About Us
I have spent my childhood and my entire professional career in Lehtimäki, South Ostrobothnia. My grandparents went to work in a copper mine in Illinois in the early 1900s. My American-born father returned to Finland in the 1930s, when he founded a sawmill and mill in Lehtimäki.
Alpo Ahopelto (former manager)
Brief History
∼1930
Starting Year
My father's sawmill burnt down in 1945, after which he and my eldest brother rebuilt it. The sawmill expanded in the early 1950s, when my father bought his first lorry and timber was delivered to Vaasa, Kokkola and Pietarsaari. Ahopellon Saha started its operations as a limited partnership in 1968.
1983-1984
Best Years
I've worked in a sawmill all my life. I was helping out my father until I got my professional driving licence and started delivering wood. In 1969, I took over the sawmill management. The sawmill was developed and production increased. Until the 1980s, the sawmill first started sawing pine wood, then spruce.
2000
Closing Years
The sawmill was shut down in the early 2000s when my brother and I retired. Some machinery in the sawmill was sold to a Lithuanian sawmill for reuse. Today, there's a car maintenance facility on the site.
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