Watch a video from the final day of log processing at the Stimson Lumber Co. mill in BonnerFor 15 years, as one of four women among the last 100 workers, she's hidden her tears in this traditionally male domain.
But not this day.
“I don't like to cry out here because I'm a millworker,” said Marquardt, 47.
For some families, more than four generations have worked at the 122-year-old Bonner mill. Names, scrawled over the decades on several beams inside a stone building, chronicle their toil.
From the first logs in 1886 to Tuesday's last cuts of white fir, the mill has provided steady paychecks to the timber workers. Stimson follows other timber companies that ran the mill - Anaconda Co., Champion International Corp. and U.S. Plywood.
But with lumber prices tumbling, the millworkers tumble, too. Mills tied to the construction, such as the Bonner stud plant, face the harsh realities of an anemic housing market.
“As far as pay goes, lumber was the place to go,” said Roger Coombes, 49, sawdust clinging to his green shirt. “A lot of people in this area depend on lumber for good-paying jobs.”
Plant manager George Vandehey said the mill will be “buttoned up” by the end of the month. He said log and timber prices will determine its fate.
“I think it will be some time before any company in our industry will see some relief,” he said.
Outside, Gary Tobol drove the log loader, the big jaws carrying about 1,800 pounds of timber to feed into the mill. Stacks of two-by-fours in the yard awaited shipping.
Inside the break room, workers' sentiments ranged from resignation to relief, from pluckiness to trepidation. Many expressed sadness at the plant's indefinite closure, but were happy to be part of its history.
Dana Nichols, 51, said he'll help a friend build a house for a while, but then will look for work outside of the timber industry where he's worked since he was 18.
He's skeptical Stimson will ever reopen the plant.
“I doubt it,” Nichols said. “I just don't think they'll find someone to run it or maintain it. I just hope they don't tear it down.”
When he's working, he thinks about other uses for the massive, wooden-beamed buildings. He thinks about their history as he steps inside the mill, filled with the smells of freshly cut wood.
“You could hold the whole fair out here there is so much space,” he said. “You could put an entire amusement park inside the planer building.”
Sue Hogan, a purchasing agent for the plant, has strong ties to the sawmill dating from her grandfather to her son.
She was born in Bonner and spent about 29 years at the plant, starting straight out of high school. She said she hopes manufacturing remains on the site and intends to use her business experience elsewhere.
“I'm excited about the challenges that lie ahead,” she said.
Marquardt said she'll brush up on her basic education this summer and then will launch into health care classes at the University of Montana's College of Technology.
Of the mill's closing, she said, “It's lasted longer than anybody really expected, but then when it comes to an end, it's still tough.”
Several of the workers said they enjoyed Monday's barbecue when the managers cooked up the steaks. They said the final day of processing logs felt like an average day, with everyone just focused on the job.
Vandehey, who came to Bonner in December to manage his first plant, said about 30 people will continue working until the end of the month.
He said he was impressed with the millworkers, including their reaction to the indefinite closure in mid-March and their final day at the mill.
“They've done a phenomenal job,” he said. “They'll be able to walk out of here with their heads held high. That was their goal and they accomplished it today.”
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