For the past five years, Josh Crawford has made what he calls firewood art to raise money for a charter school in Cashiers, North Carolina.
The owner of Cashiers Firewood uses his primary product to fashion elaborate creations that are auctioned off the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, bringing in thousands of dollars for the Summit Charter School’s Festival of Trees fundraiser.
The first year, he built a log cabin. The next year came a train. After that, he made a Peterbilt truck, then five Can-Am Defender ATVs.
Each year, he tries to outdo the previous creation. So for this year, he built life-size replicas of a Takeuchi TB260 mini excavator and a TL10 compact track loader. He also got Takeuchi, which owns a CTL manufacturing plant in nearby Spartanburg, South Carolina, and dealer Bennett Equipment in Piedmont, South Carolina, where he bought a TB260 last year, to sponsor his construction-equipment art.
"You’ve got to try to outdo yourself every year," says Josh Crawford of the firewood art, which helps raise money for the Summit Charter School.Chelsea Cronkite
“It was pretty tricky,” says Crawford. “The boom on the trackhoe and the two arms on the skid steer – a lot of curves, a lot of angles, lot of thinking going on there.”
Christmas lights have been strung up on the art. They also added a wood burner to the compact track loader’s engine compartment. “We'll burn things that make smoke in there, and it'll look like it's running during the festival,” he says. “So that’ll be pretty cool.”
Melissa Hudson
He estimates the project will bring in about $10,000 for the school. That includes the sponsorships and the bidders who each year make a friendly competition out of who can outdo the other.
“All that goes to the school,” Crawford says. “My cost and expenses are on me, and it's all for the kids.”
Melissa Hudson, Festival of Trees director at Summit Charter School, is thankful to Crawford and the volunteers that create the firewood art.
"The firewood display by Cashiers Firewood has grown into one of our most meaningful traditions,” she says, “showcasing not just the magic of the holidays but the generosity that fuels our community.”
Josh Crawford, owner of Cashiers Firewood, with his Takeuchi compact excavator and compact track loader made out of logs – and his five golden retrievers that are always with him.Chelsea Cronkite
“Kids come there because they know I'm going to be there, and they know I'm going to have my dogs with me,” he says.
“I'm good at dogs. I'm good at firewood, and we just kind of go hand in hand.”
As for next year’s creation ...
“We don't talk about that. That's a pretty well-guarded secret," he says and laughs.
“We think that element of surprise is powerful.”
More Firewood Art
Check out the photos below of Crawford's previous years' creations for the Festival of Trees:
This log cabin was Crawford's first firewood art for the Festival of Trees 2021.
Next year came the train
Crawford's Peterbilt produce reefer box truck and firewood replica
Can-Am Defender firewood art
