 By Kristen A. Thweatt June 22, 2005
I do not throw the competition double-bit axes. Instead, mine is a sport born of living in Southeast Alaska, and the work of heating my home with firewood, day after day. Through twenty years of splitting firewood, the chop of the axe became a throw. When the throw stuck in wood, I found it to be good sporting fun. Now I throw hatchets, in sets of three, overhand and underhand, making patterns on a target, or on a wall of firewood. What a perfect venue our local Timber Carnival is for a few minutes demonstration of a sport based on the logging industry. Logging, on a small scale, is what we do to get dead trees down, out of the forest, to bring that firewood into our woodsheds. The Board of Directors of the 4th of July Ketchikan Timber Carnival say that my sport is not a logging related activity, so they will not permit me to be part of the show, nor can they extend their carnival by four minutes to allow me participation. At the 2003 carnival, I noticed that setting-up for each event often took more than four minutes, and sitting there waiting, listening to the overly loud music, was boring. So when you go to the 33rd Annual Ketchikan Timber Carnival, I want you to know that the Board of Directors has prohibited a 30 year Southeast Alaskan from participating. I do want to demonstrate this timber-sport as part of the 4th of July Timber Carnival, and would appreciate your support to get the Board of Directors to allow my performance. Kristen A. Thweatt
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