There are many tales of the legendary Paul Bunyan, born in Bangor, Maine, but none more famous or meaningful as the tale of The Golden Log.

Back in the day when winters were long, there was one particular Maine winter where a nor’easter barreled into Maine dropping foot after foot of snow across the Pine Tree State. The snow was so deep that it covered the tops of the tallest pines. The snow brought the logging industry in Maine to a halt. Logging camps were shut down; skid trails disappeared because the state was covered in a blanket of white. Not a logger from Kittery to Fort Kent could pull wood.

Fighting the elements was nothing new to the logger, they had seen their share of struggles, but this took the cake. Loggers' wives were wailing and carrying on so loud that their cries were heard by the great Paul Bunyan way up in the North Woods. Now Paul had been busy bending over, blowing away the snow from around the trees, and tending to business as usual. A logger of his great stature wasn’t affected by the elements. He alone was providing the saw logs to all the mills in the state.

Now the women folk’s cries started to tug at Paul Bunyan’s heart, which incidentally was the size of Mount Katahdin. Paul could have monopolized the industry, but his comrades were suffering and everyone knows that good loggers look out for one another. So he plucked the tallest pine in the stand he was working on, ran it through his teeth (his way of de-limbing), and headed towards the coast.

When he reached the rocky coast, he stood atop Mount Cadillac, leaned down into the harbor, gently plucked the few ships anchored there and set them on dry land. With the mighty limbless pine he began to stir the ocean waters. As he stirred, the waters created hurricane strength winds that were so powerful that they blew that white blanket of snow off all the forests in the entire state of Maine. The wind blew the snow so far that it landed out in the Midwest bringing joy to the farmers there that were struggling in the middle of a great drought.

Paul Bunyan’s fellow loggers rejoiced! Their wives quit their wailing, their men could return to the woods, to solid frozen ground and the industry began humming like a well oiled chainsaw.

That spring the loggers wanted to do something for Paul to show their appreciation. They came together and decided that the only thing that they had in their lives of any value was wood. They found a beautiful birch log and cut it down to the perfect size. The women and children gathered up all the goldenrod that they could find in the fields, and delivered it to the town blacksmith. He filled a cauldron with the goldenrod, started a large fire, and stirred until the goldenrod melted to a shiny liquid. The loggers presented the perfect birch log to the blacksmith who dipped it into the molten goldenrod. Out came a log of golden luster that sparkled in the sun. They presented the Golden Log to Paul Bunyan as a symbol of their appreciation for his undying devotion to the team. The team of loggers filled the state with cheers for their mighty friend, Paul Bunyan the greatest logger, who single handedly saved the industry of logging that winter.

In his acceptance speech Paul Bunyan reminded his fellow loggers “All for one and one for all! We’re a team in the woods, and we are a team in the world of logging!”