By Dustin Schutte
Pharos-Tribune
—
If there was ever a time the mythical Paul Bunyan could be spotted in Cass County, he would have been seen at the 4-H Fairgrounds Wednesday night.
The All-American Lumberjack Show, based in Minnesota, is making a stop at the fairgrounds this week, introducing a sport that isn’t that familiar in this area.
“Their show at the state fair was great,” Cindy Howard, the vice president of Cass County 4-H directors said. “We’ve wanted to bring lumberjacks in for quite some time and these guys seemed fantastic.”
Howard started in February to try and bring the All-American lumberjacks to the fair.
The lumberjack show consists of eight events, with two teams of three participants competing against one another. Events included a log roll, an axe toss, and an obstacle pole race.
Organizer of the All-American Lumberjack Show, Jim Fischer, was pleased to bring his crew to Cass County for a few days.
“This is a great fair for us to be a part of,” he said. “I think this will be a good experience for everyone here.”
The show includes strong crowd interaction, as Fischer pulls people out of the audience to participate in some of the events.
The event drew a large crowd, although it was hard to hear the screaming fans over the roaring chainsaws.
A fan of lumberjack competition, Kerry McKnight was enjoying the show with his family.
“We wanted to bring our kids out here and them watch this,” he said. “I follow some of the competitions on television and it’s really neat that they’re here.”
In addition to the two-team competition, the lumberjacks used their loud, high-powered chainsaws to carve up wooden sculptures that will be donated to the 4-H auction on Saturday. Fischer also made a carving that he gave away to a member of the audience.
The Minnesota crew will be performing at 11:30 a.m. today and again at 2 and 7 p.m. A special kid’s sports camp in the afternoon.
“The kid’s camp is for anyone, any age,” Fischer said. “I have seen anyone from 2 to 82 take part in the camp.”
Want to go?
The All-American Lumberjacks will be performing 30-minute shows today at the following times: 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
In addition, there will be a kid’s sports camp for children of all ages at 4:30 p.m.
