A New Generation at the Sawmill

"I guess it’s a worthwhile job you know. It’s kind of nice to see what you can make out of a tree. Take a tree and make something nice out of it. Work with it. Its just amazing what you can do with it."

-Wesley Rissler, R&R Forest Products

Wesley Rissler, left, and Ezra Rissler sort lumber as it is cut off the log at their family sawmill near California, Mo. The two brothers recently began working full time alongside their father and grandfather.

Logs from throughout Missouri pile up outside of R&R Forest Products. The Risslers produce everything from fences for the neighbors to logs for construction in China.  

“When I was going to school, I came down here to help when I didn’t have nothing else to do,” said Ezra. Around the time Ezra began working in the mill, business crashed as the economy and housing market began failing.

Wesley cuts the scrap wood down into foot-long sections that are bought by the local Amish community for firewood. Everything that goes into the mill is eventually used, even the sawdust and scraps.

Wesley and Ezra follow their father, Earl, to their truck for a lunch break. All three expect Wesley and Ezra to eventually take over the business. “I tell them, ‘Dad worked for it for me. I’m going to work for it for them. That’s why its here,’” said Earl.

“I’d like to take over sawing here,” said Wesley “Grandpa’s thinking about retiring here and being our maintenance man.” Wesley spends most of his time stacking lumber alongside his brother, but occasionally takes over control of the saw when his grandfather, Raymond, goes on breaks.

Work gloves rest on a pile of recently cut stakes. The mill is in a constant state of change as equipment, logs, and lumber come and go.

Ezra stacks lumber outside the mill. The Risslers recently bought a new mill to try and speed up production, but as business remains slow Earl sums up the goal of the mill in one word: survival.