N.B. lumberjack competition kicks off summer circuit of timber sports

The New Brunswick Lumberjack Competition launched the summer circuit of timber sport events across the province over the weekend.

Sharp axes and revved up chainsaws were the tools of the trade in Boiestown, N.B., this weekend with the New Brunswick Lumberjack Competition launching the summer circuit of timber sports events across the province.

The annual event, hosted by the Central New Brunswick Woodmen’s Museum, brought together 26 competitors on Saturday.

“It’s a pile of fun to watch, but a pile of fun to do actually,” said Rod Cumberland, a competitor who has championed the sport for 40 years. “It takes a lot of skill, a lot of endurance, a lot of strength, so it’s got a lot of everything.”

Events at the Boisetown competition included several chopping and sawing races along with axe throwing challenges. The kettle boil event had competitors race to build a fire to heat a can of water, starting out with only an axe and block of wood.

The final event – the boom run – saw competitors race across chained logs floating in the museum’s pond.

Cumberland, who is also president of the Maritime Lumberjack Association, said competitors will meet again in Prince Edward Island at the end of July before a busy late summer schedule of logging sport events.

“You go to the different events, you get points for every event, and the person with the most points at the end of the year wins,” said Cumberland. “This is our first stop in Boiestown.”

The summer schedule of logging sport competitions around the Maritimes includes:

• July 26: Crapaud Exhibition Lumberjack Competition – Crapaud, P.E.I.
• Aug. 9: Napan Fair Lumberjack Competition – Napan, N.B.
• Aug. 19: Kings County Agricultural Fair – Sussex, N.B.
• Aug. 22 and 23: Canadian Lumberjack Championships – Mactaquac, N.B.
• Aug. 30: Chipman, N.B.
• Sept. 1: Trevors/Goodline Lumberjack Competition – Bath, N.B.
• Sept. 6: Pleasant Ridge Lumberjack Competition – Rogersville, N.B.
• Oct. 4: Nova Scotia Lumberjack Championships – Middle Musquodoboit, NS (hosted by the Nova Lumberjack Society)

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