22nd Annual Wisconsin Klondike Days to be Held Mar. 3-4
OutdoorHub 02.24.12
“Wisconsin’s Most Multi-Faceted Winter Family Event” packed with lumberjack competitions, horse & dog weight-pulls, historic rendezvous encampment, Native American cultural performances, arts & crafts show & sale, antique sleigh rally & competition, snowshoe races, ice carving, dog mushing, Bluegrass Festival, and more is all set to roll on Sat. and Sun., March 3 & 4 (2012), in Eagle River, Wisconsin.
Here’s the latest news about Klondike Days, from Event Director, Christine Schilling of Eagle River:
- The Great Northern Lumberjack Competition at Klondike Days is going to have a record year for competitors, with over 65 registered (double any previous year). Students from the University of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota will be attending.
- The Northwoods Children’s Museum of Eagle River will be conducting a fun scavenger hunt for kids and parents, throughout the event grounds, with additional fun children’s activities in the field house.
- The Vintage Sleigh Rally is steadily growing, ten participant/competitors this year, the Third Year of the Vintage Sleigh Rally, as it grows and gets attention as an extra-special nostalgic event of the “old” days.
- The Snowshoe Challenge at Klondike Days will now be a culmination type of race (the last in a series of eight competitions being held this winter). Special Olympics will be conducting a snowshoe competition on Sunday before our Snowshoe Challenge.
The Klondike Days website (www.klondikedays.org) should be fully up-to-date for providing individual event details, says Schilling.
“Klondike Days is the most unique, must-see family winter festival in the MidwestÅ ” Schilling continues. “The greatest thing we have going for us is that the festival is so unique — ranging from all of the outdoor challenges, events and Voyageur Living History encampment, to over 25 different indoor events based on a wide variety of things to see and do,” she says.
More than 25,000 are expected at Trig’s 22nd Annual Klondike Days in Eagle River, Wisconsin, March 3 & 4 (2012), two-days of family-oriented events, competitions and activities, including a huge historic rendezvous encampment; fast-paced lumberjack competitions; dogs and horses pulling weighted sleds; elegant Native American dance performances; huge juried craft show and sale featuring Northwoods crafts, carvings, and gifts; snowshoe races and demos; antique sleigh and cutter “competition”; chainsaw-carving, ice-carving; junior musher rides; pony rides; Bluegrass Festival and entertainment, great northern food, snacks, and drinks, a visit on Sunday by Miss Wisconsin, Laura Kaeppeler, and much more!
“Klondike Days is the perfect entertaining, educational, competitive northern Wisconsin outdoor and indoor winter weekend,” says event Executive Director, Christine Schilling, adding, “our dates, March 3 & 4 will let families enjoy Northwoods Wisconsin’s great outdoors in more comfortable conditions than ever.”
This will be the third year for the Antique Sleigh Rally, a friendly competition on Saturday where antique sleigh and cutter-owners in period costumes parade their horse-and-sleigh ensembles around a groomed track located on the Northland Pines’ school grounds. With each competitor dressed in correct period clothing matching the age of their sleigh or cutter, a two-judge panel will judge ten different classes including Single Horse, Multiple Horse, Single Pony, Multiple Pony, Single Draft Horse, Multiple Draft Horse, Best in show sleigh ensemble, and Most Authentic. There will also be a prize for the Klondike Crowd Favorite! The Antique Sleigh Rally is like a Currier & Ives print, with bells ringing from the sleigh, rosy cheeks, and the promise of seeing “grandma and grandpa” as they arrive in their sleigh to enjoy the warmth of family, and the beauty of winter in northern Wisconsin.
