June 27, 2016 at 4:41 p.m.
'A good summer festival': Boom Lake Log Jam draws a crowd
'A good summer festival': Boom Lake Log Jam draws a crowd
By Kayla Thomason-
A large crowd converged on Hodag Park Saturday for the third annual event which this year also featured the Hodag Run for Your Life, sponsored by the YMCA of the Northwoods.
The morning started at the beach house with a large crowd of racers who, with sneakers laced and muscles warmed, took off on 5K, 10K and half-marathon races.
The race was followed by Chase the Hodag, the one time per year when children can chase Rhinelander's iconic mascot. The course was quite scenic and covered rolling green hills, crossed the sandy beach and concluded at the finish/start line of Run for Your Life.
"We've been working with the Y," said Bill Clow, executive director of the Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce. "Some of their races are still going on so we're starting to see some of the people coming in from the races. We're looking forward to a really good day."
After the race, many migrated over to the Boom Lake Log Jam where they listened to live music, checked out the merchandise at the 20 or so craft vendor booths, or watched children play as they waited for the log show to start.
They also purchased wonderful food such as gyros, egg rolls and popcorn. The Masonic Lodge also served breakfast lunch and dinner to the hungry masses.
"They have a good location this year, kind of centralized," said Lauren Sackett, tourism and events coordinator of the Rhinelander Chamber of Commerce.
New this year, and to the delight of the children, was a kids carnival that consisted of severak stations including ring toss, dunk tank, face painting, magnetic fishing, bounce house and more.
Those running the stations included non-profits such as the Girl Scouts, Camp Birchrock, Kids In Need, Hodag Water Shows and the RHS Dance Team. They kept 75 cents of each $1 ticket sold.
"I think it's going to go over pretty well so maybe we will grow a little bit and bring more (non-profits) in," Sackett said.
Attendees gathered around the stage for the award-winning Timberworks Lumberjack Show out of Hayward.
The crowd yelled "Yo-Ho" to call out the lumberjacks. The crowd was then split into camps to cheer on their particular lumberjack, which resulted in many cheers and boos throughout the show.
The lumberjacks displayed their impressive and unique skills as they sawed or hacked at wood, scaled trees faster than squirrels, made little chairs and got soaked during the log roll.
Thomas Biolo, a first- time attendee, enjoyed watching the show with his siblings.
"It's fun, we just got to watch part of the show," he said, adding that he liked the log roll and comedy bits the best.
He was also looking forward to the children's carnival.
"I think it's cool that they let everyone participate," he said.
His brother, Jett Biolo, enjoyed the lumberjacks as well.
"It's really fun, I love it," he said. "They were awesome, I love when they carve and do the log-rolling, it's pretty funny."
Esther Dolphin, a first-time attendee, was pleased with the event.
"I think it's very nice, it's a nice family-friendly event and I love the lumberjack show, that was great," she said.
The log climb was her favorite part of the show and she liked the comedy.
"I think it's wonderful (that it celebrates Rhinelander's logging history) and I think it's nice to have things for kids to do as a family," she said.
The first and second log show were followed by a new event - a pie eating contest. Five contestants at a time in the racer class (for those who participated in the Run for Your Life), men's, women's and children's faceplanted blueberry pies and chowed down.
"It's a fun event, a good summer festival," said Clow of the entire event. "We're just happy to be able to provide a venue like this and we're just having fun."
For Hodag Run for Your Life race results see page 10.
Kayla Breese may be reached at kayla @rivernewsonline.com.
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