01/16/14 Back by popular demand, the 5th annual Outdoor Sports, Lake & Cabin Show set for Jan. 24-26 at the Coliseum, is showcasing the STIHL Timberworks Lumberjack Show for the second consecutive year, but with a new addition—the Lumberjills.

The lumberjills, Samantha and Sarah Hadley, grew up in Hayward, Wis., in the heart of where the Lumberjack World Championships takes place every summer.

Starting at the age of 5, Samantha said her playtime heavily revolved around the sport by swimming and splashing around in the water. “We went to log rolling camp instead of soccer camp,” she said.

Nineteen years later, Samantha continues to train year-round for the summer sport by lifting weights and log rolling indoors at YMCA pools.

Samantha, the elder sister, is currently ranked top 10 in the world for women’s professional log rolling, but the pair will compete for fun rather than titles during the family-friendly Outdoor Sports, Lake & Cabin Show.

The lumberjills will compete in log rolling, cross-cut sawing, the ax throw and pair up with the men for a Jack and Jill competition to see which team can sever wood the fastest. The lumberjacks will also utilize century old skills like chopping, then hot sawing, chainsaw carving and a speed climb 45-feet up to the roof of the Coliseum.

“Unlike many other sports, what we do is actually derived from work that used to be done, and actually had a purpose in the mid to late 1800s,” she said. “We’ve just modernized it a bit and turned it into a competition.”

Timberworks Lumberjack Shows has been featured on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” TNN, ESPN’s “Jeep Trails,” Discovery Channel’s “The Travelers,” MTV’s “The Real World” and “Road Rules,” and the Family Channel and Outdoor Life Network.

Performance times are 5, 6:30, 8 p.m. Friday; 11:30 a.m., 1:30, 3:30, 5:30 p.m. Saturday; and 12:30, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Outdoor Sports, Lake & Cabin Show will span 108,000 square-feet of the Coliseum offering show-only bargains, and the opportunity to compare, test and purchase thousands of the latest high-quality products and services related to the following: Biking, Hiking, Camping and Fitness, Hunting and Fishing, Boats and Water Sports, Vacation and Travel, RVs and Motor Sports and Cottage Living.

Attractions include a new youth archery range, air rifle shooting range fundraiser, free motorcycle rides on a Harley-Davidson simulator, Retro Kustom “National Lampoon’s Vacation” RV, two stocked fishing ponds, 400 square-foot indoor beach, try-before-you-buy 25,000-gallon canoe and kayak lagoon, fully furnished oak cabin for sale, kids fishing contests, Indiana Wild exotic animals, free seminars and demonstrations, along with hourly giveaways and much more.

Cost is $10 for adults, and valid for re-admission all weekend. Children 12 and under are free. Early bird registrants can log on www.SportsandCabinShow.com and receive $3 off general admission.

Coupons are also available at Fort Wayne area Gander Mountain and Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, and Ehlerding Motorsports. Anyone attending the Mizpah Shrine Circus Jan. 23-26 also receives $3 off admission with a ticket stub, not valid with combined offers. Coliseum parking is $5 in the main lot.

The show is open Friday, noon to 9 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, log on www.SportsandCabinShow.com. 

The Outdoor Sports, Lake & Cabin Show is presented by Coliseum Productions, an Indianapolis-based company that also produces Fort Wayne’s annual Allen County FUN Fair July 22-27, 2014 at the Allen County Fairgrounds, and Fall Home Design Expo set for Oct. 24-26, 2014 at the Memorial Coliseum.

 

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Photo cutline (from left to right): Lumberjills Samantha and Sarah Hadley—also sisters—will test their balancing skills Jan. 24-26 at Fort Wayne’s Coliseum to see who can stay on a rolling log the longest. The pair will perform daily at the 5th annual Outdoor Sports, Lake & Cabin Show.