Daily Press file photo Ron Beauchamp of Woodland Equipment is shown at the heavy equipment displays at the Great Lakes Logging & Heavy Equipment Expo in Escanaba in 2019. The event is marking its 75th anniversary and is returning to the U.P. State Fairgrounds today through Saturday.

ESCANABA — After a year off for the pandemic, the Great Lakes Logging & Heavy Equipment Expo will be back in full-swing as the Great Lakes Timber Processionals Association brings the show back to Escanaba Thursday through Saturday.

The expo, formerly known as the Logging Congress, has been running consistently since 1945 with the exception of the 2020 expo, which was canceled due to the coronavirus. Because the show would have been the 75th anniversary, the GLTPA pushed back the 75th anniversary show to 2021.

“We’re looking forward to having a good show. People seem to be excited about coming,” said Laurie Schienebeck, acting event coordinator for the GLTPA.

The festivities that were planned for 2020 have been carried over, brining a little extra excitement to the Expo.

“We’re going to have a little bit more celebration, and the fairgrounds is going to be putting on a fireworks display on Thursday evening after the kick-off banquet, with live music,” said Schienebeck.

The kick-off banquet, which is sponsored by Ponsse, will take place in the Miracle of Life Building on the U.P. State Fairgrounds today. Doors open at 5 p.m. During the event, which runs until 7 p.m., attendees will be able to enjoy complimentary drinks and bucket raffles.

Other events taking place during the expo include perennial favorites, like the Michigan versus Wisconsin tug-o-war competition, the Ladies Bowling Pin Toss — an hommage to the frying pan tosses at logging camps of yore — and the Great Lakes Forwarder Operator Challenge.

The Operator Challenge, which will take place on Friday and Saturday, is sponsored by Roland Machine and Komatsu America Corp. Operators will compete in Komatsu forwarders equipped with two control patterns to allow operators unfamiliar with Komatsu machines to test their mettle against Komatsu operators. First place wins $1,000 and a VIP trip, second place gets $500, third gets $300, fourth gets $200, and fifth place takes home $100.

In addition, the show loads competition has been expanded to include new categories and prizes.

“We always used to give a trophy for the best of show for log truck and lumber truck … loaded and this year we’re going to increase that to log, lumber and equipment loads,” said Schienebeck.

The loads will be judged by the Michigan State Police road patrol and the Department of Transportation. The top three winners will receive $500, $300, and $200 respectively, with each winner also taking home a plaque.

As always, the expo will also feature vendors and exhibitors from across the region. However, there may be fewer pieces of heavy equipment on hand this year due to supply chain shortages caused by the pandemic, which have hit the heavy equipment industry hard.

“Our outside (vendors’ area) is definitely feeling the impact of lack of machinery and lack of parts,” said Schienebeck.

Despite expecting fewer individual pieces of equipment, there’s no shortage of exhibitors on hand. Nearly 150 companies and organizations have signed up to be a part of the event.

“We’ve having a good response from our exhibitors and attendees are definitely signing up to come, so this is all good news,” said Schienebeck.