OXFORD – The buzz of chain saws filled the air at the Oxford County Fair on Monday as the Woodsmen’s Day events entertained visitors.

Dave Clement, the announcer at the event, said it was the fair’s 33rd annual Woodsmen’s Day. Clement, who has worked at Woodsmen’s Day events for 41 years, said the day keeps alive the traditions of the old logging days.

“This sport here is primarily using old logging tools, most of which aren’t in use today,” he said.

Contestants in the events participated in chain saw cutting, crosscutting, wood chopping, bucksawing, log rolling, ax throwing, and tree felling, with prizes ranging from $5 to $75. Most of the competitions were based on time, although the tree-felling contest included an element of accuracy, depending on how close the fallen tree came to a marker.

The sawing competitions included one and two-person events. Crosscutting allowed people on either end of a long saw to cut through a wooden beam, while only one person operated the bucksaw.

The chain saw competitions ranged from regular saws to “supersaws,” which are modified to give more power and slice beams like butter. Each of the supersaws had a “tune pipe” to funnel exhaust from the saw and create a vacuum to pull fuel through faster.

The competitions were preceded by the Junior Woodsmen events, where students from the Region 11 Oxford Hills Technical School and Region 9 School of Applied Technology in Mexico tried log rolling, crosscutting, and chain-saw events.

“It gives them a chance to practice,” said Brian Bean, forestry instructor at the Oxford Hills Technical School. “They’re learning, and they’re practicing what they learn.”

Bean said some of the students stay on to help with the day’s competitions and interact with the professional competitors, who can teach them more about the equipment and activities.

“The professionals are really good with the kids,” Bean said.

Jeff Pavao, of Dighton, Mass., said he got into Woodsmen’s Day 16 years ago after one of the people working in his tree service introduced him to it. He said participants often travel from fair to fair in New England during the summer, seeing the same people along the way.

“It’s a lot of camaraderie,” Pavao said. “It’s not an overly competitive thing.”

Irene Harvey, of Walden, Vt., made short work of the beams during her sawing events, as well she might. Harvey holds the world record in the 8-by-8-inch single and double cut, as well as the 10-by-10-inch single cut for pine.

Harvey has a tattoo on her right shoulder of a bucksaw, with the numbers 2006 and 2007 under it, indicating the years she set records. She said she also broke one of her records in 2008, and intends to keep on doing so.

“That’s why I left room,” she said, referring to the tattoo.