lumberjack show

By JAINE TREADWELL

Shades of Paul Bunyan! The Lumberjacks are coming!

Excitement is mounting in anticipation of Scheer’s Lumberjack Show of Champions’ coming to Pike Pioneer Museum Saturday for Pioneer Day.

Anyone familiar with United States History is aware of the significant role the lumberjacks played in building America. These hardy souls were the stuff of legends – great men who shouldered ax and saw and strode off into the northwoods to fell the mighty timbers that stood tall across the land.

However, the lumberjacks of legend have almost passed into the mist of time, said Charlotte Gibson, director of Pike Pioneer Museum.

"But thanks to people like Fred Scheer of Hayward, Wis., these legends are alive and well," Gibson said.

During the summer months, Scheer and his son Cass put on lumberjack shows six days a week that their permanent "logging camps" in Wisconsin. The other months of the year, they take their show on the road.

"Scheer’s Lumberjack Shows are a fascinating blend of athleticism, daring, skill, competition and comedy," Gibson said. "We are extremely fortunate to have the lumberjack show come to Troy. This is a rare opportunity to see these real life lumberjacks in action."

Gibson expressed appreciation to Husgvarna and Hendrick’s Homecenters for sponsoring the show and making it possible for people of all ages in the Pike County area to see real life lumberjacks in action.

Scheer’s Lumberjack Show has been featured on numerous television shows including ABC’s Wide World of Sports, ESPN, the Discovery Channel and the Outdoor Life Network.

"I’m sure many of us have seen the Lumberjacks on television but think how much more exciting it will be to see them in action at the museum," Gibson said.

The show includes six different lumberjack events performed by top athletes clad in checkered shirts and steel-toed boots.

The show includes ax throwing, speed chopping, log rolling, cross cut sawing, hot sawing and chainsaw carving.

Old time lumberjacks from the logging camps of North America used these century old skills. To pass idle time, lumberjacks would challenge each other in a head-to-head competition where their skills were put to the test. Although technology and machinery have replaced manual labor, the skills of the old time lumberjacks are still being practiced with perfection in the Scheer’s Lumberjack Shows.

Show times are 11 a.m., 1:30 and 4 p.m. and each show will run about 45 minutes.

Admission for the day is $5 for adults and $1 for students, including college students with IDs.

The Lumberjack Shows are only part of the day’s activities which include wagon and train rides, living history demonstrations, spinning and weaving, lye soap and hominy making, churning and quilting and a Native American hunting camp.

The Charles Henderson High School Band Boosters will have barbecue lunches for sale or visitors can bring picnic lunches and enjoy the museum’s expanded picnic area.

"We invited everyone to come early and stay late and enjoy all of the activities planned for Pioneer Day," Gibson said.