At the Rendezvous encampment, period settlers from around the country will hew wood, make crafts and depict trading techniques from the last century. Dozens of historical re-enactors (buck skinners) actually live outdoors, wear the clothes, prepare the foods, and demonstrate many of the events and activities from an earlier era, including fire-starting, trapping, tomahawk- and knife-throwing, trading, black powder shooting, archery, blacksmithing, cooking, and much more. The re-enactors stay in character while telling visitors what life was like in those days. Trade-goods for sale at the encampment include period wares, furs, trinkets, etc., as well as sugary, open-fire popped kettle-corn, funnel cakes, and old-fashioned cookies.
Some of the major competitions at Trig’s Klondike Days include lumberjack (and Jill) competitions; horse and dog weight pulls; and chainsaw carving. “You’ll be amazed at the unbelievable weights those horses and dogs can pull; or how fast a chainsaw can turn a log into an eagle or a bear, and, before you know it, you’ll be pulling for your favorites,” says Schilling.
Snowshoe Events:
3- and 6-mile snowshoe races for men and women — culmination of winter-long competitions — will run through the woods on beautiful trails behind Rockin W Stables. There is a 3-mile Mountaineer Race where competitors must wear traditional snowshoes and wear a 15-pound pack on their back. There’s also a children’s race with medals for all participants. The Snowshoe Tromp is a noncompetitive walk/run; and, for those who’d like to try snowshoes for the first time, there will be a Snowshoe Demonstration Station where novices can strap on a pair of ‘shoes and clomp around. The Snowshoe Challenge at Klondike Days is the last one in a series of eight competitions being held this winter, and will help determine overall champions; and for those enthusiasts who would like to try snowshoes for the first time, Klondike Days is offering snowshoe demonstrations.
Chainsaw Carving Competition:
Top local and national chainsaw carvers will demonstrate their skills to spectators and judges both days as they compete for cash prizes in the annual chainsaw-carving competition outside the High School.
Klondike Days Annual Craft & Art Show:
The 22nd Annual Craft & Art Show, Saturday and Sunday in the 55,000 square foot field house in the Northland Pines High School, will present over 100-juried artists and crafters displaying and selling fine-quality handcrafted rugs, beautifully-made items to wear, art work, photography, wooden vases and bowls, jewelry, furniture, metal work, fur products, taste treats, wood carvings, floral displays, and so much more for home or personal needs.
Cultural Exposition / Waswagoning Dance Theatre:
A Native American Cultural Exposition at the Northland Pines High School will showcase Ojibwa culture and lore through plays, storytelling, drum chants, songs, and dancing in elegant, authentic native dress. Internationally-known Native culture entrepreneur, Nick Hockings will again bring his popular Waswagoning Dance Theatre to Klondike Days, presenting traditional Ojibwe dances in a contemporary manner, with special effects of stage lighting and fogging. Dances include the Contemporary Women’s Fancy Dance, the War Shield Dance, the Eagle Vision Dance, the Women’s Jingle Dress Dance, and many more, with an explanation before each dance.
Blue Winds Dancing, individuals who dance, entertain, and explain traditional songs, historical use, and the connection with the ornate dresses worn while performing is planned for Sunday; for those who enjoy living it up, Blue Winds encourages audience participation in the dances! All events are part of Klondike Days’ unique Native American Cultural Pow Wow Expo.
Dog Weight Pull:
Klondike Days attendees who enjoy watching dogs at work are encouraged to watch many different dogs “try their paw” at pulling very heavily-loaded sleds both Saturday and Sunday, with points events sanctioned by the Tri-State Alaskan Malamute Club http://www.tsamc.org/ , and a $1,500 cash purse per day.
Horse Weight Pull:
Teams of draft horses will compete for a total purse of over $5,000 in the Great Northern Log Pull Classic starting at 11 AM both days in the only outdoor winter horse pull in the state. This competition is the newest sanctioned pull established in the State of Wisconsin, governed by the Rules and Regulation of the Wisconsin Horse Pullers Association. Spectators can watch the one-horse pull on Saturday; and two-horse teams pulling up to four tons in weight on Sunday.
