Carolina Women In Timber
2nd Annual Conference
October 6, 2021
Conference held at the Boykin Farm located in Camden, South Carolina
Owners: Mr. & Mrs. Rigdon and Pat Boykin
OUR GUEST SPEAKERS
Lucy Mahon of PT Hunt Club
Lucy is the President of PT Hunt Club located in Lee and Kershaw County in South Carolina leasing 835 acres with 16 members. GreenWood Resources had over 500 hunt clubs in place being managed by Orbis, Inc. Lucy was the only woman leasing property with GreenWood. That was a stand out topic! I asked her to speak about her experiences as a lease holder. Her topic was called “Loving the Lease” and that she does. Lucy started her presentation with a statement that I’ve never forgotten. After individual introductions were made, Lucy looked around the room and commented “Wow, I stand here humbled and feel so honored be part of this group. I am so impressed with each woman in this room and what they bring to the timber industry. I don’t feel qualified to be standing here speaking to you all.”
But she was qualified. Lucy filled the room with her enthusiasm about why she loved her lease and what it meant to her! We all took something away from her words and were impressed by Lucy!
Katie Bruce Ridgeway, General Manager of Mulberry Plantation
Katie led her presentation by speaking about the “Challenges and Successes of a Woman in a Leadership Role.”
Katie’s experience and knowledge about the timber industry impressed the entire group. Many women in the room truly related to the challenges that Katie spoke about as a woman in a leadership role. Katie was commended by the successes that she accomplished as the General Manager of Mulberry Plantation. We are proud to know Katie and appreciated her speaking to the group!
Pictured Above: Lucy Mahon (left), Lori Walker (middle), Katie Bruce Ridgeway (right)
Custom made Black Cherry clipboards were given to both Lucy and Katie as a Thank You.
Clipboards were made by the one and only
Tom Weiser of Total Engraving of Smethport, PA.
2nd Annual Conference Recap
The 2nd Annual Carolina Women In Timber Conference was held at The Boykin Farm located in Camden, SC on October 6, 2021. What a gorgeous place for a meeting!
The Boykin Farm was owned by Rigdon and Pat Boykin. We were honored they invited us into their beautiful space to conduct our meeting. It was a beautiful fall day to top it off! The meeting was catered by the Amazing Jenny Lackey!
In attendance were 33 women traveling from North and South Carolina along with the state of Georgia.
Representatives from South Carolina traveled from Camden, Columbia, Ridgeville, Conway, Manning, Hartsville, Sumter, Lugoff, Abbeyville, and Lowrys, South Carolina.
We also had representatives from Charlotte, NC, along with one member traveling all the way from Rome, Georgia!
Due to Covid in 2020 we did not hold our annual conference. I was really unsure of the turnout due to skipping a year, and especially this being only the 2nd conference!
However, these women did not disappoint! Another year of amazing women showing up to partake in this event! The conversations were inspiring! Women had more time to network and many connections were made. The surveys completed just confirmed what I already knew. I knew this group had what it took to move mountains! We have so many plans to help others, and many promising plans for the future!
Rigdon and Pat Boykin, Owners of The Boykin Farm, graciously donated their facility to us to hold our
2nd Annual Carolina Women In Timber Conference!
THE ORBIS CREW
Pictured from left to right: Jessica Bollmer, Kimberly Eubanks, Lori Walker (GWR), Madeline Feltman, Grace Beatty
Olivia Black, Photographer
Pictured above: Summer Ruff
Super proud to lead this group of amazing women working in this industry.
Lunch catered by the Amazing Jenny Lackey
My daughter, Olivia Black giving me a much needed helping hand!
Pictured above is Brandy Gammon, President of Seven Hills Forestry.
Proud Moment
Every woman in the room brought something valuable to the conference - THEMSELVES!
These meetings are successful because of women taking and making the time to be there!
2021 SPONSORS
Professional Sponsors:
Bellwether Forest Products, Matt Moldenhauer
Bill Milliken Forestry, LLC, Bill Milliken
Foothills Forest Products, Inc., Butch Green
GreenWood Resources, Inc., Jeremy Kessinger
Myers Timber Company, Inc., Paul Davis
Northwood Resources, Inc., Mike Hoffman
Personal Sponsors:
Jennifer Miller, Administrative Assistant, GreenWood Resources
“I donated to this meeting because I believe this is an underappreciated field for women. The timber business is a predominately male business. This meeting is about building a bond between women that understand the struggles in this field and getting the support and resources that they need from each other!”
Christy Weiss, Area Manager, GreenWood Resources
“I donated to this meeting as I strongly believe the advancement of women in forestry starts with women supporting each other!”
Pam Johnson, Office Manager, Bellwether Forest Products
“I think many women like me want to be informed, educated, and recognized for our contribution to the industry. Women play a huge role in the back office of the business. Whether we are new to the business or old to the business, we can all and should learn something if not every day as often as we can! It helps not only to be beneficial to our individual companies, but to the industry as a whole. We cannot move forward standing still!”
TESTIMONIALS
“I loved hearing the individual introductions. It was great to get to know more about the other attendees. I also found it very eye-opening how many women in attendance struggle in leadership roles within our industry.”
“I was amazed at the amount of women who are so passionate about the land and the life outdoors! Enjoyed this so much!”
“I enjoyed meeting other women today who struggle with the same frustrations I do as the “only” at the table sometimes.”
“I learned there are valuable resources out there for us! I felt this was very educational with bringing all aspects of forestry together.”
“I think being in the same room, laughing at the same jokes, agreeing with the same sentiments, made me feel so much more comfortable working with strong women!”
Way to Represent!
Representatives attending from companies:
ArborGen, Inc.
Bellwether Forest Products LLC
Chastain’s Floral & Events
Clemson University
Cypress Risk Management
Domtar
Family Tree Forestry
Forestry Association of South Carolina
GreenWood Resources, Inc.
Horry-Georgetown Technical College
2021 Carolina Women In Timber Gift
The gift chosen this year was a gray Tote Bag embroidered with our Carolina Women In Timber logo. Made by Southern Panache in Inman, SC
Kershaw County Cooperative Extension
Kershaw County Forest Landowners Association
Milliken Forestry Company
Mulberry Plantation
Myers Timber Company
Nuveen
Orbis, Inc.
Palmetto Timber Inventory Specialists
RMS
Seven Hills Forestry
South Carolina Forestry Commission
WilRidge Forestry LLC
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
Lori Walker, Founder and President
Carolina Women In Timber
A personal Thank You from me to so many for their time, donations, and commitment in helping make our 2nd Annual Conference a success! We could not do it without you all!
Thank you to all the personal and professional Sponsors!
Rigdon & Pat Boykin of Boykin Farms
Lucy Mahon - Guest Speaker
Katie Bruce Ridgeway - Guest Speaker
Michelle Stines - Registration
Tom Weiser of Total Engraving - for the beautiful cherry clipboards!
Southern Panache - for the awesome CWIT Embroidered Tote Bags!
To my daughter, Olivia Black - Photographer
Jenny Lackey - Caterer
GreenWood Resource Team - Jeremy, Anthony, Glenn & Matt
Thank you to all the amazing Women In Timber who attended the conference!