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2009 VFA
Outstanding Member Award
The Virginia Forestry
Association Outstanding Member Award has been presented
annually since 1949 to a member that has gone “above and
beyond” in service to the forestry community. Joel Cathey
epitomizes that sentiment. Joel has spent his career
working tirelessly and unselfishly on behalf of his clients,
his employers, the Virginia Forestry Association, and the
forestry profession.
Joel graduated from North
Carolina State University in 1980 with a B.S. degree in
forestry. He was employed in various capacities with
Chesapeake Forest Products Company from June 1980 through
May 1997, followed by stints with St. Laurent and
Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation. Since 2000 he has been
employed as a Resource Manager for Ontario Hardwood Company,
Inc. Holt Hogan once stated that the Hogan’s sought Joel
out “…because of his sterling reputation, energy
demonstrated in his every day undertakings, constant helpful
demeanor and adaptability to changing challenges.”
Joel has been a working
member of the Virginia Forestry Association since 1990. He
has served three terms on VFA’s Executive Committee, and
served a two-year appointment and two full terms on the VFA
Board of Directors. He has served on the Awards Committee,
Membership Committee, and Log-A-Load for Kids Committee. He
has served in the role of President-Elect, President, and
Past-President. Joel regularly travels to speak on behalf
of VFA at various programs and events, and uses creative
methods to encourage new members to join. For example, Joel
withdrew $50 from his checking account prior to attending
the October 2005 field tour on the Appomattox Buckingham
State Forest. During his lunchtime address on VFA, I
watched as he announced that he would give a $5.00 bill to
anyone that joined VFA that day. This is just one example
of the creativity that Joel uses to address new and existing
challenges.
My association with Joel
has primarily been through his work as an instructor in
numerous Sustainable Forestry Initiative logger and
landowner education classes. When I was an Extension
forester, Joel invariably responded with a “whatever you
need” attitude when contacted with requests for assistance
or sponsorship. His presentations are given in a practical,
common-sense manner grounded in years of experience. Over
the years, program evaluations illustrate that Joel made a
positive impact on his audiences at educational programs.
Anecdotal remarks included a comment from one impressionable
young lady that “Joel Cathey
was excellent – my favorite topic!!”
Among his other noteworthy
activities, Joel Cathey is a forest landowner and tree
farmer. And, of course, he is an accomplished fisherman and
a spellbinding storyteller.
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When asked to share their
thoughts, Joel’s friends and colleagues offered the
following:
“When Chesapeake hired
Joel Cathey to help me out, the next four years of my stay
in Keysville were the most enjoyable time of my working
career. This can be almost entirely attributable to my time
spent with Joel Cathey. He has an incredible amount of just
plain common sense, a very sound knowledge of forestry, and
an extraordinary ability to communicate with all sorts of
folks. He is a very, very hard worker… and still somehow
manages to play just as hard. Within the local community,
Joel is always there for anybody and everybody that
needs a hand. I am very glad to see the Forestry community
in Virginia recognize Joel for what I recognized way back in
1980 … he’s a very special kind of person.” Larry
Walton, Vision Forestry, Salisbury, MD.
“Joel is a boss, a mentor,
and most importantly, a friend that has never met a
challenge he would not tackle. He always puts others before
himself and is willing to help at a moment’s notice both at
work and in the community.” John Gee, Ontario Hardwood
Company.
“In my very biased
opinion, you couldn't find a better representative for the
forestry profession than Joel. He cares equally about the
landowner, the logger, the truck driver, the sawmill
workers, his company - and gives his best every day to try
to help each one. He does this by being honest and
forthright, and each person he deals with knows he will
stand by his word.” Aurelia Cathey.
“The best way that I can
explain what it’s like to have Joel Cathey working for
Ontario Hardwood Company is to tell you what an old logger
told me one day. He said, “I don’t know anything about
Ontario Hardwood and never sold you any logs, but, if Joel
Cathey says its okay, I guess it will be fine.” Clarke
Hogan, Ontario Hardwood Company.
Joel Cathey sacrifices
himself on behalf of others. He is quietly competent,
exceeds expectations, and neither seeks—nor expects to
receive—recognition for going above and beyond the call of
duty. He is a decent human being and a hard worker that
makes a big difference in people’s lives. It was a
privilege to present the 60th VFA Outstanding
Member of the Year Award to Joel Cathey for service above
self, tireless advocacy, singular dedication, and unflagging
commitment to the Virginia forestry community.
Dan Goerlich
Virginia Cooperative
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