In 1960, Terrace’s Loggers

‘Sports Day was a chancy affair.

Under the supervision of a group
of local loggers, the Sports Day

was in decline and in need of

someone to come in and take over.

The Terrace Downtown Lions
did just that and, over the next
fourteen years, built the Loggers
Sports Day into one of the
highlights of the Terrace calendar.
Last year, afler a lengthy break,
the Downtown Lions revived the
Loggers Sports Day.

The Lions have built a solid
show out of the Loggers Sports, a
show that yearly attracts forty of
the top loggers from throuthout the
area and the province to the
Community Grounds in Thornhill.
Not content with just that, they
have added a number of
refinements including numerous
events for novice competitors and
have linked up with the Skeena
Valley Fall Fair Association for a
fun weekend for the whole family.

Besides the regular Fall Fair
events, visitors can view or
participate in, the three-day horse
show, sponsored by the 4-H Club
and the Totem Saddle Club, heavy
horse pulls on Saturday and

__. Lions have built
_ Loggers Sports

Sunday (with six or seven teams:
participating), a Belly Flop contest,
Shriners clowns, music by local
musicians, a heavy equipment
display by Coast Tractor and

Finning’s, an auction of exhibit §j

items which have been donated,
and the Kinsmen’s Beer Garden.

Associated with Canlog (the
Canadian Loggers. Sports
Association), the Downtown Lions
Loggers Sports Day has been
graced with a Canadian
championship event every year.
This year, it will be the pole
falling event.

Over the years, the amount of
prizes and money offered to the
competitors has grown
dramatically. Prizes are awarded as
cash, trophies, medals, certificates
and other mementos of one of the
finest days of competition in the
area.

For the people of Terrace and
area, the Downtown Lions Loggers
Sports Day has become
synonymous with flat-out
competition, thrills, chills and
spills as the best in the business
meet, right here in Terrace, B.C. at
The Thornhill Community Fair
Grounds.

Loggers Sports events cont'd fr. B10 |

Obstacle Pole Bucking

Shut saw off to start. Contestant

must get on the pole below a given
mark, run up pole, start saw at
cutting point, buck from both sides
with underside of bar, shut off saw
before continuing on the rest of the
race, run down the pole past mark

before getting off pole and return:

Bucking

The bucking events grew from
the forest operations. After the
faller had chopped or cut the tree
down, the bucker went through and
did the necessary trimming of the
log. Rather than trimming branches
and such from the trees, the log-
gers involved in competition are
required to cut a disc from the end
of a log, with several variations.

There’s the power saw bucking,
‘the hand bucking, which involves
the use of cross cut saws and the
obstacle bucking, one of the most
exciting. Either way, the action is
thick and heavy and the chips fly!

The obstacle bucking is done on
a long pole close to the ground.

The competitor is required to run

along the log, cut the disc and run
back, without touching the ground.
The trick here is balance. Not only
does the logger have to race along
the log, but he must make his cut
while standing atop the thing, and
then run back. .

In all events, the muscles strain
io drive the chain saw or double
cut saw through the wood, ahead
of the nearest rival.

to starting point. Finished cuts
must be within 1 inch of each
other at all points. It is recom-
mended that the sawing end of the
pole be a standard size, six to eight
inches in diameter. The saw must
be carried back to the finish line.

Double Handed
Bucking

Same as single man except no

free end of saw. It is

recommended that 22 to 28 inch
diameter logs be used.

Tug of War

Ladies
Cross Cut.

Chokermen’s race

A choker is a long, length of
thick cable used to haul trees from
where they are felled to a central
location where they could be
trucked, or floated, to the market.
The chokerman was the man who
attached the choker to the felled
Irees.

The trees were felled and bucked
(trimmed of their branches) and
then the chokerman went to work.
Hauling the choker chain from the
donkey engine through the thick

Terrace Review — Wednesday, August 29, i990 B11

underbrush, slipping the cable
around the log in such a way that
it wouldn’t slip off, fastening the

choker and then stepping back to

let the steam engines go to work.

As soon as the choker was free, he
was at it again.

Competitions between chokermen
developed on the job, with
overzealous newcomers trying to
outdo the old hands and the old
hands racing for the fun of it.

This competition grew into the
Chokerman’s Race. If you want to
see loggers sweat, this is one event
you don’t want to miss.

Single Handed
Bucking

Starting cut depth shall be deter-
mined by placing a thin wire
around the log and through the cut
to determine equal amount of
wood to cut. Saw must cut com-
pletely through the log and saw
must not be used to pry out. Cuts

to be made within area designated

by judges, Each contestant will be
allowed a "second" or manager to
oil his saw, put in wedges, etc.
The second must not touch the saw
after the wedge is in place and can
only drive wedge as is necessary.
The wedge must not be worked
back and forth, In this event, the
free end of the saw must be free of
any handle or weight.

Local Power
Saw Bucking

AN S {te ( Wi...

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