A new event that saw a huge crowd gather at the Aquatic Centre parking lot on Saturday, Feb. 28 was added to the Griz Days schedule to compensate for warmer weather.
The Rocky Mountain Lumberjack Show, which also included an encore performance in the evening following its debut afternoon showing, replaced the Rail Jam during this year’s Griz Days festivities.
The show comprised of the travelling Gagne family who got the crowd involved during their hour-long performance.
The family consists of 75-year-old Normand, son Gerald and grandsons Brandon, Michael and Nicholas who pleased the hundred-strong audience with sawing, axe swinging and sculpting with chainsaws.
Their demonstration was born out of Normand’s previous career, where he used to professionally compete as a lumberjack and performer for a different company.
“After my dad retired, we kept getting approached to do demonstrations and shows. So we just ran with it,” said Gerald. “And now we’re extremely busy.”
The family has previously performed at Disneyland in France, San Diego, Chile, the Montreal Expo, Switzerland and beyond.
In order to put on the event, the City of Fernie partnered up with the Fernie Chamber of Commerce to cover the extra costs totaling $5,500.
“Without that money, we could not have done it,” said Corien Sieders, former Executive Director at the Fernie Chamber of Commerce.
She added, “It was a lot of work, but we made it happen and I think it was a really successful event. We had so many people showing up and all the comments I have heard from visitors and locals, they really enjoyed it.”
Sieders said that approximately 1,000 attendees made it to the two showings of the Lumberjack show.
“It just goes to show that even if there’s no snow, you have to be positive because the event still has to go on,” said Sieders.