The Chuck Oliver Logging Show, a cornerstone of Wrangell's Fourth of July festivities, is set to continue its tradition: This is the 50th year since it started. The event harks back to Wrangell's deep roots in Southeast Alaska's timber industry.

Established in 1975 by Chuck Oliver - who logged for Alaska Lumber and Pulp and later worked for the company - the show quickly became a major draw, attracting participants and spectators from across the region.

Early contests featured a wide array of events showcasing logging skills, including axe throwing, "ma and pa" bucking, axe cutting, speed climbing and log rolling, according to a 1975 report in the Wrangell Sentinel archives.

Randy Oliver, Chuck's son, recalled the show's heyday. "Back in the late '70s, early '80s it was a three-day event," he said. "There were like 18 or 19 events that would span over three days. Logging was prevalent back then, there were 23 camps around Wrangell, this being the sawmill and the hub. So for Fourth of July this town would swell," growing to several thousand people.

Randy Oliver emphasized the logging show's enduring role in Wrangell's Independence Day celebration. Tom Roland took over leadership duties after 2019, but Oliver had to return to chair the event last year. And, while he will chair the event this year, he said it will be his last time.

"I'm 66 years old. Somewhere along the way I got old," Oliver laughed. "I just blinked and all of a sudden I was old. It's taxing out there."

Spectators can anticipate traditional logging challenges such as axe chopping, power saw bucking and axe throwing, alongside the rolling pin toss and other activities.

"When this started back in the '70s, it was my dad's vision to teach the youth in the community what logging was like in the old days," Oliver explained. "So they could see how it was then and how it is kind of now, and that was part of the reason we married the two together. You got hand-pulled crosscut saws and then you have chainsaws, too."

Chuck OIiver died in 2019.

Oliver said he hopes to see the logging show carry further on into the future, well beyond its 50th year.

"There isn't any logging around here anymore," he said. "Those days are over. If we don't continue to do these things, then who will remember them? This is a way to keep the past alive."