Meadows Valley Days: Celebrating Tradition and Community

Spectators cheered in the crowded city park as the 59th Annual Meadows Valley Days competition kicked off Saturday morning, August 31. The yearly event took place Saturday and Sunday with vendor booths, food trucks, Friends of the Library book sale, Sunday’s classic car show, Pit BBQ, and of course, the amateur lumberjack competitions. Competitive events include log burling, axe throwing, Jack & Jill, Jack & Jack, and Jill & Jill Crosscut competitions, obstacle buck, choker set race, wrapper toss, and the Fiasco race.

Saturday morning the park was full well before start time with over 25 arts and crafts vendors and five popular food trucks. Attendees arrived early to peruse the craft offerings and find the best seats possible. Vendors sold jewelry, handcrafted games, jams, syrups, and baked goods along with woodcrafts, clothing, knives, swords, and beautiful art.

The Historic P. & I.N. Depot hosted their annual rummage sale fundraiser. The building was open for visitors to view the special exhibit by Don McLean. The Friends of the Library book sale offered a great selection at amazing prices. Sunday afternoon books were offered for $2 per bag!

Lumberjack competitions began with the axe throwing qualification round at noon. Only the top ten compete on Sunday for the official win. Kleint Logging, Torch Towing, and C & M Lumber all represented with their rigs holding logs, huge American flags, and the axe target round. A beer is placed in the middle of the round and the thrower gets the spoils when it is hit. In the men’s division there was a 5-way tie for 10th place, so a throw off followed the main event. In the women’s division, a throw off occurred for 9th and 10th place.

Once bleachers and the announcer’s rig were reset, the log burling competition began with a splash. The last person to touch the water each round wins. Each pairing gets two out of three chances and the winner moves on. Samantha Wittell and Amanda Branstetter were crowd favorites in their banana costumes. Lacey Botoy won the women’s division and Steven Shivers won the men’s division.

The juniors division began directly after the adults with kids six years old and up competing. Young Eden impressed the crowd with her 1st place win displaying amazing skill and agility.

Sunday morning the crowd was back! A community worship service took place before the parade and logging festivities. The Sunday pie sale at the community center sold out fast.

By 11:00 a.m. when the parade started, the streets were lined with adults and kids eager to wave and collect candy. Meadows Valley Emergency Services vehicles led the way with sirens blaring and the volunteer firefighters greeted people with smiles as they helped “fill the boot” with donations. The Meadows Valley Girls Varsity Volleyball team and former students of the class of 1970 all waved from their floats. Banner holders for The Fosdick Golf Tournament led the way for well decorated golf carts. Leading the classic car motorcade were Grand Marshals Kenny & Nikki Crogh. The cars were on display in the park all afternoon and awards were given for a multitude of categories. The Angel Riders Equestrian Team closed out the parade with flags held high.

As people entered the park, the delicious smells of Pit BBQ welcomed people to a spread of beef, baked beans, salad, and rolls. All were happy for the return of this offering. Thank you to all the volunteers and cooks. Leftover roasts were auctioned off throughout the afternoon along with branded clothing, hay bales, and the Fiasco wheelbarrow.

Announcers Caryl Whitlatch and auctioneer Luke Nolte kept things rolling, sharing stories and explaining events. After the National Anthem, a few demonstrations were given including one of the Fiasco Race. This begins with a male and female laying down on a blanket next to a wheelbarrow and a pair of boots and a third person waiting at the crosscut station. The race timer starts with an alarm clock sound and the pair jumps up. The woman throws on the boots, plops into the wheelbarrow, and the man pushes them running to a log and chainsaw. The man cuts off a round and the woman must chop that into four pieces as evenly as possible, gather the pieces into the wheelbarrow, and haul it back “home.” Meanwhile, the man runs across obstacles to crosscut two logs and the saw-ers run across parallel logs, grab a choker, attach it to a log, run a short distance to tag another log, then run to grab an axe for the woman to throw. Once the woman hits the target, the time stops.

The competition throughout the afternoon is fierce but friendly. Many of the participants in the logging events also volunteer setting logs and equipment, timing, keeping records, and spraying logs during cutting. Many have been watching or participating in these events their whole lives.

Final results for first place in each category of the competition were as follows:

Womens Axe Throwing - ShawnDale Wallace

Mens Axe Throwing - Justin Swift

Jack & Jill Crosscut - Becky and Justin in 7.84 seconds

Jack & Jack Crosscut - Lucas and Justin in 7.45 seconds

Jill & Jill Crosscut - ShawnDale and Nikki in 13.48 seconds

Jack & Jill Wood Chop - Nikki and Shadyn in 20.26 seconds

Mens Obstacle Buck - Justin Peterson in 22.53 seconds

Mens Choker Set Race - Logan Logan in 14.74 seconds

Womens Wrapper Toss - Amanda Branstetter in 24.13 seconds

Mens Wrapper Toss - Shadyn Wallace in 24 seconds

Fiasco Race - Amanda, Lucas, & Josh in 1 minute, 24 seconds

Finally, an All Around Logger is awarded for men and women. To compete for this, contestants must participate in at least five events. The winners for 2024 are ShawnDale Wallace and Logan Logan. Congratulations to all contestants! Thank you to all sponsors and participants. Profits from the events support projects in Meadows Valley and help fund next year’s events. We look forward to the 60th annual celebration!