Fred Voorhees
01-22-2007, 7:16 PM
Well, it was enough that I came down with a head cold last night (Sun) and had to go to work today suffering somewhat with the sniffles. But I could deal with that. The day was ok. Heck, the wife even called me at work on the cell phone and let me know that she was bringing a new kitten home from work. Yeah, it was a bit different than the normal Monday. I got home and did about an hours worth of work in the shop, setting up my Leigh dovetail jig and my router in preparation for doing a trio of drawers for a sideboard project.
Got everything ready for the drawers for the next time I get into the shop and then head into the house and get a shower. Coming downstairs from taking the shower and my wife tells me she has some bad news. Seems that the old gentleman that I have been buying my rough sawn lumber from passed away last Wednesday. Someone who knew someone who knew him, told her today at work.
Now, of course, I’m bummed out. Simpson (Simmie) Agin was an old family friend who grew up with my grandfather in my hometown of Lambertville,NJ. Around thirty or thirty five years ago, my Dad had purchased a slab of walnut from Simmie to make a coffee table. Now, for a number of years, I had been going to him for some of the nicest looking lumber I had ever seen. Simmie was really finicky about how his lumber was stacked and treated. And it showed in his results. His lumber was never twisted, cupped, warped and rarely had any checks or splits. His business card said, “Furniture grade hardwood lumber” – and darned if that statement wasn’t right on the money. His prices were fair and he was always willing to drive up to his storage barn, fifteen minutes from his home, if you wanted to pick up some of his wares.
Simmie had been retired for a great number of years. He had long ago told me that he had been a “tree man” whatever that meant. Tree surgeon I guess. Irregardless, he knew his stuff and had a long list of clients to prove it. I know for a fact, that there were a number of small furniture companies that dealt with him, as well as a variety of hobbyists such as me and fellow SMC’er Jim Becker who had had the pleasure of dealing with him and simply walking through his big old barn full of many varieties of lumber. I remember specifically Jim once calling Simmies barn, a “candy store for woodworkers”.
I am grateful for one thing – it had been almost a year since I had seen him until just a handful of weeks ago when I needed to replenish my shops wood supply of red oak. I’m glad that I needed to restock. It meant that I just recently got to see him once more. I went up to his place and spent a couple of hundred bucks on the red oak, some walnut and some poplar and did notice that day that he looked a bit more frail than he had seemed in the past. He even mentioned to me to “never get old” when he drove up to his barn where I was patiently awaiting his arrival. I also noticed that he had finally, after years of hiring out his sawmill needs to someone who brought their sawmill to his place, he had his own woodmizer sawmill set up. He proudly showed it quickly to me before I left to bring the booty home to my shop.
Now that I think about it, as frail as he was in his older age, wrestling all of those logs around and stacking the lumber in that barn is probably what kept him going for all of these years.
I’m really going to miss the old guy. As I said, he was an old family friend on my Fathers side of the family, but he played a small part in the hobby that I enjoy so much. His death reminds me again of the refrain that I have often found myself saying – “you just never know when it’s the last time your going to see someone.”
If there is any consolation in all of this, it’s that his Son, Simmie Jr. has been helping him for years at the barn and probably knows a good amount of what Simmie had stored in his memory about how to treat the wood and Simmie Jr. will continue what his Dad had been doing for such a long time. Another thing is that Simmie was in his barn, tending to his wood when the Good Lord decided to come calling. I guess that is just appropriate – he always seemed happy and in his element there. RIP Simmie, I for one, will miss you.
Got everything ready for the drawers for the next time I get into the shop and then head into the house and get a shower. Coming downstairs from taking the shower and my wife tells me she has some bad news. Seems that the old gentleman that I have been buying my rough sawn lumber from passed away last Wednesday. Someone who knew someone who knew him, told her today at work.
Now, of course, I’m bummed out. Simpson (Simmie) Agin was an old family friend who grew up with my grandfather in my hometown of Lambertville,NJ. Around thirty or thirty five years ago, my Dad had purchased a slab of walnut from Simmie to make a coffee table. Now, for a number of years, I had been going to him for some of the nicest looking lumber I had ever seen. Simmie was really finicky about how his lumber was stacked and treated. And it showed in his results. His lumber was never twisted, cupped, warped and rarely had any checks or splits. His business card said, “Furniture grade hardwood lumber” – and darned if that statement wasn’t right on the money. His prices were fair and he was always willing to drive up to his storage barn, fifteen minutes from his home, if you wanted to pick up some of his wares.
Simmie had been retired for a great number of years. He had long ago told me that he had been a “tree man” whatever that meant. Tree surgeon I guess. Irregardless, he knew his stuff and had a long list of clients to prove it. I know for a fact, that there were a number of small furniture companies that dealt with him, as well as a variety of hobbyists such as me and fellow SMC’er Jim Becker who had had the pleasure of dealing with him and simply walking through his big old barn full of many varieties of lumber. I remember specifically Jim once calling Simmies barn, a “candy store for woodworkers”.
I am grateful for one thing – it had been almost a year since I had seen him until just a handful of weeks ago when I needed to replenish my shops wood supply of red oak. I’m glad that I needed to restock. It meant that I just recently got to see him once more. I went up to his place and spent a couple of hundred bucks on the red oak, some walnut and some poplar and did notice that day that he looked a bit more frail than he had seemed in the past. He even mentioned to me to “never get old” when he drove up to his barn where I was patiently awaiting his arrival. I also noticed that he had finally, after years of hiring out his sawmill needs to someone who brought their sawmill to his place, he had his own woodmizer sawmill set up. He proudly showed it quickly to me before I left to bring the booty home to my shop.
Now that I think about it, as frail as he was in his older age, wrestling all of those logs around and stacking the lumber in that barn is probably what kept him going for all of these years.
I’m really going to miss the old guy. As I said, he was an old family friend on my Fathers side of the family, but he played a small part in the hobby that I enjoy so much. His death reminds me again of the refrain that I have often found myself saying – “you just never know when it’s the last time your going to see someone.”
If there is any consolation in all of this, it’s that his Son, Simmie Jr. has been helping him for years at the barn and probably knows a good amount of what Simmie had stored in his memory about how to treat the wood and Simmie Jr. will continue what his Dad had been doing for such a long time. Another thing is that Simmie was in his barn, tending to his wood when the Good Lord decided to come calling. I guess that is just appropriate – he always seemed happy and in his element there. RIP Simmie, I for one, will miss you.