Woodring marks 45 years teaching Holmes County students about the value of trees

The Tom Graham 5th Grade Farm Tour has been a part of Holmes County since 1965, and for 45 of those years, Dave Woodring has been extolling the virtues of trees, dispensing knowledge to fifth-graders from all over Holmes County.

Woodring was at it again this fall, sharing his vast knowledge of the woodlands and the benefits of trees to the fifth-graders in the West Holmes School District on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

Woodring’s official seminar title is forestry, and his ability to relate to the youth and relay important information in story-like fashion has been his calling card for decades during this event hosted by Holmes County Soil & Water Conservation District.

Woodring said that over his 45 years, the biggest change in the farm tour has been dividing a day that used to encompass all the county’s schools into a two-day event that features West Holmes Schools one day and East Holmes Schools the other.

“That used to be a long day,” Woodring said. “It was fun, but it was long, and by the end you kind of forgot what you covered and what you didn’t, so it was very challenging. Splitting it up created a much better scenario.”

Woodring also said that with the tour taking place in late September each year, the tour has fallen on plenty of different types of weather events, from snowfall to blazing hot sun, wind and torrential rain.

Through it all his desire to share his knowledge with the kids has never wavered.

“This has always been something I believe in deeply,” Woodring said of promoting forestry and the importance trees.

“The oxygen alone is enough reason to respect what the trees do for us,” Woodring said. “They generate O2 that only comes out of a green leaf, which keeps us alive because we can’t breathe O1.”

Woodring manages his own woods at his homestead, where he planted a host of pine trees in 1981 along with the natural woodlands.

“I try to practice what I preach,” Woodring said. “I log my woods and do my own cutting. I do custom sawing."

Woodring said he is excited to be in Ohio, where the state has emerged as a leader in replacing and replanting trees at an impressive rate, a story he loves to share with others.

“Fortunately, in Ohio we are growing trees faster than we are cutting them down,” Woodring said. “On state and federal land, that is actually mandated.”

For many years Woodring served as an educator in the East Holmes School District, working in woodworking with students from Chestnut Ridge, Wise, Mt. Hope and Flat Ridge. He traveled from school to school before the district built a shop at Chestnut Ridge, where all the eighth grade students would work under his tutelage.

Since retiring there, he has continued his devotion to education through the farm tour, among other services.

Woodring also said that throughout his 45 years of serving the tour, he has had the fortune of working with some really great people.

Decades ago Woodring replaced Tom Berger — father of current Holmes SWCD program administrator Trevor Berger — in the Division of Forestry.

“Tom actually introduced me to the 5th Grade Farm Tour and also to Ohio Forestry Camp in 1980, both of which I still do today,” Woodring said. “So Trevor’s dad has a special place in my heart because he really got me started.”

“That’s the circle of life,” Trevor Berger said. “My father was a forest servicer for Holmes and Tuscarawas County when I was young. So I kind of grew up in forestry and have a unique connection with Dave. He has been an incredible addition to this farm tour, and he is so great at sharing through storytelling with the kids about how timber is an agricultural product and can be managed much like any crop, like soybeans and corn.”

After graduating from Kent State University, Woodring attended the University of Idaho, where he earned his forestry degree.

He has been sharing his knowledge about the importance of forestry and trees ever since, and for 45 years fifth-graders have been gleaning from that vast knowledge.

“I hope this is something that impresses kids and encourages them to learn more,” Woodring said. “This day is designed to plant a seed and try to excite the interest and pique the natural energy and excitement kids have to learn. All of these stations at the farm tour are important for kids to learn more about.”