It was the end of an era at the Loggers Sports Grounds.
For more than a quarter of a century, Stirling Hart watched his dad scale the climbing trees in Squamish and banter with the Loggers Sports MC as the character Ramblin’ Jesse Elliot.
On Sunday (Aug. 2), he was with his dad entertaining thousands in the crowd as part of the act.
It was the final show for his father, but Stirling said he’s going to become the new tree act star and hopes that his “ladykiller_93” (follow him on Instagram) moniker becomes as beloved as his dad’s character name.
“It was a big event for me and my dad to do the tandem tree act,” he said. “I’ve been seeing him do it for 26 years and he didn’t want to do it anymore, but I told him I wanted him to do one more act and do it with me. It was really cool – not too many people get to have a beer with their old man in front of thousands of people 80 feet up in the air.”
The one-time act saw the pair climb the brand new climbing trees, harass MC Armand Hurford, have a few beverages and dance before being ‘shooed away’ by Loggers Sports officials.
Stirling is a big part of the Grouse Mountain lumberjack show and said he wants to follow in his father’s footsteps. He said Squamish Days is always a good time and this year raised the bar.
“I’ve been coming here since I was in the womb and been here every year since,” he said. “When I come here it’s more like a family reunion and I’m just hanging out with friends and family.”
Stirling, a former open climb world champion, said the new 80-foot spar trees installed at the Loggers Sports Grounds this year are excellent and competitors were impressed with them.
“The new trees are beautiful,” he said. “John Hurford and Bryan Couture put a lot of hours into making these trees perfect. I think they’re the best competition trees that have ever been assembled.”
He said the two new trees should be the centrepoint for the grounds for years to come.
“They’re a lot faster and both trees are the exact same size and don’t taper – it’s the same size at the bottom as the top,” he said. “They were sanded really well and they should be healthy for a while. I think everyone was super impressed with the new trees.”
The Maple Ridge resident said the atmosphere of the Squamish event makes it special, and the volunteers help it shine. One of the longest running volunteers was honoured this year, as Debbie Patterson was named the volunteer of the year.
Patterson has been involved with the festival for years and is well known as the event secretary and one of the most important people behind the scenes.
This year’s festival concluded with a new event – Picnic at the Pavilion on Monday (Aug. 3). The free event saw local bands Dentville, the Will Ross Band and the Overcomers hit the stage.
Other popular events included the chair carving competition, the downtown street party, the bed races, axe throw, the kids’ festival, the loggers’ breakfast and the festival parade.
