SAVIKKO PARK| JUNE 16 - 17, 2018 | FREE ADMISSION
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GOLD RUSH
June 23 - 24 2018
Schedule of events Gold Rush Days Opening ceremony - Saturday, June 16, 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday Booths: 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. Children’s Carnival - 1-3 p.m. Gold panning for children and adults - 1-3 p.m.
Saturday, June 16
Sunday, June 17
Mining
Logging
Men’s Jackleg Drilling Men’s Spike Driving Women’s Spike Driving Teens’ Spike Driving Men’s Hand Mucking Women’s Hand Mucking Men’s 12B Overshot Mucking Team Drilling
Women’s Axe Throwing Men’s Axe Throwing Women’s Team Hand Bucking Men’s Team Hand Bucking Women’s Stock Power Saw Bucking Men’s Stock Power Saw Bucking Women’s Speed Climbing Men’s Vertical Chopping Men’s Speed Climbing Team Cable Splice Jack and Jill Team Hand Bucking Women’s Choker Setter Race
Children’s Hand Mucking for ages 6-12 from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.
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Teens’ Choker Setter Race Choker Setter and Hook Tender Relay Women’s Obstacle Pole Buck Men’s Obstacle Pole Buck Men’s Horizontal Chopping Women’s Horizontal Chopping Women’s Log Rolling Men’s Log Rolling Miners vs. Loggers Tug of War Award Ceremony Children’s Choker Setter Race for ages 6-12 from 1-2 p.m.
June 23 - 24, 2018
Annual event focuses on local mining, logging industries
Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File
Above: Veronica Friend leaps over a log during the Women’s Choker Setter contest at the 27th Annual Gold Rush Days Competition at Savikko Park on Sunday, June 18, 2017.
BY GREGORY PHILSON Juneau Empire
Anybody can be a miner or a logger, even just for one day. That is the one of the reasons that Juneau Gold Rush Days has been such a successful event in its now 28th year, where residents and visitors can join in with local miners and loggers in a two-day festival celebrating those two industries at Savikko Park in Douglas. “When we first started Gold Rush, we wanted to bring families together to meet the miners and present ourselves as no different that anyone else,” said Jerry
Harmon, President of the Juneau Gold Rush Commission and a miner for 43 years. “We wanted people to know we go to church, we have families, that we fish and we hunt just like everybody else. We wanted to have competitions set up to show people mining and logging work. Now we have it so anybody that would like to be a miner or a logger for a day can participate even if they have not mined or logged a day in their life.” Gold Rush Days, which is held from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. both Saturday June 16 and Sunday, June 17 includes
two days of friendly competition in mining and logging events. Saturday is dedicated to mining and features events like jackleg drilling, spike driving, team drilling and hand mucking. Sunday features logging events that include climbing, chopping and axe throwing. The weekend concludes with a miners vs. loggers tug-of-war for bragging rights followed by an awards ceremony. On both days, children and adults can also participate in gold panning and there is also a children’s carnival. SEE RUSH, Page 7
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GOLD RUSH
June 23 - 24, 2018
This is how we roll BY JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
On a sunny weekend day in June, take a walk along the Twin Lakes trail and look for a man atop a log. He might be wet, he might be sweating, but chances are, he’s smiling. When Gold Rush Days rolls around, Animal Austin will be rolling around with it. For the past two years, Austin — owner of a Juneau tree-trimming service — has taken home the top prize in the log-rolling contest. More than that, he’s beaten competitors from Wrangell and Ketchikan, likely making him the best log-roller in
the state. Austin — his real name is Ralph, but everyone calls him “Animal” — said there are three keys to success when it comes to the annual competition: practice, coordination and equipment. “You’re at a real disadvantage if you don’t have cork shoes,” he said. Cork shoes — specialized logging footwear with spikes — are familiar footwear for Austin, who hails from Hoonah and became a logger with Whitestone Logging in that community at age 22. He has competed in logging events since the inception of Gold SEE LOG, Page 6 Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File
Left: Jessie Ross, right, loses his balance against Ryan Friend in the log rolling contest at the 27th Annual Gold Rush Days Competition at Savikko Park on Sunday, June 18, 2017.
