Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines: A good old-fashioned sack race at the 2011 Deposit Lumberjack Festival.
The village of Deposit, normally an entirely peaceable and decorous little place on the West Branch of the Delaware, got its name because the pine logs harvested to the west were deposited on the shores just at that spot, later to be made into large rafts for their journey downriver. Hence, lumberjacking has a long and honorable history in these parts.
Since 1976, when Deposit collectively decided to have the best bicentennial party ever, that heritage has been celebrated with the annual Lumberjack Fest, which has grown from three days to four. Today -- Thursday -- is Family Day, with an afternoon full of games and entertainment for the younger set, a carnival, and several performances of Sylvia and the Magic Trunk.
But kids and their grownups will have plenty of fun all weekend long. The Lions and the Masons and the Rotary will be serving up festival grub as the carnival continues and the live bands play on. Friday afternoon will be the crowning of the Lumber Jack and Jill, and Friday night there are fireworks. Saturday's highlights include chainsaw carving and a horseshoe tourney, and on Sunday things rev up with raft races, tractor pulls and an afternoon full of line dance followed by an evening of gospel. A true Catskills classic, the Lumberjack Festival starts at 10am Thursday and Friday, 9am on Saturday and Sunday, and comes to a close on Sunday at 6pm.
Deposit Lumberjack Festival. Thursday, July 18 through Sunday, July 21. 55 Dublin Street, Deposit. For more information and a daily schedule, see depositlumberjackfestival.org.
