When Gladney Mckay arrived as a participant in one of Hidden Valley Nature Center’s 4-day timber frame class last spring, she came with no experience but with a hope that one day soon she would have a timber frame cabin to put on the land she and her husband Bob own in Lubec.

Gladney spent four nights in one of HVNC’s cabins and participated in the intensive class. She found it so enjoyable and valuable that she convinced her husband to take the workshop starting April 28. And she was so impressed with the finished product that they have designed and purchased the frame that will be built in the upcoming workshop.

The timber frame courses offer a thorough introduction to most aspects of building a timber frame, and several short presentations on interesting related topics including a lesson on sustainable forestry and time spent with a saw mill operator in order to better understand why timber frame techniques are well suited to New England forests. One of the course sponsors is Hancock Lumber, a sixth-generation, family-owned Maine business that has been working with timberlands, sustainable forestry, logging contractors, and builders since its inception. Why partner with HVNC? Hancock’s Eric Dolloff offers his thoughts: “Programs like Hidden Valley’s timber framing workshop are critical in our state. Connecting students in our communities to viable trades and career paths in Maine is so valuable. With an aging population and labor shortages in our industry, students need more chances to connect to real-world skills and opportunities available here in the Pine Tree state. Hidden Valley is leading the way to promote and provide this kind of real-life experiential training for students. Hancock is a proud supporter of this program.”

For people like Gladney and Eric, the value in timber frame knowledge is not difficult to understand. When the sturdy frames are raised after four days of intensive education and manual labor, a powerful link between Maine’s past and future has been created.

There is still space in the April 28th course; for more information, go to www.hvnc.org or call Andy at 389 5156. HVNC is part of Midcoast Conservancy, midcoastconservancy.org.