Timberfest 2006 Postponed Check it out in 2007! Usually the second Saturday in June ... • Logging events: Axe throwing, birling, cross-cut saw, power saw and more. • Log Truck Loading and Driving Contest & Self-Loader Competition. • Exhibits and Food Booths • Snagfallers’ Ball • Logging Events-Final. • Food Booths and Exhibits Kid's Timber Barn. Bonner County Fairgrounds North Boyer Avenue For more information, call (208) 263-1288 or email timberinfo@sisna.com.

Timberfest celebrates county's oldest industry By Billie Jean Plaster Even before Humbird Lumber Co. formed in Sandpoint in 1901, smaller mills were springing up, establishing the longest-lived industry in northern Idaho. Until Humbird closed in the early '30s, nearly every man in Sandpoint either worked at one of its mills or logging camps. Today, more than 8 percent of Bonner County's workers are employed in the industry, which is still vital to our economy. In fact, the timber industry contributes nearly 40 percent of the region's economic base. In celebration of our rich timber heritage and culture, the North Idaho Timberfest formed in 1991 and stages its the event each year in June at the Bonner County Fairgrounds. It’s an annual happening that many in North Idaho – and indeed, the entire Northwest – look forward to. "I think we need something like this to remind people of what was the biggest industry in the country years ago," said Al Kluver, who spent 43 years working in sawmills before he retired in 1992. "It's not the biggest now, but it's still important to the people of Bonner County." Timberfest presents the excitement of timber sports for both local competitors and true professionals who attend timber sport events around the country. Bob and Carson Bosworth are a father-son team that has competed in many Timberfest events over the years. Bob is a retired Forest Service supervisor from Bonners Ferry who has competed in timber sports for 40 years; he helped organize Timberfest from the beginning. Son Carson has taken up the mantle, competing on the worldwide circuit and makes his home in Wisconsin. He's been making money in timber sports since he was 12 years old, and it has provided the main source of his livelihood. What keeps Bob motivated to continue competing is "the appeal of the heritage that the West has for people who work with their hands." He explained that it was those people, such as lumberjacks and miners, who built much of the country's infrastructure. Over the years, the industry has gone from crosscut saws to chain saws and feller bunchers, and from horse skidding and river drives to grapple skidders, dozers, logging trucks and even helicopters. Spectators get to see many of these old and new tools of the trade up close and in action. Timberfest has also been home of the Idaho State Lumberjack Championships for the entire state. Timber sports include: the axe throw, choker setting, double buck, single buck, Jack-n-Jill Bucking, Jill-n-Jill Bucking, obstacle pole bucking, horizontal chop, standing block chop, spring board chop, stock saw, hot saw, pole climbing and birling. The local challenge events also include the loggers relay and – the one that really gets the crowd going – tug-o-war. John and Joyce Broadsword have volunteered since the first Timberfest. The owners of Northern Log Homes, they provide the cedar logs used in the birling ponds each year. As the president of Idaho Women in Timber, Joyce especially enjoys witnessing community support at Timberfest. "I feel it's a very positive event both for the community and the industry. It highlights our heritage, and we are deeply steeped in timber heritage in this area and in North America," Joyce said. Her own timber heritage reaches back nearly 30 years to when she was a teenager setting chokers for her dad, Phil McNearney, who died in 1998. He was proud to have been chosen in 1996 as Timberfest's Bull of the Woods. Each year, this honorary figure is selected from among nominees who have spent their lives working in the timber industry. Herman Mesenbrink of Moyie Springs has won the honor, as has Kluver. "I thought it was a great honor," Kluver said. "I was flabbergasted." The Timber Education and Information Program coordinates Timberfest as part of its mission to show appreciation for the industry and to educate people about forestry. Shawn Keough, now a state senator representing Idaho’s First District, was the first program manager and organizer. When she became the executive director of the Associated Logging Contractors (ACL) some years ago, Mitch Lippert took over. Lippert says that although she enjoys the entire program, she favors the log loading and events using old-time skills. She also likes to see loggers come together for camaraderie and reminiscing. And that, too, is part of Timberfest. This story was originally published in Sandpoint Magazine.