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Jim Serrill, known as Timber Jim, was the
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...
for the
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Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...
soccer team. A fan favorite from the earlier North American Soccer League
Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...
, he came back in 2001 to join the new Portland Timbers. On January 24, 2008, Jim announced his retirement. He was replaced by Timber Joey in the middle of the 2008 season.


History

In 1978, Serrill was coming regularly to Timbers games with his family. Soon he asked the management of the Timbers (who were then owned by the
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including Beam (structure), beams and plank (wood), planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as fini ...
company
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) if he could bring a chain saw to a game. They reluctantly allowed this and not too long after Timber Jim was created. He later added to the chain saw raised high above his head by bringing a drum and other acts to the game. Soon he was scaling high above the large crowds at Civic Stadium on a tall pole or "snag." After the original Timbers team folded, Serrill went back to work in the timber industry and later
Portland General Electric Portland General Electric (PGE) is a Fortune 1000 public utility based in Portland, Oregon. It distributes electricity to customers in parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - 44% of the inhabitant ...
. When the Timbers were reformed in 2001 he returned with the team. His teenage daughter, Hannah, was killed in an automobile accident in 2004, and in her memory, the
Timbers Army The Timbers Army is an independent supporters group of Portland Timbers, a soccer club in Major League Soccer—the top tier of the United States soccer pyramid. Its members are known for their loud, enthusiastic support and the raucous atmo ...
made a tradition of singing "
You Are My Sunshine "You Are My Sunshine" is a song published by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell on January 30, 1940. According to Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the song has been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages. In 1977, the Louis ...
", her favourite song, while holding sunflowers, her favourite flower, often led by a tearful Timber Jim.


Jim's act

Timber Jim was known as one of the best performers for any team, largely because of his unique talents as an actual
lumberjack Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...
. These included: * Scaling a tall " snag" off the pitch and standing on top high above the crowd (as of 2007 discontinued due to safety concerns). * Cutting a round from a log with one of his
chain saw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pruni ...
s every time the Timbers score * Hanging above the crowd on a
zip-line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the b ...
with his drum * Singing "We are the Timbers..." to section 107 (
Timbers Army The Timbers Army is an independent supporters group of Portland Timbers, a soccer club in Major League Soccer—the top tier of the United States soccer pyramid. Its members are known for their loud, enthusiastic support and the raucous atmo ...
), eventually spelling out T-I-M-B-E-R-S (the R extended, imitating the roaring of a chainsaw) * Pounding on a large drum, yelling out "Port-land (beat, beat) Tim-bers" * Doing forward handsprings (quite a feat, as he was in his fifties by the time he retired)


Retirement

On January 24, 2008, Jim announced his retirement. Over the years Jim has brought a few under his wing to pass on the role, with little success. His final farewell was a game played against the
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on April 17, 2008, the Timbers home opener, which was won 1-0. Timber Jim was succeeded by Timber Joey, another lumberman who saws log slices for successful Timbers players.Timber Joey , Portland Timbers


References


External links


Official website
{{Portland Timbers Association football mascots Timbers, Portland Timber Jim