Twenty six years ago, Linn Allain stopped in Revelstoke for a drink. She noticed the sawmill was hiring and applied. Two days later she got a job piling lumber. Today, she’s one of the only female sawyers in the province.
A sawyer is someone who cuts lumber to length for the consumer market. They determine what side of the wood will be the best and most valuable cut. It’s one of the most senior jobs at Downie Timber.
“She’s an exceptional employee. She worked her way up from the bottom,” said Angus Woodman, plant manager of Downie Timber.
Allain also met her husband at the mill. He’s an electric foreman.
“But I have more seniority,” she said.
After her daughters graduated from Grade 12, Allain decided it was time for her to enroll in school and get her high school diploma.
“It always bothered me that I never graduated,” said Allain.
She said going to school is mind-opening.
“I now know how much I didn’t know,” she said. “I’m just learning the comma thing. This is huge!”
She discovered her favourite verb is ‘to be.’
| “She’s an exceptional employee. She worked her way up from the bottom,” said Angus Woodman, plant manager of Downie Timber. (Liam Harrap/Revelstoke Review) |
Allain isn’t going to school to get another job. She said it’s for herself and to quench curiosity.
“Her sense of learning is so inspiring,” said Shana Dekker, who has known Allain for 25 years.
“She sparks a desire in me to do better.”
As a parent, Allain said it was important for her daughters to look beyond Revelstoke. One summer, she drove them across the country to Newfoundland.
“There’s a world outside Revelstoke,” she said.
When she isn’t cutting wood or parenting, Allain is a big mountain biker and skier. Her goal this year is to ski for 45 days. When we chatted last week, she was on day 28.
“Life is too short to just wear fancy clothes,” she said.
She’s also an avid gardener. Last summer, Allain decided to grow kale.
“It’s a weed! Why is it so expensive in the stores!”
Although there is no rush to finish high school, she said her goal is to graduate before she’s 60. However, since she likes school so much, Allain said she might just continue to university and study English.
“She makes me re-evaluate what’s important in my life,” said Dekker, who has made Allain godmother to both of her kids. “If someone else has to raise my kids, I want it to be her.”
This article was part of our women of inspiration series featuring inspiring women in Revelstoke for International Women’s Day on Mar. 6
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liam.harrap@revelstokereview.com
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