Port Gamble Old Mill Days: Cutting Loose with the Chainsaw Carvers
September 29, 2009 11:07amDid you know that you can purchase insurance for a chainsaw? It's not as far-fetched as it sounds after spending the weekend in Northwest timber country!
Woodcarving, forestry and monstrous saws were all part of the fun at the Old Mill Days in Port Gamble, WA where Peter, WALLY1 and I spent the weekend. We had front row seats to all of the festival activities – from the famous Hot Saw competition where skilled chainsaw artists sculpted lifelike figures out of wood, to the lumberjack show where lumberjacks and "lumberjills" put their strength to the test in log rolling, springboard chopping and open axe throwing competitions.
The PEMCO prize wheel was set up next to the buzzing woodcarving arena where the crowd cheered on the "Cunning Rogues" and "Wolf Pack" carving teams as they brought plain logs to life. Right before our eyes, eagles, bears and even a deep-sea diver came alive as the woodcarvers sawed away at their cedar stumps. Their chainsaws, powered by souped up truck engines, can chew through 2-foot logs in less than one second!
Also present for the good-natured competition was the ever-jovial Mr. Steve Backus, your official PEMCO Northwest Profile #16 "Roadside Chainsaw Woodcarver" himself. Steve comes from a long line of woodcarvers and has been carving for more than 30 years. "It's what I love," he says.
We'd like to send a special thanks out to carver Martin Smith who did a great job sprucing up the PEMCO bears – with their new carve job, they look as new as the day we got them!
Here are our top five highlights from the event:
1. Peppy, the Jack Russell Terrier, fetching whole log rounds and rolling them back to his
master.
2. A two-man chainsaw powered by a V-8 engine from a Buick!
3. A woodcarving of a raccoon that almost crossed the road.
4. Two woodsmen dueling to be the last one standing on a wildly floating, rolling log.
5. The sleeping little boy whose Radio-flyer wagon was outfitted into a bed on wheels.
See how many of these you can spot in our highlight video from the trip below:
Woodcarving, forestry and monstrous saws were all part of the fun at the Old Mill Days in Port Gamble, WA where Peter, WALLY1 and I spent the weekend. We had front row seats to all of the festival activities – from the famous Hot Saw competition where skilled chainsaw artists sculpted lifelike figures out of wood, to the lumberjack show where lumberjacks and "lumberjills" put their strength to the test in log rolling, springboard chopping and open axe throwing competitions.
The PEMCO prize wheel was set up next to the buzzing woodcarving arena where the crowd cheered on the "Cunning Rogues" and "Wolf Pack" carving teams as they brought plain logs to life. Right before our eyes, eagles, bears and even a deep-sea diver came alive as the woodcarvers sawed away at their cedar stumps. Their chainsaws, powered by souped up truck engines, can chew through 2-foot logs in less than one second!
Also present for the good-natured competition was the ever-jovial Mr. Steve Backus, your official PEMCO Northwest Profile #16 "Roadside Chainsaw Woodcarver" himself. Steve comes from a long line of woodcarvers and has been carving for more than 30 years. "It's what I love," he says.
We'd like to send a special thanks out to carver Martin Smith who did a great job sprucing up the PEMCO bears – with their new carve job, they look as new as the day we got them!
Here are our top five highlights from the event:
1. Peppy, the Jack Russell Terrier, fetching whole log rounds and rolling them back to his
master.
2. A two-man chainsaw powered by a V-8 engine from a Buick!
3. A woodcarving of a raccoon that almost crossed the road.
4. Two woodsmen dueling to be the last one standing on a wildly floating, rolling log.
5. The sleeping little boy whose Radio-flyer wagon was outfitted into a bed on wheels.
See how many of these you can spot in our highlight video from the trip below:
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