Lumberjack Competition:
At the Great Northern Lumberjack Competition (third-largest Hayward-style lumberjack competition in the Midwest — and the only Lumberjack Competition held during the winter), individuals and teams, both men and women, many of them world title holders, will compete in 12 events. The roar of the chainsaw and the crack of the ax will echo as lumberjacks (and Jills) compete head-to-head in chainsawing, crosscutting, and ax throwing. There’s more than $7750 in cash and prizes at stake in this competition. The Great Northern Lumberjack Competition has doubled in size from previous years, with some new world records being set.
Educational Programming and presentations at 2012 Klondike Days include: The Eagle River Historical Society; Teaching Drum School where Native skills will be demonstrated, including how to gather edible and medicinal plants, how to tan hides, trap fish, to make twine and baskets, as well as make a dugout canoe; a mineralogical display by the Lakeland Gem Club Ltd.; Northwoods Wildlife Center, Inc.; Raptor Education Group, Inc.; North Lakeland Discovery Center; plus other demonstrations and education by Eagle River’s own Trees for Tomorrow Nature & Environment Center, the Wausau Prospectors’ Club, and Wisconsin Trappers’ Association.
Klondike Days entertainment will include Art Stevenson & High Water (a four-piece bluegrass band from the heart of Wisconsin), and Tuck Pence (an energetic one-man act) performing at the FREE Bluegrass Festival Saturday night, and also at the North Food Tent on the Klondike Days’ grounds.
Additional Musical / Native American entertainment includes Sloppy Joe (a four member band, with three talented lead singers), Saturday during the day in the North Food Tent.
And if all this activity makes you hungry? Northwoods-style foods at Klondike Days include buffalo burgers, elk burgers, hot dogs, cheese curds, wild rice soup, chicken wings, blooming onions, chili, Trig’s Smokehouse brats, kettle corn (at the Voyageur encampment), and independent vendors serving other items, hot drinks, and snacks at several locations.
“Klondike Days was developed to encourage families to enjoy the Northwoods in winter,” says Schilling. “Moving the event to the first weekend in March allows us to bring joy, fun, and education to thousands of families — better and more meaningful family events — in a warm, affordable, and constantly upgraded and comfortable setting.”
Schilling gives special credit to the many sponsoring organizations and volunteers who make Trig’s Klondike Days happen. “We draw competitors, participants, and visitors from all over the world,” she says, adding “there’s truly something for every member of the family.”
Trig’s Annual Klondike Days will be held at Eagle River’s Northland Pines High School and the grounds and wooded area of the Rocking W Ranch just north of the schools. An advance discounted ticket rate, a modest daily fee for individuals; and a special family rate for 2 adults and up to three children admits people to all the Klondike Days activities. Once there, you can hop on a horse-drawn sleigh that transports visitors to different Klondike locations.
Several Eagle River lodgings will offer various Klondike Days packages, some including entry passes, welcome gifts, food specialties, dinners, and additional activities in Eagle River.
For more information about 2012 Trig’s Klondike Days, applications, details, schedules, venues, advance sales, buying tickets online, visit the Klondike Days website: www.klondikedays.org; or contact Christine Schilling, Executive Director, 715-891-2679; e-mail: info@klondikedays.org
Eagle River Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center Executive Director, Conrad “Connie” Heeg says, “Klondike Days has been called “the most multifaceted winter festival in the state by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. And, if that’s not enough, visitors and locals alike simply enjoy our pure Northwoods air, miles of snowmobile trails, superb ice fishing, cross country skiing, lots of helpful local people, and accommodations of every type in Eagle River,” says Heeg with a smile, noting Eagle River’s signature titles as “Snowmobile Capital of the World®”, Hockey Capital of Wisconsin , & World’s Largest Chain of 28 Lakes.”
Eagle River, in northeastern Wisconsin, is about 80 miles northeast of Wausau, 241 miles north of Milwaukee; 327 miles north of Chicago; and 239 miles northeast of the Twin Cities.
