José Simoes, sorter man at Maison Charlois, narrated by Stéphane Ebel

The wood reader

He’s one of those people you just want to let speak, to listen. On a short distance of a well-deserved vacation, José Simoes, 66, has spent over thirty years at Maison Charlois. Meet him.

It is a few minutes past 4pm. José has just stacked and sorted his last pieces of stavewood for the day. A day almost like any other, except for a few things. He doesn’t have many days left. “I don’t really realize it”, he replies when I ask him as we walk towards the offices set up in Denis Charlois’ previous home. “I’ve started here, almost by coincidence, in 1992. A lot has changed since that time”. Along the way, José tells me: “It makes me sweat a bit to leave my team, especially the young ones. Those my age have already left. We get on well, there’s a good atmosphere, it’s important, I’m going to miss it”.

Committed to the Azores

Nothing predestined José to settle down in Nièvre. What he was really into was the army: ” It marked my character,” stresses the neo-retired man. First of all, national service, then the army for around ten years. “I was assigned to the Açores, on one of the nine islands that make up the Archipelago”. These years were marked by a particular event onJanuary1, 1980, which is forever etched in his memory. “I remember the earthquake like it was yesterday. The sound, the smells, the dust, the screams… That’s what I decided me to continue my commitment to the army, to bring help and assistance to the population, to the victims, to take part in the reconstruction”. This is José, altruistic, worried about others. Loving and loved. When it came time to retire from military service, José applied for a position in the Republican National Guard. “I passed the exam, but I wasn’t selected. There were 15 places for 3,000 applicants. Back on the continent, with wife and kids, José did a few months’ freelance work in a packaging department of a food processing company: “I was in the HR department and I was responsible for around twenty people. It was a great experience.”

The handshake

Life’s ups and downs led José to leave Portugal and join his parents and brother, Carlos, in Tronsanges, Nièvre. “That’s why I came to France. An initial assignment of a few months in Paris with a building firm marked the beginning of José’s new life. “One day, my brother (Carlos) called me. He was already working for Charlois, in the sawmill. He told me that the company was hiring. I came to Murlin the next Saturday to see Denis Charlois. We shook hands and said hello. “Can you be here Monday at 7? Denis asked. I said yes. The second handshake became a contract of employment. “It was the end of November 1992, the 30th I think. Since, I’ve never left the company.

Stave enchantment

He knows the Charlois story, the company and the family inside out. “A lot has changed in thirty years. We’ve gone from craftsmanship to industry, while preserving our know-how. Today, there are some machines we didn’t have before, but the craft hasn’t changed. Men too. We have to live with our time. José began his adventure with Charlois at the sawmill, in a building which no longer exists. ” We used to make railway sleepers in my workshop. Opposite, in the other workshop, the guys were making stavewood. We were around thirty people working on site. I really enjoyed working here, it was a second family to me. A nostalgic touch, José isn’t one to forget those who reached out to him. “I could have looked for work anywhere else, but I didn’t want to. This company has been the opportunity of a lifetime, for many reasons. For José, the path was sometimes winding, but he managed to stay on course. “I know what I owe to Charlois’ family, to Denis and Sylvain”. José will spend the rest of his career in the stave mill, in sorting and stacking. A job for which human hands and eyes are indispensable. “It’s a team job. Each link of the chain is important, from splitting to sorting to stacking. Spotting a defect, a thread that’s not straight, a through knot… marking it with chalk to eliminate it during the trimming phase. It’s a genuine know-how that’s passed down from one generation to the next, and I’ve passed it on just as it was passed on to me. I’ve learned to read wood, I’ve read a lot of it, thousands of volumes. After a while, you come to live with it. Its texture, its color, its resonance, its thickness. I don’t need a measuring tape to tell if it’s a 27 or a 22” board. In stave milling, you have to think about the guys who work with you, anticipate. Each step sets the stage for the next. When you’re sawing, you think about the edger, when you’re edging, you think about the sorter, the stacker. It’s a team job where every detail is important. Stave milling is the first job of Charlois family. It’s been mine for as long as I’ve been here.

Three questions to José:

José, you’ll be retiring on March, 1st. How do you feel about that?

I’m not really thinking about it right now. It was bound to happen one day. It took a while, though, because with my army in Portugal, it wasn’t easy to get the paperwork done. But now it’s done! I’m going to miss my colleagues, that’s for sure, I like my team, my work, Murlin.

How are you going to spend your days?

First of all, I’m going to take some time out for myself and relax. And then, thanks to Facebook, I’ve reconnected with some of the regiment’s old hands. We’re planning to meet up again. There are some all over the world. It will be an opportunity to travel, and I love that. Not for tourism, but to meet new people and discover new things. That’s what I love. I’m going to visit my son and granddaughter in Portugal. Maybe I’ll go back and live there, in my childhood village of Coimbra. We’ll see. Otherwise, I’m going to continue enjoying nature, walking and hiking.

You’ve spent over thirty years with the Charlois group. What do you take away from it?

(Time for reflection…) So many things. When I came here, I was starting from scratch. I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been through some difficult times. But I stood my ground. I know how much I owe to the Charlois family, in particular Denis and Sylvain. I’ll never forget them. I don’t think there are many companies like this, with this state of mind, these human values. I’m proud to have been part of this wonderful adventure from almost the beginning. I’m happy to have met Denis, Sylvain and many others. For me, Charlois is a great personal adventure.

Photo © Christophe Deschanel