PRESS RELEASES

For Release: Immediate 8/1/2000

Contact: Tina Scheer (207) 667-0067, Sharon Freeman, APR (800) 454-3742

THE WORLD'S BEST AXEMEN ARE COMING TO MAINE TO CHOP & SAW IN THE 2000 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS SERIES!

TRENTON, Maine: The Great Maine Lumberjack Show will once again be hosting the Stihl Timbersports Series in Trenton on August 24 - 27, 2000. Competitors from all over the world will be competing in this 6-event series race.

This will mark the 3rd time that The Great Maine Lumberjack Show will host this World-Class Logging event. The site in Trenton will host 28 competitors in a 6 event series race that includes 3 chopping (Underhand, Standing & Springboard) and 3 Sawing events (Stihl Stock Saw, One Man Buck & Hot Saw).

Athletes will be using 6# razor sharp racing axes, scalpel sharp cross-cut saws and snowmobile engine's turned into power saws to compete in the "Olympics of the Forest".

Jason Wynyard, New Zealand, 3 time Stihl Timbersports Overall Champion will be back to try and regain his title for a record fourth time. He will be chased by what has shaped up to be the strongest field of competitors from North America and Down Under. David Bolstad, NZ 2nd in 1999 and Matt Bush, NY 3rd in 1999 are among the elite group of axemen out to try to defeat Wynyard.

"Timber" Tina Scheer says that Stihl has selected The Great Maine Lumberjack Show for the 3rd time because of the extraordinary backdrop at their site. Scheer is planning a Lobster Dinner for all of the competitors and their families at a local Lobster Pound. Tina has been the voice of the Stihl Series for 8 years.

Tommy Sanders and Jerry McKinnis, of ESPN's "The Fishing Hole" fame, will be hosting the show for ESPN.

Preliminary competitions are set for all 28 axemen Thursday & Friday at 10:00 a.m. and the top 10 will advance to Saturday & Sunday at noon. Tickets are $10.00/advance and $12.00/door.

The Great Maine Lumberjack Show logging sports facility is located on the Bar Harbor Road, 2 miles south of Ellsworth.

For Immediate Release: 10/25/99

Contact: Tina Scheer 207-667-0067

NEW ZEALAND'S JASON WYNYARD WINS THIRD STIHL TIMBERSPORTS SERIES TITLE! THREE-PEAT!

Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO was the site for the 14th annual Stihl Timbersports Series Championships. Jason Wynyard, 26 of Auckland, New Zealand topped the field of 12 of the world's best axemen for the 3rd year in a row.

4000 spectators were on hand at the Echo Hollow Amphitheater to view the most recognized logging competition worldwide. This was the 4th year that the Stihl Finals were hosted in Branson. "Timber" Tina Scheer of The Great Maine Lumberjack Show was the host for all of the action.

The Stihl Series is a six-event series competition with 4 regional qualifying events throughout the summer, where the athletes acquire cumulative points to earn their standing at the championships. The six events include the Standing, Underhand and Springboard chops along with the One-Man Crosscut, Hot Saw and Stihl '066' Stock Saw.

This marks Wynyard's 3rd year as the top lumberjack as this prestigious event. In 97 Wynyard won by one point, in 98 by 5 points but Wynyard cut his way through to a 16 point lead this year. This is an unprecedented achievement as the 16 point difference between 1st and 2nd is followed by a difference of only 19 points separating 2nd and 12th place.

The 6'5", 3000 pound Kiwi only won one event, the Underhand Chop, but place 2nd in the Standing Chop, Single Buck and Hot Saw, 3rd in the Stock Saw and 7th in the Springboard. That was enough to capture grand prize, a 1999 Ford F-150 and cash to make the total purse worth over $30,000.00.

Wynyard's biggest threat came from fellow countryman and first time Stihl competitor, David Bolstad, Taumarunui who took 2nd overall with 45 points. Bolstad shined earlier at the qualifying events and took 10 of the 12 chopping events, but only won one event at the finals, the Standing chop.

The top American finisher was Matt Bush, 3rd followed by Dave Jewett, 4th both of New York. Jewett tied for 4th place with Australia's Dale Ryan and they broke the tie with a Stihl Stock saw and Jewett won.

Wynyard is following the winning tradition of the New Zealand axemen as the many time Lumberjack World Champion, Ron Hareill was also from New Zealand.

Click on the STIHL link to view the finalists and their rankings.

JM Productions of ESPN, the Total Sports Network, was there to cover all of the excitement. The schedule for the 1999 Stihl Series on ESPN is as follow. Please check your local listings.

