Take your kids on a verbal history trip before visiting a lumberjack show. With all the cheering and jokes, they may miss the connection to our European ancestors settling America, logging, and building wood homes. Logging camps set up in the north. Log drivers rode and drove the logs down the strong river currents from the forest to the sawmills. When the spring thaw came, logs rafted downriver. Wisconsin turned out 3.4 billion board feet of pinewood by the end of the 19th century.
No doubt your kids will have fun cheering on the lumberjacks at a lumber jack show. Most shows have multiple events such as the boom run, speed climb (competitors can reach 60 or 90 feet high in what seems like no time), chainsaw carve, crosscut sawing, and axe throw. Multiple times I've seen these lumber artists carve a bunny chair right before the audience eyes and a lucky boy or girl goes home with a naturally cute chair.
The log roll always pleases the crowd. Competitors stand atop a log, try to keep balance, can't cross the center line, and try to stay on the log longer than their opponent while spinning the log in water.
These shows focus on the families. I find the lumberjacks to really enjoy kids asking for their autographs after the show.
Considering the logging history, it's not surprising that many of the shows locate in northern states. In fact, the Lumberjack World Championships international competition takes place in Hayward, WI. Shows can be seasonal, so plan ahead. Here's six shows:
1. Jack Pine Lumber Jack Shows - Mackinaw City, MI - June to September
Rated #1 attraction in Mackinaw City (TripAdvisor 2013), features nine-time World Champion logroller Dan McDonough, 1 hour show, $14 adult, $9 children
2. Paul Bunyan's Northwoods Lumberjack Show - Wisconsin Dells, WI - May and June
adults $18, children $11
3. Fred Scheers Lumberjack Show - Hayward and Minocqua, WI - May and June
1 hour show $14, children $9;
Hayward also hosts the World Championships and includes a Family Night deal ($40 entrance for 2 adults and up to 4 children) on Thurs. night of July 28-30 2016.
4. Great Maine Lumberjack Show - Trenton, Maine - June to Aug.
12 events including power hot sawing and underhand chopping; adults $12, child $8
5. The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show - Ketchikan, AK - May to Sept.
#1 in shore excursions for Alaska, voted Alaska's 10 Best by Travel Channel
Perhaps you have a hankering for a lumberjack show and it's off season, never fear, you can go to this year round show:
6. Lumberjack Feud - Pigeon Forge, TN - year round
Show includes dinner, 19 events, ESPN athletes, and World Champion Timberdogs. Adults $50, children $20
Most shows have relatively reasonable ticket prices. If you really want to get a great deal, go to a county or state fair offering a free lumberjack show. I've seen shows at the MN State Fair, Utah State Fair, and the IL State Fair (Timberworks Lumberjack Show featured in above photos, a traveling show, located within Conservation World on the fair grounds)
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