Davey Tree Flipbooks

16 The Davey Bulletin | January/February 2017 outside of Sea Pines. "They handled storm damage removals, storm damage pruning, fallen trees, broken and hanging limbs, partially uprooted trees, trees in water ways," Francies said. "You name it." Chris Heim, district manager of the Atlanta R/C office, led the project with assistance from Jeff Crites, Midwest operations manager. Their collaborative response made this project not only safe and successful, but it also created a lasting impression on Sea Pines and the entire community that will echo far into the future. R/C employees working at Sea Pines also endured the longest tour of duty. Some spent nearly an entire month there living in residential villas, which the resort hosted them in to save hotel costs, working long after the storm had passed. "We had trees on docks and in the water," Francies said. "We had trees in ponds. And we saw alligators every day." Crews responding to Hilton Head came from the Chicago Davey and The Care of Trees offices, the Milwaukee, Akron, Canton, Cleve- land, Baltimore, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Nashville, Washington, D.C., Chesapeake and Atlanta offices. "I was amazed at the comradery and professionalism of every single crew that responded," Francies said. "It was great to see all these different crews come together, work together as a team and have a central focus of getting the job done, getting it done safely and helping these people get their lives back to normal. "One example of that team effort came on the last day," Francies said. "At 4 p.m. the day before, we called for seven volunteers to work one more day after the project was scheduled to be completed – a day the crews were told they could have off to rest and prepare to travel home after more than three weeks away. Word got around that evening, and at the 6:45 a.m. dispatch the next day nearly all of the remaining 32 employees showed up to help the original seven volunteers. They worked together and finished the project safely and efficiently by noon." Davey's Orlando R/C office coordinated clean-up efforts along the Florida coastal areas from Jacksonville to Melbourne Beach with assistance from crews from the Bethel, Akron and West Cleveland offices. They also provided services for two large cemeteries in addition to the many residential customers they served over Davey crews found this type of damage – a tree's top snapped off by high winds – common in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. Hurricane Matthew toppled mature trees like dominoes across parts of the East Coast. Davey crews stand in front of the typical storm damage they helped clean up while in Daytona Beach, Florida. Pictured from left are: James Fathauer, Michael Hannebique, Johnny Ahn, Jessy Maslanka, Mark Spence, Mike Stieber and Phil Vance. Photo courtesy Adam Jackson, sales arborist, Orlando R/C office. Continued from page 15

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