10/26/99 - 10:00 PM from Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN
10/31/99 - 5:30 PM from Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN
11/22/99 - 10:00 PM Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN
11/28/99 - 12:30 PM from Ducks Unlimited Fest in Osh Kosh, WI
12/12/99 - 3:00 PM from Ducks Unlimited Fest in Osh Kosh, WI
12/18/99 - 4:00 PM from Ducks Unlimited Fest in Osh Kosh, WI
12/24/99 - 12:00 PM from Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO
12/26/99 - 4:00 PM from Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO

The Great Maine Lumberjack Show has been a featured special event during the month of October at Silver Dollar City for their National Craftsmen's Festival. "Timber" Tina Scheer and Bill Shumway of The Great Maine Lumberjack Show hosted a one week exhibition at "The City" in 1998, but were very excited to receive an invitation to perform in Branson for a month in 1999.

The Lumbercamp Waterfall Area is the site for their demonstrations, which include Springboard, Underhand and Standing Chops, Jack & Jill Crosscut Sawing, Axe Throwing and Log Rolling.

Marth Schoppe, 20, Ellsworth, a logging sports athlete at The Great Maine Lumberjack Show joined the team in Branson and demonstrated her skills in Axe Throwing, Sawing and Log Rolling. Schoppe has worked at the Lumberjack Show in Trenton for two years.

In July Schoppe traveled to Wisconsin for the 1999 Lumberjack World Championships to compete in Women's Log Rolling, Axe Throwing and Women's Single Buck. She is the daughter of Craig Schoppe and Sarah Winne of Ellsworth and attends Oberlin College in Ohio.

Jason Wynyard, NZ, Carson Bosworth, ID, and Sarah Perry, Nova Scotia joined Scheer and Schoppe for the show.

For Immediate Release - September 1998

Contact: Leigh Mang, Cortani/Morrison 800-454-3742, Carol Tanis/RSCVA 702-827-7717

MAINE TO HOST STIHL TIMBERSPORTS SERIES

Competitors from all around the world will demonstrate their skill, speed and endurance with chain saws, axes, customized "Hot" saws and cross cut saws, competing for thousands of dollars in money and prizes.

The fourth qualifying competition in he 13th annual STIHL Timbersports Series. The top sixteen competitors after the four qualifying events will be invited to compete in the STIHL Timbersports Series Championship, October 17 at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, The qualifying events and championship finals will be taped for airing on the ESPN cable network beginning in October.

Where: The Great Maine Lumberjack Show, Rt. 3 Bar Harbor Road, 2 miles south of Ellsworth, ME

When: Elimination - Saturday, September 12 10:00 am - 1:00 pm. 4th Qualifying event & ESPN Taping - Sunday, September 13 Noon - 4:00 PM

For Immediate Release - July 1997

Contact: Bob Morrison, Cortani/Morrison 800-454-3742

GREAT MAINE LUMBERJACK SHOW TO HOST STIHL TIMBERSPORTS SERIES

TRENTON, MAINE -- The saws will be screaming and the wood chips will be flying at The Great Maine Lumberjack Show this August. The STIHL Timbersports Series, and international sports competition, has selected Trenton and The Great Maine Lumberjack Show arena s the site of two of this year's qualifying events. Up to fifty STIHL Timbersports Series competitors will begin three days of competition on August 22. Four qualifying events, including the two in Trenton, one in Norfolk, Virginia and one in Bowling Green, Kentucky will be held. Sixteen competitors who have earned the most cumulative points will be invited to attend the finals to be held in Branson, Missouri on October 11.

Last year's champion, Harry Burnsworth, was the lead following the July 12 competition on the World's Largest Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia. Burnsworth won the Hot Saw event, placed second in stock saw and springboard and fourth in underhand but still finished four points in front of second place finisher Dave Jewett who had 38. Past Timbersports Champion, Matt Bush finished third with 34 points, followed by Brand Turner with 32 and Jason Wynyard with 28.

The STIHL Timbersports Series competition consists of six different wood chopping and sawing events. The contests had their start in the early days of the logging camps as recreation for the lumberjacks. Today, modern lumberjacks will battle for thousands of dollars in prize money and a shot at a total championship awards in excess of $50,000 in cash and prizes, and a Chevy Truck. The competition will include springboard, underhand and standing chop, stock saw, modified hot saw, and single buck cross cut sawing. These events were rarely seen outside of logging camps until STIHL began televising the competition more than a decade ago.

Last year more than sixty competitors were on hand for the start of the new series. The highly competitive field includes entrants from Canada, New Zealand, Australia and throughout the United States.

The 1997 STIHL Timbersports Series program will begin airing in November on the ESPN cable network and repeats throughout the year. Millions of viewers nationwide follow the series and have become fans of this exciting sport. Chevrolet Commercial Specialty Vehicle Division, the Official Truck of the series and Carhartt, the Official outdoor wear of the series, are STIHL Timbersports sponsors.

STIHL manufactures the world's largest selling brand of chain saws and cut-off machines as well as a full line of powerful, light weight and versatile outdoor power equipment for homeowners and professional users. STIHL products are sold through independent servicing power equipment dealers from coast-to-coast. For more information or for the name of your closest STIHL dealer visit our web site at www.stihlusa.com or call 1-800-GO STIHL (1-800-467-8445).