HALLOWELL — Logs, heavy natural stones, metal weights and hammers flew through the air Saturday at the Hallowell Recreation Area, propelled by sweating, kilt-clad, muscular men and women many, but not all, of Scottish descent.
The inaugural Hallowell Backyard Games drew about 30 people to compete in Scottish heavy athletics events which all involved, in various ways, throwing heavy objects, for distance, height and/or accuracy.
Competitors said the event, and others like it that some of them take part in across the country, is more like a family and friends social gathering than a cutthroat competition, with participants cheering each other on and sharing tips with those newer to the sport, and looking to beat their personal bests, more so than their fellow competitors.
Melissa Powell, 60, who came to the event from Massachusetts with her husband, Tim, who judged events, swung a 21-pound weight back and forth then heaved it mightily up over a 13-foot tall bar. That particular competition saw competitors throw weights ranging from 14 to 56 pounds, depending on class.
As the weight barely cleared the bar she celebrated, yelling and pointing to the crowd of fellow competitors and a few spectators, pumping her fist and slapping a tattoo on her leg.
It matched a personal record for her, in more ways than one.
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Her tattoo, a likeness of a weight used in such competitions with the words “Shut up and throw!” is a memorial tribute to her late friend and competitor, Erin Jones, whom she said was known for being friendly and talkative — so gregarious that sometimes her friends would yell, ‘shut up and throw!’ to get her to stop talking and throw.
Powell said she and Jones had a shared goal of throwing 13 feet high in the weight over bar event, which Powell did for the first time.
“It’s a family thing,” Powell said of the camaraderie of the events.
Sam Denson of Manchester, a veteran competitor, showed his new-to-throwing events friend, Eric Greene of Vassalboro, how to pick up a caber, which is a log of a tree generally around 19-feet long and 80 pounds. Participants pick up the log and balance it against their body, some shaking and struggling to control the weight of the wood before throwing it into the air. The goal is to flip it end over end of have it land perfectly straight, or in the 12 o’clock position.
Denson and other competitors cheered when Greene successfully tossed the long log up into the air, getting it to turn and land nearly straight.
“His first competition, and he’s just pulled a 12,” Denson said, encouraging Greene. “We’re hoping for a few more first-timers, and, with any luck, we’ll get a club going and recruit some more local people and turn this into an annual thing.”
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Katie Vaudrain, a muscular professional who competes in events nearly every weekend across the country, came from Massachusetts for the upstart Hallowell event, held at what’s known locally as The Res. She won the women’s weight above bar event, heaving the weight up over her head and over the pole placed at 14 feet, the weight landing with a thud in the grass.
She said Maine has some of the best Highland games there are, due to the people involved in them.
While most of Saturday’s spectators appeared to be friends and family of competitors, a few local residents stopped to check things out at the event, which had free admission.
Nick MacPhee, a stocky electrician from Bristol, competes professionally in the lightweight class in Scottish heavy athletics events across the country. On Saturday he spun forcefully with a heavy weight with a handle at the end of a chain, launching it more than 72 feet, well beyond the distance of his amateur competitors.
Alison Tostevin winds up to throw a large rock Saturday in the stoneput event at the Backyard Games in Hallowell. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
He’s been taking part in heavy throwing events for about 10 years. He was a power weight lifter and, when signing up for a weightlifting competition, Alison Tostevin noticed his Scottish name and suggested he try Scottish athletic events. She suggested he show up at an upcoming event to check it out, which he ended up entering, and loving. He’s been hooked since, giving up power lifting to focus on heavy throwing events.
Tostevin, of Old Orchard Beach, used to run the Maine Highland Games and now runs a major Scottish heavy athletics competition at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire. She took part in Saturday’s throwing events, marking the first time since 2019 she’s been able to participate in the events themselves.
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“It’s fun, and unique, not something you see everyday,” she said of the sport’s appeal. “You get to spend time with great people, get outside, possibly have an adult beverage, listen to Scottish music. A cool thing about it is you can travel all over the country to these events, and when you do, you have family.”
Her T-shirt read “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I’m going to throw them anyway.”
Bagpiper Joshua Hopkins of Elliot played off and on throughout the event.
Organizer Dave McIntosh of Hallowell, in his seventh year of throwing events, said the central Maine area was without such an event and he hoped to introduce the sport to people in the area.
