Leslie Walbye and Cassie Hubbs high-five after Walbye's throw in the axe throw competition Sunday at Woodchoppers Jamboree. Walbye has participated in the axe throw with her son and granddaughter (Hubbs) for 15 years.
The crowd cheered as 84-year-old Lila Walbye walked away from the throwing line, axe in hand, after she landed the winning throw in a tie-breaker event at Woodchoppers Sunday.
Walbye had just taken first place in the women’s axe-throwing event. As Walbye walked toward the sidelines, her granddaughter, Cassie Hubbs, approached her with a hug.
“I’m excited that my grandma got first for axe throwing,” Hubbs said. “I hope she will be able to do it again next year.”
Hubbs and Walbye have participated together in the Woodchopper’s axe throw for about 15 years now, which was why Hubbs was concerned when she learned her grandmother was feeling shoulder pains just days before the 53rd Woodchoppers Jamboree.
“Ever since I started, my grandma has done it with me,” Hubbs said. Hubbs is glad her grandmother didn’t let shoulder pains keep her from competition once again.
“With grandma getting older, I cherish every minute that I get to spend with her, if she is willing to participate,” Hubbs said. “It’s amazing that she is still doing it.”
Walbye said she continues to do it because it is fun and exciting, but also because it is a family tradition.
“It’s kind of a family thing,” Walbye said.
Walbye’s son, Randy Walbye, got Hubbs and his mother started when he competed in the axe throw 15 years ago. Randy Walbye can’t participate every year because he lives in Colorado, but Hubbs and her grandmother have competed ever since that day.
Walbye said she wasn’t going to let shoulder pains get in the way of the family tradition.
Hubbs described her first time throwing axe in the event as exciting, fearful and somewhat embarrassing.
“I was scared to death,” Hubbs said. “When you look out there, especially on Saturday morning when there is a big crowd, everyone is staring at you … all you can think about is ‘you are going to miss.’”
The exciting moment for Hubbs is when she actually landed an axe.
“When you do hit, it’s really cool because the whole crowd is cheering for you and it’s really exciting,” She said. “You get pumped up.”
The first time Hubbs threw was an embarrassing moment, she said.
Hubbs, being only 12 years old and on the throw line, was faced with comments from Dave Johnson, who was the MC for Woodchoppers that year.
Johnson would say things like “When women have axes everyone should run” and would announce Hubbs’ birthday to the crowds.
“He was making it enjoyable and embarrassing all at the same time,” Hubbs said.
Hubbs doesn’t limit herself to just one event at Woodchoppers. She also participates in hand saw events and the pole throw. Hubbs said she is particularly good at the pole throw.
She credits her success in pole throwing to her success in track and field when she was in high school.
“I was the state shot put champion in my senior year in 2001,” she said. “That’s why my pole throw is so good. I have a little technique from way back when.”
But, when it comes to family, Hubbs always refers back to axe throwing.
Even when she was seven-and-a-half months pregnant with her daughter, Hubbs was still throwing an axe in the Woodchoppers Jamboree.
Hubbs is such a strong supporter for the event partially because she doesn’t want to see it die, she said. The event has brought joy to her and her family since she was young, and wants to keep the good times rolling for generations to come.
Hubbs said she would love to see her children pick up an interest in any part of Woodchoppers when they get older.
“If they want to do it, and they’re old enough where I think they are able to, I will be ecstatic when they are out there,” she said.
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