From left to right: Cheryl Lewis, Gary Lewis, Marcos Arroyo and Samantha Arroyo. Marcos took over Deer Creek Excavating after his father-in-law - Samatha's dad - Gary retired. Family ties run strong for this family in Seeley Lake. Cheryl has worked at the bank in Seeley since the late eighties. Samatha grew up in Seeley Lake and moved back with Marcos in 2017.
Marcos Arroyo said there has been a running joke in the Lewis family that he was born to inherit Deer Creek Excavating. "Arroyo" is Spanish for creek, anyway.
As of Feb. 20, Arroyo took the helm of Deer Creek Excavating from his father-in-law, Gary Lewis, who took ownership of the company in 1990. Before that, Lewis's brother had the company - then called Wilderness Excavation - for several years. Lewis's father had it as Lewis Excavating prior to that, which was one of two excavating companies in the valley at the time, Lewis said.
Lewis - who is also the chair of the Seeley Lake Fire Department Board - has lived in Seeley Lake since the sixties. He said he didn't remember having much choice on becoming an excavator.
"I rolled my first dump truck when I was 13," Lewis said.
His reason for retirement is mainly the pain that comes with excavating. And, ultimately, that Arroyo was ready to take it over. Lewis could have sold the company, "But I wanted it to stay in the family," he said.
Arroyo had intended on taking over the business when he got out of the Navy. It was a promise he made to his father-in-law, hoping to provide him with an avenue for retirement while he was still young and could spend plenty of time with his grandchildren. Excavating isn't particularly gentle on the body, Arroyo said.
"It offered a fairly unique opportunity to continue a several decades long legacy," Arroyo said.
Arroyo said he can drive along any road in the Seeley area and see places Deer Creek Excavating put in. The company turned mountain land into buildable area, Arroyo said, and for a lot of the buildings standing, Deer Creek Excavating dug basements and foundations.
Before embarking on this job opportunity, Arroyo was an electrician. He spent six years working with Lewis, learning his tricks of the trade that don't come from books or YouTube, Arroyo said.
Since Lewis had a hand in so many sites in the area, he came to know the characteristics of the land and oftentimes would know what's in the ground before breaking the surface, Arroyo said. That can make a big difference when you submit a job estimate, Arroyo said - whether its boulders or sand underneath that initial dig can change the amount of time a project might need.
As far as changes to make, Arroyo doesn't see many, other than working on modernizing some administration aspects.
"Companies laid the foundation for the community and I just want to keep that going," Arroyo said.
Lewis feels confident that he's adequately shown Arroyo the ropes. He wouldn't let him take over the business otherwise, he said. He values the quality of the work and the community too much.
"We have awful strong roots here," Lewis said. "We helped build it, and they helped build us."
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