Caul repeats as logging king

In the end, it came down to youth and brawn prevailing over wisdom and experience.
But victory in the Rainy River District Logging and Safety Association’s competition, held in conjunction with the Emo Fair, was by no means as easy as falling off a log for defending champ Kelvin Caul of Devlin.
Caul narrowly defeated his son, Jason, and perennial favourite Gaston Godbout of Fort Frances on Friday in the annual showdown, which pits the best loggers in the district in 10 events.
After nine, Caul and Godbout were in a virtual tie for first, with everything hanging on the last contest—the tea boil.
But here, the Cauls literally blew away the competition by getting their fire going and boiling a pre-measured amount of water in a pail in eight minutes, 57 seconds.
Dion Godbout and Glen Aveyard were second in 10:19 while Jason and Roy Allen were third (10:37).
Godbout and his grandson, Duane Loveday, were dead last in the tea boil, thus killing Godbout’s chances for an unprecedented 10th loggers’ title.
Both Cauls and Godbout were neck-and-neck throughout both the individual and team events, with Godbout winning three individual ones (the axe throw, the buck saw, and the chair carve).
Meanwhile, Kelvin Caul dominated in the pulpwood toss—defeating son, Jason, who finished second by nearly five metres.
But Jason Caul took the speed power saw event in 12.25 seconds, with Kelvin second (12.68), and Godbout third (12.91).
Godbout and Loveday took the crosscut saw event in a time of 16.87 seconds, easily defeating the Cauls (22.47 seconds). Finishing in third were Orville Smith and Karl Willemsen (31.58).
In the one event judged on appearance as opposed to speed, Godbout was victorious in the chair carve, where each contestant is given a log and a chainsaw with which to carve the best-looking chair.
The winner of the log split was Roy Allen, who took just 7.79 seconds to split a log into four pieces of firewood. Aveyard was second in 8.34 while Kelvin Caul was third (13.03 seconds).
In the buck saw event, Godbout proved older sometimes is better as he bested the field with a time of 5.21 seconds. Jason and Kelvin Caul came second and third with times of 5.92 and 7.04 seconds, respectively.
The axe throw is perhaps the most fun event to watch and once again Godbout emerged on top with 17 points. Jason Allen was second with 14, followed by Dion Godbout (11).
Jason Caul showed his dad how it’s done in the axe chop with a winning time of 26.99 seconds to Kelvin’s 27.28. Orville Smith was third (28.64).
Smith also took top honours in the Jack and Jill crosscut event with his partner, Charlotte Hyatt, in a time of 5.65 seconds. Jennifer and Kelvin Caul were second (8.79 seconds) while Laura and Gaston Godbout came third (10.22).
In addition to the overall championship, Caul was given the Safe Logger Award. Jason Allen was the top rookie.
Afterwards, a winded but still game Godbout said he was fairly pleased with his effort, although he felt he made some mistakes in preparation.
“I was worried about the heat, so I drank a lot of water,” Godbout explained. “I think I drank too much because my stomach was bothering me and I felt sluggish.”
Nonetheless, he was pleased to have won the buck saw event, which is demanding enough for a young man. But for a man of his 75 years, beating the eventual champ was particularly sweet.
“This is the first time I’ve beaten Kelvin [Caul] in that event,” he noted.
For Caul, who has spent 22 of his 38 years in the bush, the events seemed to be almost tailor-made for him. He said he hardly practised at all prior to the competition, relying instead on the skills he constantly hones on the job working for CNO Logging as an independent contractor.
“We just threw the axe in the back yard a few times last night,” he said.
Smith, co-owner of CNO Logging, shrugged of his defeat at the hands of employees.
“They always beat me,” Smith said with a sigh.
When asked whether he intended to give the Cauls a raise as a reward for their skill, or fire them for showing up the boss, Smith laughed and said, “I haven’t decided yet.”
For runner-up Jason Caul, this was his third year in the loggers’ competition and he intends to come back for another shot at the title—and a chance to dethrone his father.
But he admitted that could take some doing. “It will probably be a while before I beat the old man,” he acknowledged.
As for the champion, will he be back next year to try for a three-peat?
“You bet,” said Caul.