They haven’t missed a single year yet.
When the organizers of the Squamish Days Loggers' Sports Festival realized that the pandemic was going to throw a wrench into their annual plans a few years ago, they pulled a COVID-compliant posse together to ensure that at least a few axes were being thrown to honour the event. The thought of interrupting their nearly seven-decade legacy was just too much to bear.
“There wasn’t the normal 5,000-person crowd, but there were about nine of us, and we made sure to capture it with a photo in front of the axe target. Unfortunately, that year the festival didn’t happen the same way as normal, but when restrictions eventually lifted, we did a one-day event in October,” Loggers' Sports’ Jacqulin McNicol told The Squamish Chief.
It was over 20 years ago that McNicol first became involved with the festival as a competitor, eventually taking on a volunteer role that has ballooned dramatically in scope. She now oversees a vast number of volunteers that run multiple events, including bed races, a kids’ festival, a giant barbecue and a myriad of competitions. Every year, thousands pack into the logger sports grounds to watch birling, hand bucking, tree climbing and underhand chopping—to just name a few of the events.
For her, it has become a family affair.
“I can’t compete anymore, but my niece Sadie Woudstra has moved into my footsteps, and it’s super amazing to see that legacy keep going. She’s in university, but she drives up every Sunday to train,” she said.
“Basically, my whole family comes up. My mom comes from Burnaby from April to September to help out, and in total, we have close to a dozen other family members helping throughout the weekend and leading up to the big day. We’ve become a logger sports family.”
And though the festival involves a lot of fun and games, the importance of keeping the forestry industry alive in the Sea to Sky Corridor is something organizers take very seriously. Not only is the money raised being directed into six local non-profits who use it for community initiatives, in the case of the forest industry, it’s the well-paying jobs that allow families to stay in Squamish and give back to the community by supporting businesses that need stability from locals for long-term success.
“The forest industry has done so much for our community. It’s the backbone of Squamish, and much of it is in major crisis with what’s going on. The fact that people can still find the time to put on a festival like this shows how important it is,” she said.
“The industry is faced with major policy changes from one government to the next, and since I work in the forest industry, I see what people go through. We can’t survive without it.”
The festival has gained an international reputation, and they’re particularly excited for a team of champion log rollers to arrive from Wisconsin. Last year, they had 94 competitors, with about a third of those being local lumberjacks.
“Our competitors are world-class. There’s a circuit around Canada, and they train every day. Many of them work in the forest industry as well, and they’re arborists or loggers who like to climb trees, swing axes and run saws. It’s a part of their daily life and part of their after-work passion. They put all they have into it,” she said.
“Each newcomer is learning from the best.”
There’s a tremendous amount of work to be done to prepare for the event every year, and McNicol is effusive about the help they receive.
“Every year, we’re inundated with preparations, but we get the same volunteers returning, and it really does become a volunteer family of people working hard in the evenings and on weekends to get stuff done. Every year, the excitement builds, with new people coming into the community and learning more about the festival,” she said.
“We’ve even got kids coming in and helping, painting for us, and they’re going to be the next generation. There’s new blood coming in, and we’re going to keep this thing going forever.”
Find out more at www.squamishdays.ca.
