Police officers chop wood for a good cause
BY MEGHAN V. MALLOY
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 09/08/2008

AUGUSTA -- The men were working methodically.

Two or three men attacked a tree-length log with their chainsaws. From there, another two men split the wood seamlessly, then threw the pieces into a growing pile of firewood.

The crews looked so comfortable in their routine, one might have believed they were loggers working in a deep Maine forest.

The men were not loggers, however; they were Kennebec County Sheriff's deputies.

The deputies, acting in their capacity as members of the Thomas F. Malloy Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, were cutting and splitting as much wood as possible to donate to area families this coming winter.

A half-dozen men started the project Friday morning at Ready Road Service in Augusta, under a warm September sun. All but two were Sheriff deputies; one was the adult son of a deputy and the other was Rob Drummond, owner of Ready Road Towing.

"People in Kennebec County provide so much for us," Sgt. Dan Davies said. "They pay our salaries, our insurance. This was the least we could do to give back to them."

With a severe winter this year expected for Mainers, Davies said the Sheriff's Office recognized the need families may have for some form of heating assistance. The project was the first the Sheriff's Office has done as a chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, which was established in August.

"This came out of the pockets of the deputies themselves, and we had a lot of volunteers who wanted to help in some way, too," Davies said.

The time to cut and split the wood was all volunteered by Kennebec County deputies, some of whom had gotten off work a few hours beforehand, and some who had to go in for their shift that night.

Deputies also used all of their own equipment and paid for the fuel to power the equipment. Jim Worthing, a Randolph businessman, helped deputies transport the logs from the dealer to Ready Road Service, Davies said.

Drummond, the owner of the business where the cutting and splitting took place, offered the space to the Sheriff's Office after hearing about the project from some members of the force.

"I was just glad to be able to help them," Drummond said Saturday afternoon.

The wood itself was donated by a man in Windsor who "asked to not be named," Davies said. "This effort came from the hearts of our deputies and other people."

John Bourque had Friday off work. Rather than sleeping in, the patrol deputy of 12 years woke up early and started cutting and stacking the wood.

"Heating assistance is going to be big this winter," Bourque said. "This is a vehicle for us to give back and help."

The work wasn't easy, either, Bourque added, as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Still, when officials from the Sheriff's Office pitched the idea, there was a "resounding 'yes, let's do this,'" from the deputies.

"This is what being in the Fraternal Order of Police is all about," Bourque said. "This gives people a chance to see our face, not our uniform," Bourque said.

The men worked at the chopping from "roughly 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.," Drummond estimated.

As to the amount of wood split on Friday, Drummond couldn't pinpoint how much, but said it was all of the "wood that we could stand within that amount of time."

Families or individuals interested in obtaining some of the wood may do so by contacting the Sheriff's Office through the United Way.

Meghan V. Malloy -- 623-3811 Ext. 431

mmalloy@centralmaine.com

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