Davey Tree Flipbooks

September/October 2016 | The Davey Bulletin 17 manager, also played a role at the ITCC to keep attendees in the field safe. Walsh, through the ISA, offered two workshops during the event. He taught Practical Application of the Z133 course on safety and the Arborist Safety Training Institute (ASTI) Chain Saw and Chipper Operations course. "The goal of the workshops is to bring high-quality safety training to field arborists by providing them with training at local, affordable venues," Walsh said. After two years of successful ITCC workshops, Walsh is happy to continue teaching at this venue for the "local folks who need to know this information the most." Davey's Tim Jackson, district manager at the San Antonio office, also taught an interactive, three-hour course on rigging techniques and knots. More than 50 professionals in the tree care industry attended Jackson's workshop to learn the do's and don'ts of creating a safe and reliable rigging system. "My goal was to help them understand what could go wrong and how to prevent safety issues from occurring," Jackson said. "I was trying to build a Climb for a total of 200 points. The athletes who accumulated the highest combined point totals earned the right to move on to the Masters' Challenge. "After seeing climbers like that (at the ITCC), you appreciate the tree care industry that much more," Medina said. "You want to emulate what they do and bring that skill back to the tree work you do." This is one of the many reasons Davey chooses to sponsor this event every year. "The elite climbers who take part in the ITCC remind everyone in our industry the value of dedicating themselves to working safe and using proper techniques," said Jennifer Lennox, manager of public relations at Davey's corporate office in Kent, Ohio. Lennox and her communications team attended ITCC to present the Nature's Sunscreen Campaign [read about it on page 24]. Their booth was adjacent to the ISA "Ask the Arborist" booth, where Davey's certified arborists from the local R/C offices answered attendees' tree care questions. Davey's Tim Walsh, corporate safety safety culture in the short time we had together." Hodson appreciated all the Davey support at his first national climbing competition. "It was a little intimidating at first," Hodson said. "But once you start hanging out and talking with the guys, it's just like any other competition. Everyone is there to have fun." Hodson, although competitive, wanted to use the ITCC arena to not only compete but meet friends from across the globe. "I met climbers from New Zealand to Belgium," he said. "The backgrounds in what we do, beyond the tree care industry, varies so much." But they all unite based on their love of trees. "The goal was top 15," Hodson said. "I came close but left a few points on the board." He finished in the middle of the pack, placing 22nd out of the 44 male competitors. Hodson, like everyone from Davey who participated in the ITCC, looks forward to next year's championship in Washington, D.C., to compete, volunteer or present at this exceptional event. Davey's Josh Hodson competes in the Aerial Rescue, one of five events, at the International Tree Climbing Championship. Davey's recruiter/ trainers, including Eduardo Medina (pictured), Andrew Misch, Mark Noark, Don Roppolo, Joe Shaw and sales representative Paul Herb helped run all five events and the final championship round at the ITCC.

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