09/28/2019
Sikes Tree service is a different kind of tree company. Sikes Tree is a long running company composed of only three owners in its now 74th year of operations. It was founded by my late grandfather Horace “Hally” Sikes in 1945 but didn’t officially become a business until 1950. Hally was a simple man who tremendously enjoyed all life had to offer. He started as a farmer like his ancestors, growing up on a large property on Mapleton avenue in Suffield. The whole 7 acre frontage had an abundance of vegetables and that’s how the family made due. He witnessed and experienced hard times financially as someone born in the early 1920’s. He witnessed the Great Depression and that I believe drove his hunger to never see tough times again. He then in his late teens worked a little to***co as well, and that’s where it all began. He enjoyed being the guy that hung the lats of the product high in the barns. He was an old school thrill seeker. He then channeled that into an interest in tree work. He briefly worked for a guy doing trees then branched out on his own. He was a natural and a pioneer with a vision that few could probably see as a legitimate occupation at that time. He was a pioneer in the sense that he did this in the days when no proper official climbing gear was available. He got himself up trees with a knot device to create a harness known as a boland on a bite. It would wear welts into your waist and lower bottom that would probably make most people not want to ever strap back up after a good, hard days work. He was a hungry man with lofty goals for life and his family. He continued on for a few years with that method. Until the early 1950’s when he was one of the first ever to own an aerial lift aka a bucket truck. “Even before the utility company’s” he’d boast. He built his company from scratch he was the first main tree outfit used by the power company to maintain the street lines. He had energy for days and twice that in knowledge. Hally ran his company until 1986 when he past it over to his late son Brian, my father. Brian had an extreme passion and knowledge for the tree care industry as well. Brian held up to the lofty standards set by Hally and continued to grow the company. He gained and maintained many big contracts such as the sole tree outfit used for the towns of Suffield, Enfield and East Windsor as well as being the exclusive Tree company used on the grounds of Hamilton sunstrand. Holding these large obligations and taking no shortcuts in the tree industry as well as keeping his fathers legacy meant everything to Brian. He did his job and he did it right. With nothing but honesty and integrity. Unfortunately Brian past far too early at the age of 52 in 2004. His wife Kathy took over ownership and I Nate Sikes have been running it since then at the age of 21 years old. I know they would be tremendously proud of what I’ve accomplished and continue to on a daily basis. I aim lofty goals to take this company to even a higher level and standard. At the end of the day this company truly cares and is a cut above most others. Why? Simple, it’s in our blood, it’s in our DNA and most importantly we put our name on our work and production. It has and always will be our name, our reputation, our love and passion for trees that our customers have experienced for many, many decades. That’s why when you ask someone locally do you a good arborist? The answer you will get from most is- “I like Sikes”. So give us a call and we’d be more than happy to give you an free estimate and transform your property into a thing of beauty. - Nate Sikes.
Licensed arborist # S-5411
