A lumberjack for life

There’s no lumbering with this lumberjack. At 65, Alvie Marcellus of Spokane is still sawing trees with speedy finesse. In fact, he and his brother, Earl Marcellus, 63, who sawed with him at the Evergreen State Fair, began competing at 13 and 11 years old, and have won world championships.

In less than ten seconds, Alvie and Earl can blaze through a log with a saw that was once known as the mystery whip.

“A lot of people think it’s all arm, but there’s a lot of leg and hip involved,” Alvie explains.

When not performing for the International Lumberjack Show at the fair, Alvie coaches others in the art of sawing, chopping, and axe-throwing.

“Technique is everything,” he says.

Alvie recalls two students he once taught together. One was a 275-pound weightlifter and the other was a slim 138 pounds. After one month of training, the smaller student using correct method could out-saw the man with muscles.

“A few ounces of pressure make all the difference,” he says.

Performing three shows every day can leave Alvie with sore hands, but for a guy whose favorite hobby is chopping wood, Alvie has no interest in hanging up his blades. According to him, being a lumberjack is wonderful exercise.

“I don’t need any sleeping pills to get me to sleep.”