The Blessing of the Log

April 7, 2018 – Camp 18, Seaside, OR: “Patch” Adam Perryman, leads the the verses of the The Blessing of the Log by the Timbers Army supporters group, at Camp 18, Seaside, OR (Photo by Diego G Diaz/ProstAmerika).

Elsie, OR-Last Saturday April 7th, the famed Portland Timbers supporters group, the Timbers Army, gathered at Camp 18th, for their annual tradition of The Blessing of the Log. The family restaurant and event space is located in Elsie, near Seaside, close to the Oregon coast, and has been the host of the Portland Timbers fans for a decades, as this is a tradition dates deep in the old USL days.

Camp 18, is much more than their renowned menu. The family restaurant is an authentic landmark and a piece of logging industry history, containing an outdoor museum and a memorial for fallen loggers. It’s a very fitting environment.

As is the case every year a tree log is chosen and fans brave the weather and about  an hours drive from Portland to see the official victory log through this blessing ceremony. To understand what this “victory log” is let’s go back to Providence Park, and take a look at the North End at the moment after the Portland Timbers  score a goal. Green smoke goes up, and the team’s mascot, Timber Joey, goes onto a platform with his chainsaw and cuts a slab. H then presents it to the fans, who would extend their arms to the point of injury to get a touch on the wooden trophy.

This is certainly a unique experience that separates the green and gold from the rest. 

The event is usually a signal of the incoming start of the season, and is scheduled ahead of  the league opener. This year, however, with all the construction going on at Providence Park, the club couldn’t dedicate a safe space to store the log. So it was pushed to April during MLS Week 5.

The morning kicked off early, at about 7:30 AM, with the popular Camp 18’s massive cinnamon rolls and a strong cup of coffee followed by a full country breakfast. Some would also choose to top it off with an occasional mimosa or Bloody Mary. Fans come with their families, kids run around, and as friends reunited  and caught up, the room filled with a lively school cafeteria roar. Between 9 and 10 AM, the former mascot and the loved Timber Jim, hit his plate with his fork which signaled the event start. His successor, Timber Joey served as the emcee and kicked off the official part of the program.

Portland Timbers organization front office, was represented for the first time. Keith Foreman, director of corporate partnerships, gave his remarks about the clubs history, followed by David Hampton, the CEO from Hampton Lumber Company and sponsor of the club since 2017. Hampton talked about sustainable forest practices and the work they are doing as a modern timber company. No better place than Camp 18 to see the history of Oregon’s timber industry past, and now in the words of David Hampton, present and future.

Fans returned to their chatter, finished breakfast and went outside and stood around a strong healthy looking log of Douglas fir strapped to a trailer. Then, Timbers Army capo “Patch” Adam Perryman, put his hand on the log, followed by the rest. According to the tradition, you are supposed to touch either the log itself, or put your hand on somebody’s who is touching the log, and repeat the verses of this old Irish wedding wish out loud. These verses are also known as the “Timber’s Toast”. Perryman recited the lines and the fans repeated, ending it all with a loud cheer “Go Timbers!”.

The rest of the program went rather quickly, due to the rain and the cold. There was a quick walk about the outdoor logging museum which contains over a hundred years worth of artifacts. From there fans went  to the edge of the property for the tree planting, where both kids and adults dug into the dirt dozens of tree seedings, under the close supervision of Timber Jim and Hampton. Around 11:00 AM, everybody moved to their cars. But of course there was always time for that last group photo.

With the event officially over,  Timber Joey and Timber Jim among others rechecked that the now official victory log, was properly strapped on its trailer and ready to make the trip to the stadium. Everything being on schedule, now we might be finally ready for home prime time, this Saturday April 14th, for the home season opener against Minnesota United.

Now it’s up to Giovanni Savarese and his men to get the fans their first cuts, and the first 3 points.