Pioneer Log Homes has helped spruce up the Canada Winter Games in a big way.
The Williams Lake company has created a cauldron out of an upside down cedar stump for the games torch and a grand entrance way for the Northern BC Tourism display inside the Canada Games Plaza in downtown Prince George.
“Northern BC Tourism got a hold of me about doing something special for the games,” Pioneer Log Homes general manager André Chevigny told the Tribune.
His brother, Bryan Reid Sr., and Mark Therrien of Williams Lake handled the City of Prince George’s request that the company build the cauldron.
In addition to the cauldron and entrance way, the company also carved a caribou for inside the Cariboo Regional District trailer and a fire pit for the tourism display.
“We are so happy, we are over the moon with it,” said Blaine Estby, Northern BC Tourism’s community engagement manager. “The entry way is a one-of-a-kind piece for the ages.”
Pioneer also carved a Super Natural British Columbia sign and a Northern British Columbia and Cariboo Chilcotin Coast sign for the tourism associations to display on site.
Peter Arnold of Pioneer Log Homes added an extra bench, and his crew made a signing log as they did for the 2010 Olympics, Estby added.
Pioneer Log Homes does world-class work, Estby said, adding he felt the Canada Winter Games were worthy of a world-class piece.
Pioneer also helped transform Britco trailers, facing them with custom-built rough cedar and entrance ways in front.
“We’ve made this incredible space,” Estby said of transforming the downtown location. “We have 20 communities and regional districts from all across northern and central B.C. that are going to be here for 20 days.”
Estby described the guys from Pioneer as incredible and said it’s been an awesome opportunity to work with them.
“They’ve just brought so much recognition to north of Vancouver,” he chuckled. “We’re not quite there, we’re three hours away but we still call them our own too because anything north of Hope is north. It’s pretty awesome.”
In its second season the HGTV show Timber Kings, which features Pioneer, continues to raise the profile of Chevigny and his coworkers, however, he insists it’s a team effort.
“I want people to know how proud and appreciative I am of all the craftsmen at the site that help make the show,” he said. “Everybody from the log peelers to anybody, it’s not just the guys that are on the TV show. It takes everyone to make it happen.”
Estby praised Pioneer Log Homes for shining a positive light on northern B.C.
“The people are what make it up here and having Pioneer do something like Timber Kings is awesome,” Estby said. “They have that big show and yet you can call up Pioneer, ask for André, and he’ll answer the phone and have a conversation with you.”
Chevigny said he and Arnold will be at the games this weekend to promote the Cariboo, Williams Lake and B.C.
“We’re trying to make a difference all the time,” he said.