Barry Knight, a broadcasting director, and John Henderson, a logger, swapped places for a day as part of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce’s Farm-City Week Job Swap.

Although Knight had been around the logging industry in Port St. Joe, Florida and Henderson had attended football games at Troy University, when they swapped jobs for a day, they were “lost.”

Being a part of the Troy University football broadcast was an eye-opening experience for Henderson.

“I thought that sports broadcasters knew all about football so they just showed up before the game and sat there and talked and kept their audience informed and entertained,” Henderson said. “I thought that was all there was to it. But I was wrong about that.

“Barry showed up with a packet of information for the broadcast that he had studied to get ready for the game. When I put on the headphones, there were three conversations going on a once. I was dazed by it all.

Henderson said he didn’t realize how organized the chaos in the announcers’ booth is.

“They had spotters who were telling them who made the plays and how many yards were made,” he said. “If there were penalties, they were telling who they were on. Something was going on all the time and Barry was on top of everything.”

Henderson admitted that he is not a student of the game of football but he attends Troy University football games and enjoys the environment and the games.

“I really enjoyed seeing what all goes on behind scenes,” he said with a laugh. “What Barry does is based on recreation and entertainment. What I do is based on toilet paper and paper towels. I was as totally outside my element.”

Knight said he was just as outside his element with John, the forester with W.J. Sorrell Lumber Company, and in the hot, dusty timberland, but not so much that he was not impressed by what he was seeing.

“One thing that impressed me was the size and quality of the timberland,” Knight said. “I’ve never seen such rich timberland. I just didn’t know that much timberland was here in Pike County. It’s beautiful.”

Knight said he was also impressed by the ‘cutting edge technology” of the logging industry.

“I guess I thought people went out in the woods and cut the trees down with chain saws,” he said, laughing. “I didn’t realize the technology that is such a huge part of the logging industry and how streamlined and efficient the machinery is. The machines are computerized and so efficient that there is almost no waste. And the men who operate those machines are so skillful. It’s like the controls are extensions of their arms and hands. It was a amazing to watch them work.”

Driving a tractor is old hat for Knight but driving a skidder and buncher was a whole new experience.

“When I got in the cab, honestly, it was daunting and I was overwhelmed,” he said. “But, when John explained all the controls to me and how the skidder worked, I drove right on down the logging trail.”

Knight said he could understand why Henderson loves his job.

“Like John said, he gets to play in the woods every day” Knight said. “Being with him in the woods was a great experience and what he does is very different from what I do. His work is a part of an industry that is hundreds of years old, while mine is relatively new.

My job is information dissemination but his job is much more relevant.”

Knight said that although he has some measure of notoriety as far as name and voice recognition, “In the grand scheme of things, John’s job is much more important than mine.”

Both Henderson and Knight admitted that they probably would not have found happiness and success in the other’s job.

But, they both said, by participating in the Farm-City Committee’s Job Swap, they now have a better understanding of and great respect and appreciation for what the other does.

“But I love my job and Barry loves his,” Henderson said. “It comes down to that. We are both where we are supposed to be. We are in our elements.”