Timberworks Lumberjack Show at Taste ‘N Glow Balloon Fest

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) -The balloons are back in town for the Taste ‘N Glow fest. They definitely are the highlight, but there are some other unique and fun things to do during the day. The lumberjack show is one of them.

“Right here is gonna be the log rolling contest and I’ll be performing in that,” said John Jankiewicz jokingly.

Jankiewicz isn’t performing, but other lumberjacks are.

“I grew up log rolling actually. When I was 5 years old they kick you in the lake and that’s how you learn. As I got older I learned how to do the sharper stuff,” said Nick Hastedt.

The shows are about 35 minutes long and they take a lot of physical endurance. There are 7 events, and they either use a normal saw or a chainsaw.

“Got a lot of the history of logging back in the day, and we modernize it with chainsaws and such. Just to get a feel for how they used to do it back in the day and how it is now with modern technology,” said Hastedt.

The Timberworks Lumberjacks travel all over the country, but Hastedt is originally from Wisconsin.

“It’s always fun to go to different venues. You meet different people all the time, and you see different parts of the country and learn a bunch of new stuff,” said Hastedt.

During the middle of the show there’s an interactive chainsaw carving of a rabbit chair. They give the chair to someone from the audience. The show ends with some difficult log rolling.

“I think they’re gonna fall in the water,” said the Arndt Family.

They were right. Most of the kids enjoy the show, but some find it a bit too noisy and wanted to cover their ears. Other than that, the audience seemed to like their corny lumberjack jokes.

“People always come up after the show and ask questions about the gear, or anything about that. Or if they want to learn about what we do,” said Hastedt.

This is the first time the Timberworks Lumberjacks show is at the Taste ‘N Glow Fest. There will be 3 lumberjack shows on Friday and on Saturday at 1:00, 4:00 and 7:30 in the evening.

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