LIFELINE

S PA N S O F S E R V I C E
Doug Briggs, Warehouse Manager
Ashland Garage Facility – 30 Years
Doug began his Nelson Tree career working as a trimmer on the “high line”
on Ohio Edison property in Mansfield, Ohio.
He transferred to the distribution side of operations and went to work on
a four-man climbing crew, then to a bucket crew. Doug was promoted to
crewleader and worked under supervisor, Frank “the raffle ticket” Proctor.
“We called him ‘the raffle ticket’ because he was always selling raffle tickets
for one organization or another,” recalls Doug.
After working as a crewleader for about eight years, Doug received a call
from Doug Shaffer about an opening at the Ashland Garage.
“Doug told me a position was coming available at the warehouse and wondered
if I was interested,” shares Doug. “It was winter when he called and
–10° outside, so the thought of working inside sounded good to me!”
Doug went through the interview process and was offered the position. He
quickly transferred to the warehouse and has been the “go to man” ever since!
As warehouse manager,
Doug’s responsibilities
include loading new
units for crew start-ups,
meeting the tool and
supply needs of all field
employees, and handling
all incoming and
outgoing shipments.
If that isn’t enough to
keep a man busy, at the
time of this interview,
Doug and his fiancé,
Lisa, were preparing for
their wedding, which
was slated to take
place the day after
Thanksgiving.
Doug and his wife, Lisa
Family is important to both Doug and Lisa. Doug enjoys spending time with
his daughters, Stephanie and Corrie, granddaughters, Taylor, Alexis and
Olivia, and his grandson, Ryan Douglas, and Lisa is anxiously awaiting the
birth of her first grandchild!
Doug also enjoys bowling, golfing, fishing and working in the yard.
“While I don’t miss the cold, I do miss being outdoors,” claims Doug. “So I
try to spend as much time as I can outside working around the yard.”
Larry Cline, General Foreman,
Region 461 – 30 Years
Larry has over 50 years of experience in the line clearance industry! His history
with Nelson Tree began in 1977 on First Energy Central property when
he hired on as a B trimmer for a bucket crew. His experience and ability
quickly moved him up the ranks to crewleader, and then to general foreman.
Larry is overseeing eight distribution crews for First Energy’s Central Region,
and is additionally helping to round out Nelson’s transmission operations.
During his years with Nelson Tree, Larry and his wife, Linda, raised three
children, two sons and a daughter, and now enjoy spending time with their
six grandchildren who range in age from thirteen to two.
M E M O R A B L E M O M E N T
We were working a high line along the railroad tracks back
in the 1970’s. One of the crew went to the Chevy 4-wheeldrive
spray truck we were driving to get a drink and left the
door open. Well, the truck was parked close to the tracks
and when we were leaving to go home, we discovered that
the train had passed by and destroyed the open door. Glass
was everywhere. We never even heard anything over the
sound of our saws.
The good thing was that the truck wasn’t dragged into the
train after being hit. We had to use rope to tie what was
left of the door shut and drive it back!
F U N N Y M O M E N T
S
Back in the day, I earned the nickname “fuzzy” for my
excessive hair, both on my head and on my face! Well, I “The kids all live within ten miles of Linda and I,” shares Larry. “It’s nice
because we can always be together during the holidays and I get to go hunting
and fishing with my boys.”
knocked on a homeowner’s door to obtain permission to
trim and didn’t get any response. I heard later that she was
Larry enjoys hunting wild turkey, and claims to have some pretty good spots
actually home, but was afraid to open the door after seeing picked out on his oldest son’s farm for this coming spring. He also bow
me outside. Apparently, there had been an escape from hunts for deer. “I don’t take a shot at everything I see,” states Larry. “I wait
for the big ones. So far, I’ve taken a couple of does.”
nearby Mansfield Reformatory and she thought I looked
2 2 suspicious with all that hair!”
Restoring old trucks is another favorite pastime of Larry’s. He has totally
restored a ‘82 Chevy and a ‘85 Chevy C-10 Stepside that only gets driven
when it’s really nice outside!