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About Griffin daily news. (Griffin, Ga.) 1924-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1977)
Page 18 — Griffin Daily News Thursday, August 18,1977 ‘Pulpwooder 9 The lady works with big trees The masterminds of the advertising world would find Betty Lewis slightly different from their concept of the average American housewife. She gets a kick out of watching hand cream commercials and frilly appeals to the soft and ef feminate nature of housewives. Betty is a “pulpwooder.” She saws wood, downs trees, tops trees, moves wood, loads wood and delivers wood. Standing at a height of Meet, 4-inches, the petit Mrs. Lewis, who has a face befitting feminine frills, can handle the largest power saw her husband has as well as anyone in his crew. She operates a loader, hauling 40-foot tree trunks around shrubs, through saplings and in between trees, and loads them into trucks. “I enjoy it. If I had to stay at home all day long, I’d go crazy,” she said. “I’ve been working in this business since my husband and I got married about 9 years ago.” When they first started, there were only Betty and her husband, Johnny. “In those days we just cut pulpwood,” said Betty. “We loaded it by hand. That was work! Later we rigged our own ‘stick loader’ and gradually we bought more equipment. Now we do just about anything that can be done with wood.” “When I married Johnny I had no idea I’d wind up out here working with him,” said the Fayetteville native. “I started by learning how to use the power saw. That was rough! Before I learned how to use it I got a few spankings from my husband. From the saw I worked my way up, learning to use each piece of equipment as we got it. Now I love it as long as we don’t get to fussing and fighting.” In the photos Betty Lewis (top, right) with her son, “Runt,” along for the ride, backs off after loading a tree trunk onto the truck; (bottom, right) Betty wipes perspiration as she climbs out of the loader; (top, left) she can handle a power saw as well as anyone in the crew; (center) time for a break; (bottom, left) Betty and her husband, Johnny, and son, “Runt,” look over the situation. POUND INS. AGENCY NEW-HOME i W<» invite our customers and clients to stop by to visit 'i i us. We can note better serve your insurance needs. 1 , i Life - Homeowners - Auto. - Commercial - Mobile ? Homeowners - Group - Life Health. ' i 1306 W. Solomon (at Parkwood Cinema) \ • 227-1584 - Griffin — 775-3840 • Jackson IMil, €L IcAife lesson 109 E. Solomon St. TWO GREAT DAYS 19th N / :, \-/i xl ja ’ UT\ Johnny Lewis runs a taut crew. None of his workers are ever in doubt about what he wants them to do. “He tries to go too fast sometimes,” said Betty, “and he gets excited. The best way to handle him is to work around him. When he starts yelling about being too slow, I just work slower," she said with a grin. The Lewises have one son named Lester, commonly known as “Runt.” Like his mother and father, the 6 and one-half-year-old youngster likes working with wood. He can operate some of the machinery, keeps the saws fueled, delivers water and stays hot on the heels of most of the activity. “I imagine he’ll stay in the business,” said Mrs. Lewis. “He likes to operate the machinery. He does it all except drive the trucks and he’d probably do that if he wasn’t too short to reach the pedals.” When the Lewises return to their home on Ponderosa road in Spalding County after a typical day’s work, they’re all covered with chips of wood, tree sap and dirt. Johnny and his son cleanup and settle down for a good rest, but Mrs. Lewis cleans up and then begins the task of cooking dinner, cleaning the house and doing the laundry. “I don’t mind it,” she said. > “But I don’t get any help. The most work those two do is find ing the coolest spot in the I house and working to stay there.” Asked if she ever wished she was in the home like most housewives, she responded with a quick, “No!” Then she added, “I’ll be out here working with my family for as long as I’m physically able. I’m only 26 now, so that should be a long time.” 1 1 i "- ’’•hr ’. KM C mßei y I Ji IHewjf w JI 1,0 fIETV-** > S2FI A > * r-’- - I fcV-1 f -I' •« a Hr w J dg. *cZ3r*’ ’MW ’Wk a .A' t i ii \/faW \~ f l I iVZ/.B *k ■<•- .& Ls buy America's Number H U One Selling COLOR Q H , *****TV Console and Receive Q M a Piece of America M HMdMiMliB FREE! R | iiPB *5Ol H UNITED STATES SAVINGS BOND M □ PLUS M □ UPTO n I fig i so i IP j] TRADE-IN F"t J > ON YOUR OLD TV H LJ n NEW HOURS H M OPEN FRIDAY EVENINGS 'TIL 8 H M Mon. - Tues. - Thurs. - Sat. 9 to 6 fM H Closed All Day Sun. - Wed. M LJ I LJ . 1 || |T eJ 126 W. Solomon St. fj I[»|1IJI Ij' KL V Griffin,Georgia 30223 M aI 1 1 <lt ) ptl °" ea7 35W M M 0»INU I9S? | * 11: VIH I WI IT * t ilt4 M
