1. ENTERPRISE-JOURNAL, McCOMB, MISSISSIPPI SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 07, 2014 B1
www.enterprise-journal.com
BY ERNEST HERNDON
ENTERPRISE-JOURNAL
T
YLERTOWN — After last year’s inaugural lumberjack
games in the area, the folks at Saw-Axe-Spur Produc-
tion Co. surveyed competitors about the event.
“They said how great a time they had,” company man-
ager and art director Angela Stewart said, noting some said
they’d even like to move here. “The competitors had an ab-
solutely fantastic time and are eager to come back.”
This year’s event, which is dubbed Sawdust & Splinters,
will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7 and 8, at the same
location as last year, Shirard Grey Estate at 1107 Grey
Cemetery Road, off Old Highway 24 on the Walthall-Pike
county line.
Company owner Mike Hobgood said all of last
year’s competitors are returning, plus more. He even
had to turn down some others who
wanted to participate. A host of profes-
sional chainsaw artists will be back as
well.
“These competitors are the
very same guys on ESPN,” Stewart
said.
A new feature this year is the
“Journeyof Valor”5Krun/walk
to benefit the Wounded War-
rior Project at 8 a.m. Saturday,
Nov. 8. The event will meander
through the estate’s scenic
woods. Participants who regis-
ter by Oct. 7 get a freeT-shirt.
Some of last year’s competi-
tors were Paul Cogar, Matt Cog-
ar, Jason Lentz, Dave Jewett,
Nancy Zalewski, Mel Lentz, Mike
Sullivan, Nate Waterfield, Erin
LaVoie and Brian Bartow.
Events include ax throw, standing
block chop, hot saw, springboard
chop, underhand chop, speed climb,
single and double buck sawing and
tree topping.
There also will be entertainment, arts and crafts, food
and children’s activities.
Sawdust & Splinters is billed as the “biggest logging sports
competitive event in the South.”
Hobgoodknewhewastakingonamightychallengewhen
he decided to host the event last year, since most take place in
northern states like Wisconsin and Oregon.
“This is something he knows so well because he has trav-
eled all his life across the nation extensively following these
and similar things,” Stewart said.
Hobgood recalled broaching the idea to competitors at an
event eight years ago.
“WhenIwalkeduptotheworld-classcompetitorsandtold
them one day I would have an event like this in Mississippi,
they thought I was joking,” he said.
Last year proved it was no joke.
Some 3,000 spectators came through the gates, fewer
thanexpectedbutstillalotforafirst-timeevent.Stewartex-
pects many more this year as word has spread.
Organizers have condensed the events into a smaller
area at the same location to cut down on walking. They re-
duced the event from three days to two but extended the
closing time from 5 p.m. to 10.
Stewart came on board with the company this year after
designing the Sawdust & Splinters logo (below left). The
businessisheadquarteredat745BeulahAve.indowntown
Tylertown.
“I thought this is going to be fantastic, something that is
going to be a huge contribution to the area as well as the
entire state,” Stewart said.
Stewart grew up on a dairy farm
near Greensburg, Louisiana, and
fell in love with Walthall County,
which she said feels like stepping
back in time. Sawdust & Splinters
reflectsthatsenseof old-timetra-
dition, she said.
“Thisisagreatthingthatfits
right into this area.”
Even the non-logging fea-
tures tie into tradition, Stewart
said. Arts and crafts, for exam-
ple, “are all handmade, unique,
created wares.”
Music will include gospel,
blues and classic rock. South
Soul will perform Friday night
and Runaway Train on Satur-
day night.
Last year, spectators came
from Louisiana and Alabama as
well as Mississippi.
“So many people here, such as my-
self honestly, had really never seen it
before,” Stewart said.
Competitors come from as far away as
Canada.
The events are incredible, Stewart said,
such as the speed climb where competitors
race up 90-foot wooden poles in 16 or 17 sec-
onds and back down in 4.
Organizers would like to get youth groups involved —
schools, Boy and Girl Scouts, 4-H clubs, Future Farmers of
America — to compete in youth amateur events. Hobgood
hopes to add log-rolling to the list of contests next year.
Though logging sports events are typically held up north,
southwest Mississippi has a rich logging tradition, noted sec-
retary-treasurer Lorraine Jenkins.
With Sawdust & Splinters, “you’re reconnecting the old
and the new, you’re sharing history and you’re making histo-
ry, all at the same time,” she said.
Above, Jason Lentz puts the axe to a log in the
underhand block chop. At right, Derek Knutson
climbs a 90-foot pole in a matter of seconds at
last year’s games.
SUBMITTED
At left, Mike Hob-
good, right, and
Scott Hobgood try
their hand in the
double buck saw-
ing competition.
Nathan Waterfield balances precariously on a pole in
the springboard chop.
SUBMITTED
underhand block chop. At right, Derek Knutson last year’s games.
Extreme
lumberjacks
• What: Logging sports event, chainsaw artists
• When: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8
• Where: Shirard Grey Estate, 1107 Grey Cemetery Road
off Old Highway 24 on the Walthall-Pike line
• New: “Journey of Valor” 5K run/walk 8 a.m. Nov. 8 hon-
oring U.S. veterans
• Tickets: One-day pass $20 for adults, $18 veterans and
seniors, $15 children 5-12, free children 4 and under; two-
day pass $38 for adults, $34 veterans and seniors, $30
children 5-12
• Information: www.sdsfest.com; 876-9635; email con-
tact@sdsfest.com
SAWDUST & SPLINTERS
n
Sawdust&SplintersreturnsNov.7-8