Note from Stasha
A few years ago our Mum started working for The Great Alaskan Lumberjack
Show here in Ketchikan,
Alaska. This amazing show features some of the best lumberjacks in the
world, performing for huge crowds every day during the summer cruise ship
season. They demonstrate their amazing chopping, climbing and logrolling
skills and toss in some great laughs for good measure. And, the best part,
Boone Scheer and I get to logroll during the shows that my Mum hosts. Very
cool...
There is also a junior team of
logrollers called, The Ketchikan Coho's, and Aubrey and I are both members.
We have been trained by Nicole Shreeve and an
awesome group of lumberjacks, some of whom are past Junior World Champion
Logrollers themselves! We've been coached by Kasey
Swenson, Nate Hare, Jamie Whalen, Joel Kapp, Adam LaSalle, Andy Colle, Will
Lavalley, Jake Justus, Kyle Roberts, Eric Robson,
Robbie Miller, Dan McDonough, and Rob Scheer. We are lucky indeed!!! Casey
and Nate, two of the top 10 logrollers in the world, are our head coaches
and every spring we can't wait for the pond to
warm up.
Twice
a week we train and prepare for the Alaska State Log Rolling Championships
which are held at the Lumberjack Show site. We also spend a lot of our free
time training after the shows are over for the day. The more you train the
quicker you get better!
Every
year, members of the junior team get to travel to Hayward, Wisconsin
to participate in the Lumberjack World Championships! It's
an amazing adventure and an awesome opportunity for kids in Ketchikan. We
really appreciate Rob Scheer for bringing the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show
and logrolling to Ketchikan. We've even met some
of the world's greatest lumberjacks and some of them are from New Zealand.
(Note: In 2007, Stasha took the Alaska State Logrolling Championship
for the 4th time in a row! She beat out her very good
friend, Chris Coates, in an exciting and tense competition. She also holds
the #2 spot at the Lumberjack World Championships for girls 14-17. She is
an amazing athlete, a great sport, and a fierce competitor. Aubrey wasn't able to compete in 2007 due to a bad knee but
look out 2008...)
Each
year we have competed, and each year we have gotten a little bit better!
For the 2005 Alaska State Championships I took the #1 spot for the senior
girls for the 2nd year in a row. Aubrey competed against boys and girls in
the 6 to 10 age division and came in 4th in the state in 2004! A huge
accomplishment to say the least. In 2004 I also competed in the 11 to 14
division against boys and girls. I was undefeated in every heat and won the
Alaska State Championships! I was super excited! I think all of our dance
lessons helped....
2004:
I went to Wisconsin
with Forest Shreeve, Boone Scheer, and my Grampa.
Forest won the 6 to 10 age division championships in Ketchikan and Boone
was the 2003 Alaska State Champ and the reigning World Champion Junior Log
Roller! I was in good company! We all competed over the course of 3 days,
doing our best to make Alaska proud. Boone and Forest were in the 5 to 10 year old age division, competing against the best
junior logrollers in the world. Boone came in 3rd and Forest came in 2nd! I
was so happy for both of them. I was competing in
the 11 to 16 division against some of the toughest girls logrolling today -
some of them are ready to turn pro. I did my very best
to make my family and the lumberjacks proud and came in 10th in the world!
Not bad for my first year!
2005:
We had so much fun in Hayward in 2004 we went back again with my Mum,
Aubrey, and my Gramma. In addition to log rolling we went to the GoCart track and played miniature golf. And Mum and
Gramma took us to the Mall of America. I have to confess, Of course we're
going back for 2006 and 6 other team members are going with us!!!!. And we're all super
fans of Jamie Fischer who is an amazing logroller and boom runner. Someday
I want to compete in boom running. I love it!
We
love log rolling. It is great exercise and helps to teach us discipline and
dedication. We really have good time also and we feel really
lucky to be able to work with some of the most talented lumberjacks
in the world. You can see them on TV on Outdoor Life Network and Stihl Timbersports Series shown on ESPN. By the way, did we
tell you? We're future Ironjills!!!
