By Tom Kelly
Editor and Publisher

Joe Lang, veteran logger, timber sports competitor, and president of the Louisiana Forest Festival Association, was named 2005 Logger of the Year by the Louisiana Loggers Association. Lang, of Atlanta in Winn Parish, Louisiana, received the award at the annual Louisiana Loggers Association membership banquet in Winnfield on April 22, opening day of the annual Forest Festival.

An estimated 400 guests were present for the event, which returned to the Winnfield Civic Center, known earlier as the Forestry Building, after a two-year absence during which the facility was renovated and improved.

Joe Lang is one of a family of logging contractor brothers at Atlanta, and has been "in the woods," in his words for 30 yearsof those as operator of his own job. With a crew of 12 employees, he --the last 15 logs for Weyerhaeuser Company, doing mostly clear-cutting in the North Louisiana Piney Woods.

Brothers Steve and Allen Lang have their own jobs.

Joe has been competing in timber sports contests across the country for the past 20 years in various chain saw events. It has been through these contests that he has met professional competitors from all over the nation, and knowledge gained about how various various events operate led him naturally into making a success of the Louisiana Forest Festival.

The current Festival is the third under his leadership. He and a group of loggers and friends assumed leadership of the Festival after the resignation of an earlier group of directors, who passed on the organization to the logger group in 2003. With logger control and participation, the annual event has grown, attracting over 1,500 visitors last year, and expectations were that this number would be exceeded in the 2005 event.

Lang praised the work of the present volunteer group, including Vernon and Vicky Weeks, Cathy Tullos, Roger Hanson, Terry Taylor, Darrell Franks, Frederick and Angela Bonnett, Shannon Moss, and Jerry Martin.

"Lots of help from good people have made it work," Lang said. He personally runs the timbersport event, because of his intimate knowledge, and each of the directors takes part in arranging the exhibits and events.

Joe is a member of the Louisiana Loggers Association, and his logging crew operated the past year without any accidents.

In another major move, the LLA Board of Directors announced that Mrs. Evelyn (John) Garner has been named Administrator for the Association's Self Insured Fund.

Mrs. Garner has been with the Association since its organization 11 years ago, beginning as office secretary. Upon the resignation of Donald Carpenter as Administrator last Fall to devote full time to his personal business interests, she was named Acting Administrator, and now has the full responsibility for management of the Self Insured Fund under direction of the board of directors. Her husband is a former logger, who continues to maintain limited associations in the industry.

In making the announcement of her appointment, Board Vice Chairman Tony McManus praised Mrs. Garner's commitment and loyalty.

McManus said the Board expects to grow and continue serving the Louisiana logging industry with economical workers compensation insurance.

Michael Franks is chairman of the board of directors of the Self Insured Fund, with Tony McManus vice chairman; Robert Franks, secretary-treasurer, and Steven Gaar and Don Tant members.

Of the parent Louisiana Loggers Association, Allen (Cricket) Lang is chairman; Darrell Franks is vice chairman; Anthony Carter, secretary-treasurer; and Adrian James, member.

In a brief report to the membership, Terry Duke of Louisiana Agricultural Corporation, the Fund's claims administrator, said that the Association has averaged 31 claims per year over the past four years, and the average claim was $21,400. The LLA Fund ranks as one of the top self-insured groups in the state, he said.

Safety management for the Fund membership is directed by Bobby Erskins, who also acted as master of ceremonies for the membership meeting.

To end the meeting, Erskins and Mrs. Garner presented door prizes to about 50 guests who were lucky enough to have winning ticket numbers.

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