Porch Talk with Tim Rensema

by Donna Geer, Staff Editor

There’s an art to this kind of shuffling, running intentionally slower even when you want to go faster, even when your body says whoa. It takes practice, which makes it look deceptively easy. Tim Rensema calls it the airborne shuffle, his version of slow jogging when he doesn’t want to pound the pavement or his knees. He shuffles fifteen-minute miles now, moving on from the marathons and 10Ks he used to run.

Tim Rensema, submitted photo

But on Fun Days, he gets his exercise other ways, like when he’s out bushwhacking trails with other Trails volunteers, something he’s done for nine years. I sat with Tim at the Shell Gas Station where he and the Fun Days crews like to gather after a hard day’s work. It’s a fellowship of shared interests, not unlike the camaraderie he remembers from the military. He would know – he was in the Army, active duty and National Guard, for a combined 30 years. He says it was a phenomenal experience.

He’s a 1984 West Point graduate with a BA in Military Science and general engineering. He earned another bachelor’s degree in Forest Management and a master’s degree in Forest Genetics at the University of Maine using the GI Bill. He then he accepted a job at North Dakota State University, and was an advisor to the Horticulture Club, which is where he met his wife Hayley.

Tim joined the North Dakota National Guard, plus he traveled all over North Dakota as a research specialist after earning his forestry degree. Did you know the state would have a lot more trees if the farmers would just let them grow, he tells me? I’ll have to take his word on that. He transferred to the Maine National Guard in 1987 and became the Department Chief for environmental programs at Camp Keyes in Augusta. There, he set up the conservation, compliance and pollution prevention system.

In 1993, he joined the Active Guard Reserve (AGR) at Aberdeen, Maryland and was in charge of cleanup sites for all the Midwest states. He started commuting between Baltimore and DC after his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and then Battalion Commander. He was off to War College in 1998. His last tour in the military was with Army Installation Management as Program Director for Compliance, Pollution Prevention and the Environmental Enterprise System from 2002 – 2004.

With only 18.5 years of active service, Tim still had to work until he could retire at age 60, so he became an Environmental Engineer at Camp Darby, a logistics and munitions supply hub, in Livorno, Italy for a few years until he moved his family back to Fredericksburg, Virginia for an engineering position with the Department of Public Works at Fort A.P. Hill.

During his tenure at the Fort, Tim volunteered to serve in Afghanistan for six months with the Corp of Engineers as Operations Maintenance Chief for the Afghan National Army bases. The bases, (some of which used to be Russian), needed to be converted to military standards, which meant putting in water, waste and electrical systems. He also volunteered to serve in Iraq for eight months with a FOB (Forward Operating Base) Hammer in Besmaya, an old armor base when Saddam Hussein was still alive. He told me stories about an old cemetery with 3000-year-old urns, and Hussein’s palace, which he toured.

Tim’s a natural history buff. Maybe because his father was a history teacher. While Tim was still at Fort A.P. Hill, he and his daughter volunteered at the Fredericksburg National Battlefield Park with the U.S Park Service. He was a docent at Chatham, an antebellum plantation that served as the headquarters, and later as a field hospital, for the US Army during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Tim’s eyes lit up when he walked me through the history, how Stonewall Jackson and the Confederates bivouacked over the winter at Fort A.P. Hill after the battle, and how you can still find remnants of the buildings they occupied. There were four major Civil War battles within a five mile radius of Chatham, but it’s the Battle of Chancellorsville that’s important to Tim. His great-grandfather lost his left arm fighting for the 124th New York Infantry Regiment in that war. Also known as the Orange Blossoms, they were part of the Union Army of the Potomac. Tim’s actually walked the grounds where his ancestor’s unit fought for the Union.

Now he rambles through the grounds of another historic cemetery right here in Port Ludlow, when it was an active mill town in the 1800’s. You’ve probably read Tim’s stories in the PL Voice. He said they’ve found fourteen graves with ground penetrating radar. Only one grave ever had a headstone though, but there’s a rumor the stone’s been in Swansonville somewhere since 1960. I’ll admit I’m intrigued.

He’s learned a lot about Port Ludlow since his family moved here in 2016. He’s volunteered at the Visitor Center for Jefferson County, and at the Worthington house in Quilcene, a Victorian mansion. He knows more about Jefferson County than anyone I know. He believes that communities can’t work the way they’re supposed to unless people volunteer because they “bring something to the table and just get things done”. One thing he knows for sure is that once you start volunteering, you’re sure to catch the bug. You may hop around a little, trying different jobs, but eventually you’ll find what you love. Who know? You might even start shuffling!

You can find these and other stories online at plvoice.org. As you already know, our little town is an eclectic mix of wonderful and interesting people. Some were born here and many more come from elsewhere, but all of us have chosen to make Port Ludlow our home. Every one of us has a great story, so let’s sit on the porch and have a conversation. We can share a cup of coffee, or tea, if preferred. You can reach me at sports@plvoice.org. Looking forward to hearing from you!