{"id":273,"date":"2018-12-17T01:02:10","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T01:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue3-2018\/?p=273"},"modified":"2018-12-19T20:03:44","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T20:03:44","slug":"cut-to-the-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue3-2018\/campus-currents\/cut-to-the-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Cut to the Chase"},"content":{"rendered":"

Student Life<\/span><\/p>\n

Cut to the Chase<\/h1>\n

Woodsmen Club hones competitive skills, helps community.<\/h2>\n

Accidentally brush your finger against one of the Woodsmen Club\u2019s cross-cut saw\u2019s teeth and you may learn the definition of \u201cscary sharp.\u201d<\/p>\n

The largest club on campus, with some 50 members, uses the saw and other traditional forestry tools in competitive intercollegiate co-ed lumberjack events held across New England. Events include sawing, chopping, axe throwing, log rolling, pulp tossing, fire starting and more.
\n38 seconds\u2026 that\u2019s how long it takes Seth Hathaway, president of the club and power engineering technology major, to chop through an 18-inch log with an ax.<\/p>\n

MMA’s largest club teaches forestry skills competition.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Members of the club can also make quick work of timber-related efforts that serve the community.<\/p>\n

Every year the club takes initiative to put up a Christmas tree on Leavitt lawn for the holidays. This year\u2019s tree was provided by the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust in recognition of service from the Woodsmen Club. \u201cThe club put in close to 36 hours cutting trees in the Wildlands in accordance with the trust\u2019s forestry plan and re-purposed the tops of many into suitable Christmas trees that were donated to a charity to help local families,\u201d says the club\u2019s faculty advisor, Zanny Stwertka, instructor of physics and engineering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe physical nature of the competition, the skills required, and the fact that it\u2019s a unique endeavor are some of the reasons the club is in line with the type of person who comes to MMA,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great escape from school work,\u201d adds Hathaway. \u201cYou get to be out in the middle of beautiful places working in the woods with a great group of people, learning how to master the tools, and just chop on some wood.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s very satisfying.\u201d\u2588<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t