Captain Dave Lavoie at the Bluebell Trail Bench where a Plaque Honoring His Contribution to the TRWA Is Now Installed.

The Townsend River Walk & Arboretum is a community project and some community members step up when needed.  Captain Dave Lavoie, of Little River Artistry in Townsend,  did just that for the TRWA without hesitation.  For his contribution we honored him on July 3, 2025 with this plaque that is now affixed to the Honey Locust bench on the Bluebell Trail.

The Story

In the Spring of 2023 during a wind storm our large Honey Locust tree fell.  It measured around 3.5ft in diameter and 120ft long.   It had needles that were well over 3 inches! If you know anything about the folks that take care of the TRWA, we hate to waste.  Honey Locust being very dense wood and resistant to rot was a blessing we couldn't pass up.  But what and how to do it?  Capt. Dave at the Little River Artistry was contacted and he suggested sawing into boards and he had the equipment to do so.  After hearing we wasted no time cutting the usable part of the tree into four 9 ft sections and using a bobcat was loaded onto a trailer and transported to Capt. Dave's shop.

The tree logs were cut into 2" wide boards at varying widths at 8 ft long.  This wood is so tough we really don't know how many saw blades were used but the cutting of the boards was quite a task and Capt. Dave persevered thru it all.

The boards were then let to dry and given a preservative coating.  From that one tree we were then able to build the Bluebell Trail Foot Bridge, Bench and River View Platform with benches.  In $$ terms the wood would be well over $4,000 in environmental terms, priceless.

We can't thank Capt. Dave enough for helping us to repurpose this honey locust for the current  and next generation of visitors to enjoy.

Pictures from the July 3, 2025 honoring Capt. Dave Lavoie.

Storytelling at its Best!