RANGELEY — Hundreds flocked to the 31st Annual Rangeley Lakes Logging Museum Festival on Saturday.

This year’s festival featured a vast offering of events that vividly re-captured the interesting, colorful and vitally important role logging has played throughout Rangeley’s history.

Some of Saturday’s events included an old-fashioned bean-hole supper with beans that had been buried on Friday afternoon, a storytelling session featuring several well-known local artists such as the nationally famous local storyteller Gaylon “Jeep” Wilcox, an arts and crafts fair featuring many vendors, an open house of the logging museum, trail walks, a 50/50 raffle, children’s programs, an art contest and a spirited woodsmen competition.

“This is the best-attended festival we have ever had,” said Ronnie Haines, president of the Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum. The weather is certainly helping and we have many things for the people to do.”

The woodsmen competition engaged 19 men in six events, including the dot split, pulp piling, pulp toss, cross-cut saw, stock chain saw and the ax toss.

A large crowd gathered beneath tents and on the sideline stands to watch the competition ably emceed by former University of Maine logging team standout Matt Galambos.

When the wood chips finally fell at the close of four hours of intense yet friendly competition, Matt “Buckwheat” Taylor, 27, of Peru won the grand prize with 160 points. Jim Burak and Sheridan “Shed” Doyle tied for second place.

Taylor got a brand-new Stihl chain saw for winning the competition.

“Logging has always been the guts of Rangeley,” Haines said. “This logging museum is moving forward with new life and we need to get everyone in the community involved.”

dfayen@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link