Young man’s initiative leads to small wood, lawn care business

Contributed photograph
READY TO GO — Cameron Clark has his own lawn care business and is ready to mow.
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    This 12-year-old finds himself rather busy as spring and summer approaches, but not playing baseball or pursuing any hobby. Instead, he operates a lawn and landscaping business and builds custom picnic tables.
    Cameron Clark, son of Bruce and Jayne Clark, is already becoming an astute businessman.
    Starting his business a year ago, Clark said his relatively new venture is going well and he is eager for more work.
    “I sold 16 picnic tables last year and so far this year, I’ve sold six,” he said. Clark also mows, rakes and fixes lawns, as well as weeds gardens.
    “It’s fun and I don’t mind,” Clark said of his business. “I might as well do it and make some money.”
    Clark’s uncle, Ted Bither, and grandfather, Kenny Bither, are both handy with a hammer.
    “When Uncle Ted tore down his deck, I got all the wood from that,” said Clark. “I started building tree houses.”
    Clark’s mother Jayne laughed, “The trees in back of our house are going to start tumbling down sometime.”
    Clark completed six tree houses.
    “It was fun to build them,” Clark added.
    From there, Clark built a shed for lawnmowers but adapted the building into his workshop and expanded it.
    “It needed to be bigger,” he said.
    “Give him a hammer and bag of nails and he is happy,” said his mother.
    One day, she noticed her son measuring his leg length and arm length. She wondered what he was doing. Then he asked his father if he would buy him some lumber so he could make a picnic table.
    “My grandfather [Kenny] built them and I looked at his and copied it,” Clark explained.
    “He barely had a pattern,” his mother added. “He had watched his grandfather building in his shop and always took an interest. That is how it all started.”
    “My first couple of picnic tables weren’t very good,” said Clark. “But, they are a lot better now.” He started building his tables with two by fours. Now, he has transitioned into using two by sixes for more stability and strength.
    Clark is supervised by his father in the workshop when running his saws and has not encountered any accidents. Overall, he has not experienced too many problems running a business at his age either.
    “No one has really given me a hard time,” he said. “The worst thing is when a lawnmower won’t start. And, it is hard to get to jobs because I cannot drive. So, I have to be taken there. And it is kind of hard when I have to mow and I can’t go golf or go to the skate park or anything because I have a commitment.”
    Clark, an honor student at Houlton Junior Senior High School, likes to skateboard, ski, inline skate, golf and play soccer. He even built his own skateboard ramps he uses in his driveway of his home.    
CRAFTMANSHIP — Cameron Clark crafts kid and adult picnic tables, while also running a lawn care business.
    Clark is probably known more for his participation in the July 4th parade when he demonstrates his skill on his seven-foot unicycle.
    With his own business, Clark is learning the value of a hard-earned dollar.
    “I wanted to save money,” he said. “I like having a bank account in case I need money sometime.”
    Though he has no immediate goal for his money, he would like to buy a car eventually and maybe go to college.
    When weather permits, Clark is on call for lawn work.
    “I had five lawns to mow last year, and this year, hopefully I will have some more,” he said.
    He can construct customized picnic tables most anytime. He sells his adult tables for $100 and his kids’ sized ones for $65. He will stain a table for an additional fee.
    “I will build one to fit a customer’s need,” Clark said.
    Clark, who charges a reasonable price, can be reached by calling 538-0998. Customers can see Clark’s advertisement in the Pioneer Times, as well.
    His mother recounted just this week that someone saw his ad and the phone call left him sweating a bit.
    “He forgot he had his cell phone with him,” she said. “Well, the phone went off during one of his classes. Thankfully it was on vibrate.”
    Being only 12, Clark has not thought much about a life career, but he has a couple of ideas of what he might enjoy with the skill he possesses.
    “Maybe, I will be a carpenter or architect,” he said.