There is a question that philosophical minds have often wondered: If a tree falls in the forest and there’s nobody there to hear it, did it really fall at all?
It is also a question that the new management of the Brooklyn Tavern hopes not to learn the answer to this weekend.
On Saturday, the Brooklyn Tavern will host the 17th annual Saginaw Days logging competition, and they are hoping for a big turnout.
Held in the yard next to Washington’s notorious backwoods bar, the loggers’ Olympics-style event pulls a considerably different crowd of contestants than the “Grandaddy of all Logging Shows,” the Loggers Jubilee in Morton.
Where the Jubilee brings in a professional crowd of contestants with decades of experience and world records under their work belts, Saginaw Days tends to bring the real life rigging rats and axe men into the relative limelight of the Brooklyn Tavern, located in the remote woods of Pacific County between Oakville and Raymond,
The manager of the Brooklyn Tavern, who goes by D.D., noted that the competition is open to all comers.
“It doesn’t matter who they are. If they want to throw an axe, they can throw an axe,” said D.D.
All they have to do is show up.
Registration for the competition will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday. All it takes is $10 per event and a signature on a waiver form and you too can be a logger, if only for a day.
The Brooklyn Tavern’s new owner, Larry Viguerie, purchased the way-out watering hole on June 23. He and his crew have been working hard since then to get the competition set up in order to keep the tradition alive.
Viguerie noted that nearly all of the competitions that fans of loggers’ shows have come to know and love will be at Saginaw Days this year, including double bucking, single bucking, ma and pa bucking, axee throwing, choker setting, chain saw bucking, roller pin throwing, coil making, pole climbing, tree topping, pole falling, obstacle choker setting and log rolling, more accurately known as burling.
There will even be a classic money-in-the-hay scramble for children looking to make a quick and itchy buck.
A Facebook post from the tavern noted that Saginaw Days is an event intended to “educate the young on the traditional logging practices of the past and to entertain all ages.”
“It’s still a free event. Bring the kids. Bring the grandkids. It’s a family show. It’s not about the tavern,” said Viguerie.
While there are plenty of volunteers in the ranks to run the event, organizers are hoping to wrangle a few last-minute sponsors to defer costs.
Tavern manager D.D. has also been hard at work getting the finishing touches put together for the show, including pulling in craft and food vendors.
“There will be all sorts of things for people to walk around and look at besides the logging competition,” noted D.D. She also made sure to order up a new supply of Brooklyn Tavern gear, such as hats, hooded sweatshirts, suspenders and tank tops for the event.
The wood chips will begin to fly at 11 a.m. and the contest typically runs through 3 or 4 p.m. Like the competition, D.D. noted that camping on the premise is free for those who are reluctant to leave the logging road oasis.
Work hard, play hard, and wake up in the woods. It’s all a part of the Saginaw Days tradition.
