If there's one thing Squamish Days Loggers Sports Association president Bryan Couture likes, it's a challenge - and in what has now become Loggers Sports lore, 35 years ago he was handed a formidable one.
The story begins in the late 1970s when Couture was on the hunt for someone who could fulfill his desire for a chainsaw of unprecedented speed to give him a competitive edge.
"I wanted a particular hot saw - different from anyone else's," he said.
He got the idea to design his own, and told the owner of a go-cart shop that he wanted to convert a Yamaha engine into a chainsaw. The shop owner referred Couture to a small engines teacher whose students were inmates of a maximum-security penitentiary in Salem, Oregon.
The teacher decided to give the inmates a project fulfilling Couture's request: to build a chainsaw out of a Yamaha engine.
"They hand-made the saw and built a special box for it that looked like a coffin," said Couture. "The saw was called The Eliminator."
With brand new saw in hand, the only thing left was to fulfill his end of the bargain: provide the inmates with a Loggers Sports show inside the maximum-security penitentiary.
To organize the show, Couture would have to enter the prison walls numerous times, where he would escorted by "California" - a tattooed-covered inmate who had been convicted of murdering right people.
"I was nervous the first time I went in there," he said, "hearing those doors lock behind me."
But the tension soon eased.
"Everyone knew me after a while."
Couture enlisted the help of sponsors, who were all too willing to make the event a success.
"I got the Winnebago Club of Oregon involved [to transport competitors]. I got all the beer donated from Labatts, the saw from Husqvarna, and went down with 40 guys in a motorhome."
The competitors got to work placing the equipment.
"We raised a 60-foot climbing tree - it was the first thing ever that was ever higher than the concrete walls of 20 feet," said Couture.
A few inmates assisted with the show wearing distinctive-coloured clothing to differentiate them from competitors and other inmates.
The only thing separating the performers from the 300 inmates was a piece of string, said Couture. But everyone kept in line - and one performer in particular was a surprise hit.
"Paula the Loggers Sports clown was the hit of the whole show," said Couture. "The inmates loved him.
"One guy four rows up in the bleachers called him over and the inmate grabbed him right by the neck with one hand, picked him up and put him down beside him. The clown was so shaken, I can still remember his face. He was just freaking."
After the show, it was time to clean up -and that was no small task.
"The security was incredible," said Couture.
One inmate was seen scouring the grounds with a powerful magent for any remaining six-inch spikes.
"It was one heck of a show."
