GREENVILLE – Ansonia Lumber Sales Manager Mitch McCabe sets aside three days each July to help instruct at the Light Foundation Timber Frame Leadership Camp held annually at the Chenoweth Trails facility west of Greenville.
“It’s a lot of fun – I enjoy it,” said McCabe. “There is such a need this day and age to get kids introduced in the trades and encourage them. “It’s neat to see the progress they make, see them using hand tools, getting the confidence to do that and develop new skills they wouldn’t ordinarily have.”
As with most business today, Ansonia Lumber is always looking for up and coming future employees with a desire to learn the building supplies industry.
“We’re always looking for young people that are interested in the construction end of business, McCabe stated. “There are certainly jobs opportunities at our lumber yard and other lumber yards as well.”
The Light Foundation’s Timber Frame Leadership Camp is a three-day over-night instructional and hands-on camp held at Chenoweth Trails in Greenville, Ohio for students entering a high school grade level.
This STEAM-based program introduces young people to the age-old craft of timber frame construction. Under the guidance of professionals and adult mentors, students turn standing trees into a complete building frame in just three days. Instructors guide students through the safe use of hand and power tools, and through the process of translating drawings into a three-dimensional structure.
The hands-on setting requires students to work collaboratively with one another. Through specialized skill development, campers gain a personal sense of achievement and mastery that they can carry with them into other aspects of their life.
“The camp helps the campers understand lumber, the use of a tape measure, developing the skills to saw and so forth – it’s a benefit,” McCabe said. “It’s hard to estimate a building if you don’t know how to build it. You have to know how it goes together in order to know what parts and pieces are needed for it so it’s a good basic start in understanding construction.”
