An announcer on stage behind a crowd of people facing the Chuck Oliver Logging Show this past Fourth of July counts down for two men to compete. With chain saws in hand, two men try to quickly cut a cookie from the edge of a tree trunk. This is the 50th anniversary of the show, and it’s the swan song for Chuck’s son, Randy, who’s been organizing it for a few decades.
Chuck Oliver started this logging competition in 1975 on the Fourth of July. He wanted to show how logging evolved throughout time in Southeast Alaska. And it became an annual tradition.
The competitors, some who are actual loggers, race with crosscut saws and ax throwing these days, along with the traditional, old school logging techniques.
Oliver’s son, Randy, took over the show in 2001, when his father moved to Wasilla. But he’s been involved with it for 40 years.
“In the old days, we’d have a three day show,” he said. “There’d be 21 events, but back in the 70s and 80s, there was logging camps all around us. Wrangell would swell up to 5,000 (and) 6,000 people over the Fourth of July, and we’d have 50 or 60 contestants in the arena. Things have changed over 50 years.”
There’s fewer logging camps and fewer contestants who are actual loggers, since the industry has declined.
“There’s not many loggers left around,” Randy said. “That’s the unfortunate part about being in the Tongass, when we sit here in the largest national forest in the United States and we can’t log it.”
This is his last year running the show, at age 67. He’s sticking with tradition since his dad retired from the show at 67 too.
“I actually retired 2019 at the 45 year mark, but I intended to come back for this one,” Randy said. “We’re gonna give it a shot one more time.”
Randy said working on this has been a lot of fun and it’s a lot of work over the years. The crowd excitedly cheers once a contestant sawed off a cookie first.
“Now today is going to be great for us, because it’s kind of cloudy and it’s cool, but boy, I tell you what, we’ve had lots of shows out there when it’s 75 degrees out there in the arena and you’re dying out there,” he said. “Memorable? No, (but) I missed my dad here.”
He’ll then pass the show on to forester Tom Roland who works with the U.S. Forest Service. He’s been competing in the show for seven years.
He said, “I think I’ve missed one show since 2013.”
He said the show helps preserve Wrangell’s logging history.
“This show really does a great job of telling the story of Wrangell and the history of Wrangell being a logging community, this harkens back to kind of our last boom cycle, and it’s a piece of history that really explains our town<” Roland said. “We don’t want to see this go away. We really want to keep this show going, to keep in touch with our roots here.”
Roland said even though the old timers have consistently beat him throughout the years, he really believes in the show.
Another contestant is Ron Shacker, who’s first time competing was in 1978. He said he’s never seen anything like this show, as people in the crowd yammer before the chainsaws buzz loudly through the arena.
Shacker said, “It’s one of the best logging shows I’ve ever seen, and I’m an old logger.”
He said logging has negatively impacted his body at times, like when he broke his ribs when a boulder fell on him. But yet, he still enjoys the show. He said competing in it makes him feel refreshed.
“It works you out and then you feel good,” Shacker said. “Makes you a little tired and I’m 68, probably the oldest in the event.”
One of his top honors was being given the “bull of the woods” award years ago.
“It’s one of the top, prestigious prizes, you get all around logger, which I got that in 1990,” Shacker said. “I just have fun doing it. it’s like an obstacle course.”
Shacker actually worked for Chuck Oliver back in the day. He said he was one of the best bosses he ever had.
“I loved it,” he said. “I used to compete against him. Some of the old T shirts are of me and Chuck on the misery whip. One of them I’m throwing the ax. I got a bunch of them (T shirts).
Joe Zarlingo, who’s in the Coast Guard, is competing for the third time. He’s excited about this show, and a lot of it comes from the crowd.
He said, “Just the energy the crowds bring and just being able to manipulate a lot of the equipment that loggers use every year is quite exciting.”
He said a lot of the competition boils down to how fast you can cut through the log, while mentioning his favorite event is the choke in the chain.
“Basically, you take the choke and you run it over the log and up and over,” Zarlingo said. “I did a lot of running and climbing growing up in Alaska.”
And his least favorite is bucking with the old school handsaw. He said that one takes a little finesse and it’s a little tricky; if he doesn’t get it right, it wears him out.
Back to Randy Oliver, he said he’s thankful for all the volunteers who help run the show. It’s crucial, he said, as the clock ticks closer to him hanging up his saw after 40 years. And yet, the show will go on, as the announcer on the stage ends one of the logging contests by saying, “Good job, boys!”
