It’s Daylight in the Swamp: Life in a Lumberjack Camp

Michigan based singer/storyteller Bill Jamerson, will present an hour-long musical tribute to the Wisconsin lumberjack on Monday, September 15th at 4 pm at the Waupaca Public Library. His program, “It’s Daylight in the Swamps!” is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served after the program.

Dressed in period costume, Jamerson will share stories from the lumberjack era, show a video clip and sing traditional lumberjack songs with his guitar. The presentation is as entertaining as it is important; as honest as it is fun. The program is about people both ordinary and extraordinary, with stories of strength, wit and charm. Bill shares many stories about his grandfather who worked in a lumber camp and from people who had family members who worked I camps.

Some of the songs he performs include, A Lumberjack’s Life, which tells of the hardships of working in the woods, Jack Haggerty is a song about a broken-hearted river man, and Jolly Shanty Boy captures the revelry when lumberjacks came into town. A Shanty Boy in the Pines tells of the many jobs in the woods, while Shanty Boy Wins looks the rivalry between farmers and lumberjacks. The songs range from foot stomping jigs to soulful ballads.

Waupaca County logging history began in the mid-1840s when the first sawmills were established in Mukwa and Weyauwega. The county’s location on the southern edge of the great pine forest led to a rapid growth in the logging industry. In 1849, the Chandler family arrived in the area, settling along the Waupaca River and contributing to the growth of the young settlement. Farming soon followed, with the first field plowed in 1849

For more information about this program, please visit Jamerson’s website at www.billjamerson.com