On Saturday, Jan. 3, wood carving and chainsaw artist Jacob Lucas was joined by his brother, Morton Loggers Jubilee Committee members and other local volunteers to move the new Big Ole lumberjack statue from the Morton Loggers Jubilee Arena where Lucas carved it last summer to where the original Big Ole once stood.
Lucas’s Big Ole now stands greeting visitors coming into the East Lewis County community off U.S. Highway 12 at the intersection of Westlake Avenue and state Route 7.
“All my hard work has finally paid off,” Lucas said in a Morton Talks Facebook group post. “I carved him back in May, and it took a team to get him to this point, thanks to the (Morton Loggers’) Jubilee (Committee), and my brother, who (is) next to me, and he's a local boy!”
Lucas is a Bonney Lake resident who competes in regional wood carving competitions on top of taking artist commissions.
Aside from the wood finish being a different color, Lucas worked to ensure his Big Ole was as close to an exact copy as he could make it to the original Big Ole, carved by Rod Blair in 1983.
“He’s so perfect, and he’s just like the old one almost to the inch,” Lucas previously told The Chronicle.
The Morton Loggers Jubilee Committee commissioned Lucas to carve a new Big Ole as it was discovered wood rot had started in the base of Blair’s statue — which was removed from its location at the intersection of Westlake Avenue and state Route 7.
Volunteers removed the rotten base, and Blair’s Big Ole now stands as a permanent spectator for the logging games held annually at the Morton Loggers Jubilee Arena.
A new special base was designed for the new Big Ole, which raises the statue several inches — ensuring ventilation under the base, keeping water from being trapped underneath and starting the wood rot process.
The cedar log used for the new Big Ole was donated by the Thornton family’s Pleasant Valley Ranch. Jim Severson, of Severson Road Contractors, hauled the log to the arena for free to be carved by Lucas, according to the Morton Loggers Jubilee Facebook page.
In addition to carving the new Big Ole, Lucas also refinished and repainted the Loggers Jubilee sign, which now stands displayed next to Big Ole at Morton’s entrance.
“Hopefully this new Ole lasts more than 45 years,” Morton Loggers Jubilee Committee President Devin Peters said to The Chronicle in May 2025.
For more information on Lucas’ wood carving art or to get into contact with him, visit his website at https://jacoblucascarving.com/.
To learn more about the upcoming 83nd annual Morton Loggers Jubilee festival, visit the festival’s website at https://loggersjubilee.com/ or follow the festival on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mortonloggersjubilee.
