COLUMN: Logger’s Ball is tradition, wild meat and big prizes
In 1941, the students in the College of Forestry (now the College of Natural Resources) at Utah State University started a tradition that has lasted 63 years.
They held the first Logger’s Ball. The Logger’s Ball has a colorful past, and is the basis for many traditions that still take place today. The giant statue of Paul Bunyan, which since 1939 has been the symbol of the College of Natural Resources, was first stolen by engineers in retaliation for not getting tickets to Paul’s Ball, now called the Logger’s Ball.
I have heard rumors that the students in the College of Forestry invited females from the college of engineering, but refused to sell tickets to males in the college. We would love to do the same thing today, but the ACLU and our lawyers have advised us not to.
The engineers are so nerdy anyway that they don’t really do anything but make us NR students look better. So it’s fine with us if they come. It’s ironic that this year Logger’s Ball falls during Engineering Week. Our statue of Paul is currently missing in action, thanks to the engineers, and sources say that he will surface sometime this week, so keep your eyes peeled.
Another one of the interesting traditions that the Logger’s Ball perpetuates is the eating of wild game. Admission to a night of food, prizes and live music costs $6, or is free if you bring a wild game dish that feeds six to eight people. Every year the variety of the dishes students and faculty bring is amazing. I have heard reports of a student from Virginia that might bring squirrel.
Deer, elk, antelope, turkey and duck are always available at the Logger’s Ball. This year for the more faint of heart, there will also be salads with some wild greens. Because the Logger’s Ball is an opportunity for students to get to know the faculty in the College of Natural Resources, we hold the event off campus so we can allow alcohol. (That is the only way to get faculty to stay at an event for more than an hour.)
It’s surprising that you can learn more about a professor in one night in the right setting than in a whole semester’s worth of lectures.
The entertainment this year will consist of a talent show where students and faculty can showcase their abilities, and from a live Bluegrass band, MCU. The Forestry Club and Wildlife Society have also found tons of great prizes that will be raffled out.
They are giving away a mountain bike, and tons of other great prizes donated by local businesses. The Logger’s Ball is a classic tradition here at USU and we want to extend an invitation to every student to come and have a great time (even the engineers). The Logger’s Ball is Friday from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Bullen Center, located downtown at 63 S. Main St. Bring some meat, some friends and some money for raffle tickets. We hope to see you there.
Dax Mangus is the College of Natural Resources senator. Comments can be sent to dax@cc.usu.edu.