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GOLD RUSH
June 23 - 24, 2018
Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File
Above: Veronica Friend, left, out duels Alea Oien in the log rolling contest at the 27th Annual Gold Rush Days Competition at Savikko Park on Sunday, June 18, 2017. Below: Whit Adams competes in the men’s hand mucking contest during the 27th Annual Gold Rush Days Competition on Saturday, June 17, 2017. Right: Dominic Hoy competes in the Obstacle Pole Buck at the 27th Annual Gold Rush Days Competition at Savikko Park on Sunday, June 18, 2017.
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GOLD RUSH
LOG: Continued from Page 4
Rush Days, and by 1999, when he was 37, he was traveling the country to compete in logging shows intended to demonstrate skills including log rolling. In a log rolling contest, two people — Gold Rush Days has separate events for male and female competitors — balance atop a floating log. Each competitor tries to throw the other into the water by maneuvering the log. That means running on it like a treadmill, abruptly stopping it, changing direction, or any number of other techniques. Competitors aren’t allowed to touch each other, and the last person with a foot on the log (and without falling into the water) wins. “Hand-eye coordination is
important,” Austin said, though in this case, it may be “foot-eye” coordination. As he explained, a competitor needs to keep a close watch on what the other person is doing. If they’re changing the direction of the roll, the other competitor needs to take steps to follow along or fight it. He frequently practices during the summer on Twin Lakes and has already lodged a practice log near the shoreline. Austin might be the returning champion at Gold Rush Days, but he’s not unbeatable. At last year’s Southeast Alaska State Fair, Haines storyteller and musician Cosmo Fudge toppled him into the water in the log-rolling contest there to take first place. Fudge, 31, was competing for the first time, but it wasn’t his first time atop a log. He was born on a float camp, grew up in Wrangell, and spent five years towing logs. Where Austin keeps his
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June 23 - 24, 2018
t’s like skateboarding; you’re going to fall down. You’re going to fall in, you’re go-
ing to get wet. But when you get over that hump, when you get comfortable on the stick, it’s a lot of fun.
— Ralph “Animal,” two-time log-rolling contest winner
eyes locked on a competitor’s feet, Fudge keeps watch on his competitor’s core and hips. It’s some thing he learned while wrestling in high school in Ketchikan. “Your core doesn’t lie; you know where someone’s going when you look at their core,” he said. He offered another piece of advice: Don’t try to move around on the log. When you get on, your
feet can change the way the log is rolling, but don’t try to flip the way you’re facing. “As soon as you turn around, that kind of messes up your footing,” he said. Above all else, he said, don’t be afraid to get wet. “I think the most important thing, which is the probably the hardest thing is not panic when you know you’re going to get wet,”
he said. “It’s like skateboarding; you’re going to fall down. You’re going to fall in, you’re going to get wet. But when you get over that hump, when you get comfortable on the stick, it’s a lot of fun,” he said. • Contact reporter James Brooks at jbrooks@juneauempire.com or 523-2258.
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June 23 - 24, 2018
RUSH: Continued from Page 3
W
Oh, the many places you can go! e have it so anybody
In Xtratuf’s for Men, Women and Kids
that would like to be a
Children and teenagers will also have the opportunity to participate miner or a logger for both days. Harmon said the event has become a family tradition for a day can participate many Juneau residents. “It has always been a family even if they have not event,” Harmon said. “We have adults competing now who were mined or logged a competing in the kids’ events years ago. The children events day in their life. have always been real big because it gives them something to do.” — Jerry Harmon, President According to the Alaska Miners Association, a total of of the Juneau Gold Rush approximately 9,000 had jobs attributed to the mining industry Comission in the state, with 1,600 of those jobs in Southeast Alaska. Also Greens Creek Mine ($1.7 million) and Kensington Mine ($1.4 million) were the top-two property tax very little about. payers to the City and Borough of Juneau. “Our mission has always been to educate The logging industry employs about the people of Juneau and Southeast Alaska 400 people in the state, according to the about the mining and logging industries’ Alaska Forest Association in 2016. past, present and future,” Harmon said. Harmon, who has mined in Juneau since 1985 and has traveled the world • Contact reporter Gregory Philson at mining, said the festival attracts about gphilson@juneauempire.com or call at 52310,000 people over the two-day period. 2265. Not bad considering when the event first started in 1990, it was only planned to last a for a couple years, Harmon said. The weekend-long celebration also features food and craft vendors. Harmon said he always hopes the weekend gives people a glimpse into the industries they may know
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