North Carolina Man Wins Sawmill!

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Davis pose next to their sawmill with Wood-Mizer Founder Don Laskowski.

Eugene Davis, a Leicester woodworker and Wood-Mizer sawmill owner, now has a second mill—and he obtained it for absolutely no cost! Davis and his wife of 42-years, Cecile, attended the Wood-Mizer 20th anniversary celebration at the Corporate Headquarters in Indianapolis on Saturday, June 29th. Wood-Mizer, the world leader in portable sawmill sales, invited thousands of customers to its Indianapolis complex for a day of games, food, product demonstrations, and tours. The party was a chance to say “thank you” to loyal customers like Davis. Our founder, Don Laskowski, and his son, current Wood-Mizer President and COO Dan Laskowski, decided there was no better way to say thank you than to give away a special edition LT30 sawmill, valued at more than $16,000!

After festivities wrapped up during the day in Indianapolis, the party moved to the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Larry Gatlin, Family and Friends performed after a wonderful pork chop dinner. Mr. Gatlin had the honor of drawing the sawmill winner’s name out of the hopper. When his name was announced, a shocked Eugene Davis and his wife sprinted up to the stage from the back of the pavilion to claim their surprise prize.

The couple shook hands with Larry Gatlin, hugged Don Laskowski, then posed for pictures by their new mill. Davis came to the event prepared to win. “I jokingly told my wife before we went up there, I’ll take the truck up there so we can haul the mill home when we win”. The joke’s on them! The shock has yet to wear off. “With all the cards in that drum, something with more power than mine had to direct him to that card. I just couldn’t believe I won that sawmill. It was a shocker.”

Davis has operated a woodworking shop in Appalachia since 1995. That’s the year the Air Force Veteran took early retirement from his job as a plant worker. He longed for the outdoors. His Wood-Mizer LT40HDG24 has done everything expected of it—and more. “I haven’t been without a customer waiting on me since 1995.” Davis also has a Wood-Mizer kiln.

As for his plans for the mill, he hopes to bring it back to Wood-Mizer, and put on display if there’s a 25th Anniversary bash. Other than that, he has no plans to use it. “I just plan to build a nice place to keep it.” In the meantime, Davis will keep on custom cutting. But if the work runs out, he has a backup plan. “Wood-Mizer’s a super outfit. If I went job hunting, it’s one of the first places I’d look.”

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