tree selection process. "It's just a great time to celebrate."

The ceremony began with the presentation of the colors by the Wakefield American Legion honor guard, while the national anthem was played by a compilation of musicians from Ironwood, Wakefield-Marenisco and Watersmeet schools. A short prayer was then offered by Heath Miller of the DTMB, giving thanks for the huge tree which will soon grace the state capitol and asking for safety as the tree is harvested and transported. Township supervisor Bruce Mahler then spoke of the township's long history with the lumber industry.

"Marenisco has been known throughout its existence as the center of lumbering, from the Charcoal Iron Lumbering Company at the turn of the century through William Bonovetz and his lumbering company through Kimberly Clark and Louisiana Pacific and we're still the center of lumbering in this area," said Mahler. "You can drive up and down the streets and you can see that resource being harvested and being replanted and we're very proud of that and we're proud that we can be here today with this great tree that will bring joy to a lot of people throughout our state."

Celebratory speeches were also given by representatives for U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters. Jay Gage, Stabenow's regional manager, said that "cutting down a big, giant Christmas tree" is always his favorite event to cover.

"I'd go out on a limb here and say that it's a nice thing that we branch out to Lansing and provide them with our hardwood and our timber, and while this tree may be going to Lansing, never forget that its roots will always be in the U.P.," said Gage.

"Always remember that it came from the U.P. and so the U.P. is where Christmas is made for the state of Michigan," Aubrey Moore followed, Peters' Upper Peninsula regional director.

The crowd then erupted with a boisterous shout of "timber," and brothers Dave and Craig Smith of Smith Timber Stand Improvement LLC began to use a two-man cross-cut saw known colloquially a "misery whip" to harvest the tree as the local school bands played Christmas carols.

The tools used by the brothers to harvest the tree have historical ties to the area. The saw can be traced back to the Iron County Michigan logging camps in the 1920's according to Dave Smith.

The brother's were assisted by Warren Suchovsky, board director of both of the Michigan Association of Timbermen and of the Great Lakes Timber Professionals. Suchovsky supervised the brothers and hammered in a plastic wedge during the process. The final cuts were made by Dave Smith using an old school pickeroon axe.

"We were trying to find stuff that made it authentic to Iron County," said Dave Smith. "It's all from stuff that's as old of stuff as I could find from the U.P. I just didn't want to use a power-saw. To me, it's a tribute to the people that were here."

Olson said the saaw technique is used very seldomly and dates back 100 years.

After being cut, the tree was hoisted straight up. It was then angled so that men could add additional straps and laid the tree on a flat bed truck and then tied each branch down individually. It is headed for Lansing. Boy scout troops will untie the branches and it will be hoisted into position by a crane.

The tree was first noticed by Denny Olson, director of Michigan affairs for the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association, approximately 12 years ago. He said that they started leaving business cards in the mailbox of Carla and Gayle Fletcher, who own the property, and did not get a response for many years.

"We had just about written this tree off... and then lo and behold, about three years ago I got a call from this young lady (Carla Fletcher)," Olson said. "I found out that (her) late husband, Gayle, would be so proud if he was here and to have his tree going to Lansing."

Olson said he was sure that hundreds of people have driven by the tree thousands of times and never realized what the tree was growing for and where it was going to end up.

The tree is the 35th to grace the state capitol, the 24th to hail from the U.P. and the second to hail from Gogebic County. The first from the county was harvested from Wakefield in 2015. The tree will be erected on Saturday in front of the state capitol building in Lansing and will be lit at 7:45 p.m. on Nov. 19 during the 35th annual Silver Bells in the City celebration.