To commemorate that legacy and its 75th anniversary, the company has established the McCrary Family Scholarship, which will provide financial assistance to students pursuing careers in skilled trades or forestry.
Bud and Lud McCrary established Big Creek Lumber in 1946 in Davenport, California, with a combination of hard work, ingenuity, a foundation in the skilled trades, and a passion for sustainable forestry.
The scholarship will be awarded to graduating high school seniors who plan to work in the skilled trades or forestry. More information and an example application can be found here.
Bud and Lud co-founded Big Creek after returning from World War II at about the same age as most high school graduates.
Despite their unusual education, the skills they acquired while serving their country prepared them for success when it came to establishing Big Creek.
During the war, Bud worked for the Navy as a civilian teenager and later as an aircraft carrier mechanic.
Lud enrolled in continuation school in San Francisco, as well as a diesel mechanics trade school, before joining the Merchant Marines at the age of 16.
They launched Big Creek using the trade skills they learned during the war and from a lifetime of working in the woods.
They worked for the fledgling company as loggers, sawyers, equipment operators, mechanics, builders, and in other capacities.
Men who never finished high school became lifelong learners and contributed to the growth of Big Creek into the company it is today.
