"Sawdust and Woodchips"

Lumberjacks

Shanty Boys we called them. They came from everywhere some were orphans, some were drifters, some were bums.

They were the product of a nation that didn't seem to care, wanderers who marched to different drums.

Few were educated, most could neither read nor write but they harnessed heart and muscle with a will.

The hours they worked were killers, from dawn 'til no more light but their labors built our "nation on a hill."

Machines do heavy liftin ' now where Shanty Boys once strode. Their times, though not forgotten, didn't last.

They were giants in their hey-day but they've passed on down the road, the sawdust and the woodchips of our past.

$15.95 + Shipping

ISBN 978-0-9709971-7-3

This is a glimpse into an era, a lifestyle, a world all its own and the men who populated it. They gave their all and asked little in return as they helped to create this nation we all admire and enjoy. Advances in technology, in tools, in the means of transportation destroyed the world that was the only home these men knew. It was taken from them. It disappeared and, inevitably, so did they . They have faded into the past much like the old-time cowboy of the southwest. They're gone. This humble view of their lives and times, this tale of a few who were successful in fulfilling a dream and the oh so many others who departed this world dead broke and all alone, is an attempt at a remembrance to help keep their memory alive:

"They were giants in their hey-day but they've passed on down the road, the sawdust and the woodchips of our past."