04/06/2026
The Legend of Eddy Rye: Tree Climber Extraordinaire
There is a man in Freeport, IL who astounds the town and surrounding communities with his incredible abilities in the art of tree care. He not only excels beyong the talents of his competitors in the industry, but also provides his services at the prices of yesteryear. Back when $100 was a lot of money, enough to pick up a be**er car from the junkyard that still ran, that was the time when he was first instructed in the art and science of tree climbing by his mentor, Danger Joe. They called him that because he came from an old generation of loggers who brought civilization to this wild land- no challenge was too great, and no tree was too big for old Joe!
He took his last climb on a chill spring day, after a month streak of storms that wiped out countless trees and crushed homes all over the region. The tornado came in faster than thought that day: from a flat gray sky it whistled in while old Joe sang his mighty song, ascending to the top of a damaged mighty pine of 100 feet. The top was partly dislodged, and his assistant Eddy manned the ropes, but nothing could save Joe from the blast that whipped through the fragile top. It was a codominant top that was torn and hanging, and while his buckstrap encircled both halves below the crotch, that mighty gust lifted up the hanging top on the east side, straight out sideways from the trunk, and ripped out the remaining holding wood in the weakened union. The bark seam peeled out and rolled inside Joe's lanyard, yanking him in to the tree. The force was so great he was crushed there for a moment, before the shock broke the top free- but his lanyard was broken and the backswing of the top propelled his body across the dusky sky. Before the eyes of his student and apprentice, Joe sailed through the air in one final, beautiful ride, then crashed down onto the base of a rocky slope.
This was when Eddy Rye swore to keep the legacy alive. He wept salty tears through the sawdust that covered his face, as he carried Joe off the jobsite, laid him in the bed of his old blue F250, and delivered his body on that last ride home.
Eddy took every chance to learn the industry front to back. He began with a limited amount of climbing experience, but had seen what was possible as he did ground work and rigging over that last ten years, so he applied himself to using the safest methods and the best equipment, and always watched the sky on windy days! He hired himself a young groundman, who handled the ground work as they continued to clean up from that most ferocious storm season in modern memory in this region of Illinois. Around that time he met his lovely wife-to-be, and after a brief courtship they were married, and purchased a run-down farm on the outskirts of town. He always gave an honest deal, never taking advantage of customers even when the opportunity presented itself. He became a legend as the story of his skills in the trade grew far and wide.
The reputation was well deserved, for he could easily tell the method that was needed when others would fear the job. Experienced tree men would decline to serve the customer, who would seek in desperation a tree man who had the courage and understanding to take on their challenging trees. If it was fallen on a house, or perched above a valuable structure, he would find a way to keep the home and property safe. Safety was only a part of his fame- he was a powerful man, though skinny. At just a hair under 6 feet tall, weighing around 165lbs, he could hoist and carry enormous logs that much larger men could not even raise from the ground. It was a joke around town that if someone would tell him "that log is too heavy, it can't be lifted!" he would take it as a challenge, laughing, then lift it singlehandedly and carry it to the truck. There were times when he was heard out in the middle of the night, hammering wedges into massive rounds and tossing the splits into a trailer under the frosty light of only stars and moon.
Even now in Freeport if you hear the sound of a hammer on steel late in the night, the old timers will pause and hearken the sound, before saying "There goes old Eddie Rye! There's not a tree in this whole land deserving of him."
But if you go looking in the place where you heard the sound, it'll go silent as the grave. Because though his legend has been spread to every corner of Freeport, and they speak kindly of him, no man living has ever seen him. Nothing but the blessed tale of his good name remains. Not an address, a phone number, not even a living relative to claim his reputation as their legacy. As for the industry, it has lived on with lesser men.
A glimmer of hope arose in 2014 to restore to our people what was lost. Edward Rook came into the business that year- perhaps inspired by the call of the trees, maybe hearing the whisper of that glorious legend in his heart as he surveyed the many trees of the Forest City, also known as Rockford. He made his way into Pecatonica in recent years and began offering services to Freeport. Some say he bears a striking simillarity to the grit, courage, and personal fortitude of that famed and beloved Eddy Rye. He operates under the name "Easy Eddy's Tree Service" and keeps his word just as the old timers who made this land great to begin with.
