You wouldn’t expect watching someone cut wood with a chainsaw to be very entertaining, but that’s exactly what it was at the 2019 Hackensack Minnesota Chainsaw Event. 12 professional carvers came from all over the Midwest and as far as Kentucky to try and impress the crowd.

“The more realistic or the cuter you can get it, you really – gets them pretty excited,” said Chainsaw Carver Michael Koppel.

Being able to spend time with other individuals who are just as passionate at chainsaw carving is one of the highlights of the weekend.

“The camaraderie for me is really fun, and I’m going to try this and you do it and you get some feedback from everybody,” said Koppel.

One of the most fun parts of the Hackensack Chainsaw Event is the All-American Lumberjack Show. Kids from Pine River-Backus, Walker, and Nevis put the books away and enjoyed the show, and even some teachers got involved.

“The Walker teacher kept struggling throwing the thing [ax] at them so it was pretty funny, but Mr. Kramer is pretty tall, so he would make it a lot; it was hilarious,” said Nevis student Noah.

The show was a blast for the kids, but just as much fun for the lumberjacks.

“I love the school shows, it’s a ton of fun because they are so energetic, they are clapping, they are stomping their feet on the ground, they’re yelling, they’re booing,” said Professional Lumberjack Jamie Fischer.

“To compete in front of the kids, that’s the best one; I mean, we do shows for families, but these shows for the kids, they are the best,” said Professional Lumberjack Jimmy Anderson.

At the conclusion of the show was a cold trip and dip into the frigid water.

“It takes your breath away, you hit that water and you want to get out as fast as you can, but like Jaime said, we’ve had to break thin ice of the top layer of the water before,” said Anderson.

“We’re not a witch, we’re not going to melt if the water hits, we’re lumberjacks, we’re going to suck it up, we’re going to get the job done, we’re going to go out and have some fun, but it was cold today,” said Fischer.

The Chainsaw Event in Hackensack had a great turnout again this year, and the locals are excited for the 16^th annual event next September.

By — Chaz Mootz