A while back, a homeowner told us they were hoping to hire someone with a little more experience. We understand completely. Choosing who works on the big tree next to your house is not a decision to take lightly, and you want a crew that has genuinely seen it all.

So, in the interest of putting any concerns to rest, we dug through the archives and assembled a brief photographic history of Jewel Creek Tree Service. We have, it turns out, been at this for a while.

A bearded caveman in furs and a red knit cap swinging a stone axe at a large leaning tree, a mammoth in the misty background

Circa 9000 BCE. Stump grinding was, at this stage, mostly conceptual. The mammoth was not a paying client and was asked to move along.

An aged sepia photo of a bearded worker in a red cap chopping a leaning dead tree with an axe, the pyramids of Giza behind

Giza, around 2500 BCE. Brought in to clear the site ahead of a large construction project. We did, for the record, advise against the location.

A bearded woodsman in a red cap felling a dead tree with an axe, a stone castle and village behind, overcast sky

1340. Removing a hazard oak from the village green. The plague pushed our cleanup schedule back considerably, for which we apologized.

An 1880s sepia photo of a bearded lumberjack in a red cap swinging an axe into the base of a huge tree, a log cabin behind

The Boundary region, 1884. We were here before the town had a name. Still no hard hats — different times, and we don't recommend it.

A vintage sepia photo of a lumberjack in a red cap cutting a large tree with a crosscut saw, an early Model T truck behind

1911. New truck, same crew. The truck has since been replaced several times. The crew, apparently, has not.

A faded 1970s color photo of a moustached worker in a red cap cutting a large tree with a vintage chainsaw, sawdust flying

1974. The chipper was new and the moustaches were mandatory. Only one of those things is still true.

A modern color photo of an arborist in a red cap, helmet and orange hi-vis cutting a large tree with a chainsaw, sawdust spraying

Last Tuesday, somewhere near Grand Forks. Full safety gear, modern rigging, actual insurance. Still showing up early. Still arguing about the radio.

So, about that experience

When we say we have experience, we mean it. Roughly eleven thousand years of it, give or take a couple of ice ages. References available from most of recorded history.

We would be glad to bring all of that experience to your property — preferably in this century, with modern rigging, proper safety gear, and the $2 million liability insurance that the 1340 crew regrettably did not carry. We handle technical and danger tree removal across the Boundary region: Grand Forks, Christina Lake, Greenwood, Rock Creek, and Osoyoos.

(For the record, the version of us with an actual business licence has been serving the Boundary since 2012. The rest is simply harder to document.)

Same crew. New saws.