Saginaw forester designs benches, unique program for farmers markets

If you're visiting one of Michigan's Farmers Markets and you sit down to rest your feet, chances are you'll be sitting on a bench that Dan built.

Dan Keane, the district forester at the Saginaw Conservation District, was trying to figure out what to do with all the dead wood from the emerald ash borer infestation a few years ago. Then one day, he had a eureka moment.

Instead of sending the dead wood to the wood chipper, why not build benches out of it? So Keane -- also a woodworker -- designed a bench in the arts and crafts style.

Now, through a partnership he formed with the Michigan Farmers Market Association, the benches have not only turned into places for people to sit and rest, they've also turned into a revenue stream for Michigan farmers markets and the Saginaw Conservation District.

The benches, priced at $300, are primarily sold to farmers markets. But the benches are $150 for members or friends of the Michigan Farmers Market Association. When each bench is sold, $100 goes to the association, and $50 goes to the Saginaw Conservation District. It's expected that the benches will generate about $2,500 for the district.

So far, Keane and volunteers have made and sold about 20 of the benches. Mark Schultz's Custom Sawmill cuts the wood, which Keane then uses to create kits with legs and seat slabs that others can help assemble.

The unpainted benches are unfinished, and that organic approach is a good fit for the farmers markets. "It's just a natural connection," Keane says.

Farmers markets also are community gathering places, and the benches invite people to sit down and enjoy the experience.

"The bench symbolizes something sustainable with the wood," Keane says. "And more than anything, they're a symbol of how we utilize our resources and how we enjoy them."

Purchase one of the benches by contacting the Michigan Farmers Market Association.

Writer: Jenny Cromie
Source: Saginaw Conservation District, Dan Keane