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Lumberjack show draws a big crowd

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Bruce Belanger wins a race between a powerful chainsaw and a crosscut saw manned by Bob Chaillier, right, of the Great Lakes Timber Show, and audience volunteer Frank Chism of Milton during the show at the Rock County 4-H Fair on Tuesday.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Terin Nyman, 14, of Orfordville, falls into a pool of cold water while attempting log rolling at the Great Lakes Timber Show at the Rock County 4-H Fair on Tuesday.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Bruce Belanger takes aim at a target during an axe throwing demonstration at the Great Lakes Timber Show at the Rock County 4-H Fair on Tuesday.

JANESVILLE — They’re like Burns and Allen, except with chainsaws.

Or, to use a reference our younger readers will understand, Ernie and Bert, except with more muscular forearms.

On Tuesday, Rock County 4-H Fair goers were introduced to the Great Lakes Timber Show, featuring chain saw carving, cross cut carving, ax throwing, log rolling and plenty of good-natured banter between Bruce Belanger, aka “middle-aged fat bald guy” and Bob “I just work here” Chaillier.

If you missed it, the duo will be performing at noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. The show is set up behind the main stage of the grandstand.

Belanger is the show’s big cheese, in more ways in one.

He organizes and runs the four timber show crews, throws a mean ax, creates tiny little chairs out of blocks of wood, starts big chain saws with ease and is surprisingly light on his feet for a guy his size.

His actual size?

“185” he tells the audience, and they immediately laugh.

The show started with an ax-throwing contest. Lots of big muscles to admire there, but the verbal exchange was pretty good, too.

It started with Belanger spotting his partner points in the ax-throwing contest.

Chaillier then complained about the glare from Belanger’s head distracting him.

Belanger notes that Chaillier has taken “13 throws to my one.”

All that cross-talk is probably just comedy shtick the guys worked up over several months of touring together, but it comes off as fresh and funny.

The show features a lumberjack show-and-tell that includes an M-tooth saw, a nasty-sharp gizmo designed to cut the bark from trees and a log lifter that looks like Paul Bunyan could have used it for ice tongs.

You need the right tool for the job, something the audience learned without being told.

Dani Doubleday, 16, of Janesville was picked to join Chaillier in a two-against-one sawing contest. Their tool of choice was the massive cross cut saw that made lumberjacks in to lumber barons in the 1800s.

Belanger’s choice was a chain saw.

Doubleday and Chaillier destroyed him in the first round, slicing off a neat Frisbee of wood. But then Belanger brought out a different saw which had been “modified in a way that would invalidate the warranty.”

He won.

The show’s finale featured kids from the audience trying out log rolling in a giant water tank.

Even with all their youthful coordination and courage, they weren’t able to stay on the spinning, bobbling log for more than a few seconds.

Belanger, on the other hand, was transformed from middle-aged guy with a gut into a ballerina in suspenders, jeans and a checked shirt.

It was something to see.