PHILLIPS — The fog cleared by 9 a.m., but the field and parking lot on Route 4 were still wet from Friday’s downpours for the Lumbering Competition at the 60th Phillips Old Home Days celebration on Saturday.
Dozens of trucks filled a small parking lot and lined the highway.
Men meticulously filed their chain saws, tweaking the sharp edges to make the fastest possible cut in the square timber log, or cant. Soon, the sound of those chain saws drowned out all conversation, as each contestant worked hard to score the most points in the three different categories of saw competition.
Participants included men, women and children, all cheered on by an admiring audience.
Most of the nearly two dozen participants were local, according to organizer Tim Arms.
“I’ve been running this here about 15 years,” he said. “Lewis Richards ran it before that, so I think it’s been running as long as Old Home Days has been around.”
Attendee and paper industry machinist Jason Flagg noted that fewer participants were in what he called a “younger crowd.” Many mills that depended on loggers to supply their timber have closed over the past quarter century, so fewer young people in the area are seeking careers in the logging industry.
Still, the crowd turned out to show its appreciation for the loggers’ skills and professionalism. Midway through the three hours of competition, everyone stopped to recognize and applaud one of the area’s most well-known loggers, Guy “Sonny” Haines.
Health problems kept him from getting out of his vehicle, but Arms read a moving tribute to his contributions to the logging industry over the past half-century. His business employed over 40 loggers in the western Maine area.
Arms said that one spring, Haines had 10,000 cords of wood piled up and ready to truck down Route 4.
Haines grew up in Rangeley and started working in the woods in the 1940s with his father, Donald, better known as “Bo Peep.”
“Sonny is known for getting the job completed, one way or another,” Arms said.
Participants also competed for a chain saw toss and a log roll. Children competed in a dot split, which required them to hit a dot on a log as closely as possible. At the end of the competition, Pete White accumulated the most points, taking the top spot as he has for the previous 13 consecutive years.
Pete White, right, and Dalton Gordon participate in the cross-cut saw category at the annual Lumbering Competition on Saturday at the 60th Phillips Old Home Days celebration. White accumulated the most points across all categories, and took home the trophy for his 13th consecutive year in the event.
Brothers Ansen, back, and Camden Pillsbury waited patiently with their mother, Casey Bredeau, for the annual Lumbering Competition to start on Saturday at the 60th annual Phillips Old Home Days.
Guy “Sonny” Haines ‘ 2017 Lumberman Honoree award at Saturday’s annual Lumbering Competition at the 60th annual Phillips Old Home Days celebration. Even though health problems kept Haines from getting out of his vehicle, organizer Tim Arms read a moving tribute to Haines’ contributions to the logging industry over the past half-century.
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