A chainsaw worth keeping; memories worth preserving

When my Direct TV service quit working in March 2025, I was quite sure it was a tree problem.

The technician sent to my house confirmed my thoughts. I decided to call a tree service that years earlier had removed a huge broken branch stuck high in an old birch tree, which might have fallen on any person or vehicle parked in our driveway. The guy came that afternoon to do a free estimate. During our conversation, I mentioned that it seemed strange to be inquiring about his service, when I had a Stihl chainsaw in the shop (a saw my husband Gary had used for decades for tree work). The tree guy inquired about the Stihl, and I said it didn't run well anymore. When he told me that he had recently found the best chainsaw repairman, I made a mental note of the business name.

But I need to backtrack. This story really begins in May 2022, when our son Patrick and his wife Brandi flew to Alaska to help me with my final garage sale. Brandi was wonderful help, but I was irritated with Patrick because he did nothing. He continued to work his architecture business by computer and phone, which I knew was important, but I had expected him to help me go through some of Gary's extra stuff in the shop, items that Gary had no need for once he moved into the Palmer Veterans and Pioneers Home.

Four days later (the first morning of the three-day sale), the three boxes of rope were still lying on the shop floor between the aisles of the garage sale tables. I'd been walking around them for days. Since we were expecting shoppers in minutes, I insisted Patrick come take a look and help me decide which rope to get rid of. His response shocked me. He said, "Put it all back on the shelf. You don't need to sell any of it." With that attitude (I thought), I didn't need to even have a garage sale. I was partly doing this so he and his sister wouldn't have so much work in the future.

A couple of hours later I saw Patrick dragging out a huge metal A-frame device used for moving small trailers by hand. I asked him where he was going with that. When he replied that he was putting it in the sale, I replied, "Oh no you aren't! Al (my brother) used it last week!" I asked him why he wanted to sell that in particular. He said there wasn't enough "guy stuff" in the sale. I agreed, of course, but it was too late to do anything about that. During the three days of the actual sale, Patrick was very helpful, along with Brandi, and Patrick's local friend and wife. I didn't have to interact with the shoppers, since the four of them made a wonderful sales team.

Shortly after the A-frame device incident, I went snooping behind the hanging tarps which hid the not-for-sale stuff in the shop and saw Gary's chainsaw. I knew it didn't run well and that my brother and Patrick's friend both preferred to use their own chainsaws when they did tree work for me...and it was too heavy for me to ever use, so I decided it could go into the sale. After I set it in the middle of the driveway next to the gold panning items, I sought out Patrick and asked him what price he thought I should ask. He looked shocked and said it was not for sale. I told him all my reasons and he still insisted I put it back on the shelf. We both agreed not to look for anymore "guy stuff."

At Christmas a year and a half later, I opened an envelope from Patrick that contained a lovely custom designed gift certificate for a whole day's worth of tree cutting and brush clearing on my Cooper Landing lot. I loved that gift but clipped it to the side of the fridge and mostly forgot about it. However, when the tree guy stood in my yard a year ago recommending a chainsaw repairman, my ears perked up. Perhaps I should see about getting Gary's chainsaw overhauled, so it would be ready for Patrick's next trip to Alaska.

I looked up information about Eagle River Small Engine Repair online, and on my next trip to Anchorage I dropped off Gary's Stihl. I asked the owner (John) to please check it out and see if it was worth fixing...that a while back my husband had accidentally put gas in the oil compartment and oil in the gas compartment and a friend had drained all that out, and started over, but it still wasn't running well. I said the problem probably happened because of my husband's undiagnosed dementia at the time. I explained about my son being willing to cut down several beetle-killed spruce during his next trip to Alaska.

When John called that same day and left a voice message saying it would be $60.90 to get the saw in tip-top shape, I was happy to give the go-ahead. A few weeks later I stopped in to pick up Gary's saw. John was in the back room with two guys working, so I rang the bell. He seemed to know which saw I belonged to without even looking at my claim ticket. The first thing out of his mouth was, "Was your husband a carpenter?" I replied that yes, he was, and why did he ask. John said that he had seen many homemade scabbards, but the one on Gary's saw was the nicest he'd ever seen. He commented about the precision and the "curves."

I was ready to write a check, but a fellow came in and John asked his guys to load something into that man's vehicle. John then found the invoice for Gary's saw and told me that the gas/oil ratio was bad. He emphasized that I needed to get rid of any mixed gas/oil I had on hand. I agreed to do this. When he repeated the whole thing again, I wrote notes on the invoice, so he would know that I was serious. While I wrote the check, another fellow came in with two generators that needed repair. After they were hauled to the back room, it was my turn again.

John brought out the saw and placed it on the floor of the little room and saying he wanted me to hear how well it ran, he proceeded to start it. Surprised, I immediately shut my ears with my fingers. When he shut it off, I said it sounded and smelled exactly like I remembered. John said it was a great saw. He said it was ready for my son to use. He said that when my son started it up, my husband would be reminded of some great memories. I replied that wouldn't be possible because we wouldn't be able to start it up in the Palmer Pioneer Home.

There was more to that discussion, but too personal to include here. Let's just say that John is a very nice human being and respectful of Gary. I drove away with a smile on my face thinking about the compliment to my husband's carpentry skills, the many times through the years that Gary and I had worked together on chainsaw cutting projects, that I was glad that Patrick wouldn't let me sell his dad's saw in the garage sale, that my son gave me a wonderful Christmas gift certificate, and that Gary's saw was now ready for Patrick's next trip to Alaska. The trip is scheduled for this June.

Maraley McMichael was born in Seward but raised in Glennallen. She and her husband enjoyed all things Alaskan and raised their two children in various locations around the state before retiring to Palmer. Summer bicycling and gardening and winter snowshoeing and writing are favorite activities.