Crowds rally for Chainsaw Carving Rendezvous

Before the drifts of buttery sawdust started to accumulate under the canopies at the fourth annual Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous in Ronan, carvers arrived from around the United States and the world.

Last Thursday, 11 of the 13 carvers had arrived by about 2 p.m. and were selecting and prepping their logs, and unloading their many saws, toolboxes and lawn chairs at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Ronan.

“Anthony has arrived and Thor,” Todd Coats said. “I believe they’re the last.”

Coats, from Bigfork, is a 32-year veteran of chainsaw carving, although he’s been an artist all his life. Over the years, he’s carved around 12,000 animals.

“The first thing I carved was a bear, a big grizzly," Coats said. "The guy flew it on his plane to Alaska. The only way you could get to his place was to fly. He put that grizzly near the runway.”

Asked what his favorite thing to carve, Coats said, “I know I’m required to do bears more than anything, but I carve a lot of mountain goats just for something different.”

Though he used to carve 15 “of those little bears” a day and sell them to the tourists going to Glacier Park for $40 or $50 apiece, Coats says he now takes his time. He’s working on a house in Condon currently and said he was carving on all the beams throughout the house.

“I carved a couple of raccoons playing on one beam, another has owls,” he said. He also carved bears and eagles inside, and plans to put a mountain lion up in the rafters and “a big bear out front.”

Coats and his peers all have a large selection of chainsaws.

“You make the one main big cut with the biggest saw, and then you put it away,” he explained. ”The medium saws are for roughing in, and the little ones are for different details.”

“If I had to replace that pile of saws,” Coats said, considering his 12 saws and shaking his head, “I don’t even want to think about it.”

As far as the wood for chainsaw carving, the artist mostly uses ponderosa pine. He added that western red cedar is one of the best woods to carve, but most aren’t large enough for chainsaw carving because they start to rot in the middle.

Coats only had to drive 40 minutes to get to this competition, and he also goes to Libby’s event.

“I’m too old and tuckered to travel all over,” he said. “Besides, I’ve got so much work in my area.”

All the carvers are busy, and they are all artists. Julie Zimmerman, Lolo, paints pet portraits and has a flower shop.

She learned chainsaw carving from a friend of her father’s. “He said he could teach me to carve in three days,” she said, and after two days, she was hooked. She’s been carving for 10 years now.

Zimmerman sculpted a mama bear with a baby bear on her shoulders for her large auction piece.

Most of the carvers would agree with Denny Henson of Elmira, Idaho, who said in the summer he spends a lot of time loading and unloading his truck. The former electrical engineer usually carves bears and moose.

“Mostly I like making a carving that makes people happy,” he said.

Ronna Walcuk, chair of the Ronan Chainsaw Rendezvous for the Ronan Chamber of Commerce, says participants are “all elite carvers.”

“We’re so blessed we had a big response,” she said. “The carvers are so nice; they say thanks for inviting us.”

“Don (Fernando Dulnuan) drove all the way from Oklahoma,” Walchuk added. “And Vinko (Bogdnoski) flew in from Macedonia.”

Carver Anthony Robinson donated a bench for the auction to go to the Proactive Living Facility, which serves adults with autism. The Mission Mountain Quilt Guild also donated a king-size quilt for the auction and the cause.

Walchuk’s crew – Susan Lake, Sjaan Vincent, Adele Vincent and Bill Bartel – has been together since the first rendezvous, and she had high praise for them. A couple of the Chamber board members, Tammy Campbell and DeeAnn Richarson, also pitched in.

Bartel “is our right-hand man,” Walchuk said, manning the wheelbarrow and driving the tractor.

The enormous logs came from the Harding family and from Walchuk herself. The Hardings have provided logs for all four rendezvous, Walchuk added.

For the contest, carvers need to create one large item for the Sunday auction and two “quick carves” every day. Many of the carvers also brought a flock of other critters and creations to sell, and business was brisk.

Held on Sunday at 1 p.m, the auction went well. “We just appreciate everyone coming out to support the rendezvous,” Walchuk said. “We’re just blessed to have such a nice chainsaw family.”

For the People’s Choice Award, Oklahoma carver Fernando Dulnuan, known as Don, received first place. Second place went to Anthony Robinson, Hoquiam, Wash., and Toni Whitney, Bigfork, won third place.