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(ESPNOutdoors.com) STILLWATER, MN— The STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series Championships
returned to an area rich in lumberjack history. The town of Stillwater
has a proud tradition in lumber that dates back to the 1880's when this
bustling mill town supplied all the wood for the Midwest expansion.
During
the days of the lumber camps that lined the river, lumberjacks would
come up with contests that would test their logging skills. Most of the
games we have today were born in this area, according to Roger Phelps,
STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series Tournament Director.
"Boom runners and log rollers were originally known as 'river pigs' and
they performed a very important job in keeping logs from jamming up the
river," he said.
All the STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series events were also a mainstay of
the camps and they would have chopping and sawing contests to see who
was the "best in camp," Phelps said.
Chopping, sawing, boom
running, log rolling and pole climbing were all revived Saturday in
Stillwater, and one could feel the spirit of the men who used these
skills to build America.
A special guest was in attendance. One
of the world's top log rollers, who was injured in Iraq, stopped by to
see some friends. J.R.Salzman is already a legend in the sport and chose to serve his country in the war against terror.
He
lost his right arm in Iraq — the victim of a roadside bombing — but
promised to be competing as soon as possible. Although he is still
heavily involved in his rehab programs at Walter Reed Army Hospital, he
took a few minutes in the practice pool, log rolling to prove he would
be true to his word.
The STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Collegiate Series
Championships kicked off the day's events on the banks of the St. Croix
River with six competitors who won their regional championships in the
U.S. and Canada. Following the Collegiate Series action, two
professional events entertained the fans and put these competitors
through their paces.
In the Collegiate Series Championships,
Jonathan Blais out of Canada's McGill University, Jay Blackburn of
Haywood Community College, NC State's Mike Brafford, David Hanlon from
Central Oregon Community College, Paul Smith's College's Curt Karboski,
and Justin Perron of Sir Sanford Fleming College all represented their
respective universities proudly in the preliminary competition.
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