Four the fourth year in a row, Cowboy State Daily proudly brings you “The Star-Spangled Banner” played on a chainsaw by yours truly.
There’s a lot to reflect on this year. Though I was just a kid when Americans celebrated our nation’s Bicentennial in 1976, I still remember it clearly.
And now here we are, celebrating 250 years of these United States of America.
America The Beautiful
As I was standing in the back of my pickup on Thursday doing a take of my rendition of our national anthem as my daughter-in-law Veronica Zazueta took video, a thought crossed my mind.
What would the 1976 kid me have thought if someone could have told him that, “In 50 years, you’re going to be in the back of a pickup, playing the national anthem on a chainsaw while one of your beloved family members takes video of it.”
I’m guessing the thoughts might not have been flattering.
Regardless, this is an amazing time to be alive as our nation passes a huge milestone.
Are things the greatest right now? Maybe not. There seems to be quite a bit of division and angst over the state of the nation at present.
But I’m an eternal optimist. I think Americans are built different. We have a grit in us. We’ve been through a lot before, and we’ll get through this.
How It Came To Be
The chainsaw nation anthem tradition goes back to before I worked for Cowboy State Daily. The July before I was hired as the outdoors and wildlife reporter, my wife, our youngest daughter and I were living in a townhouse in Laramie.
Neighbors were piled right next to each other, and college kids who were renting units on either side were cutting loose with fireworks.
My wife or daughter said something along the lines of, “They’re being obnoxious.”
I replied with something like, “Oh, I’ll show them obnoxious,” grabbed one of my chainsaws and had my daughter take video as I “played” the national anthem.
Months later after CSD Editor Jimmy Orr hired me, I showed him the video and he said something like, “That’s ridiculous, and awesome. You have to do that for Cowboy State Daily.”
And so a tradition was born.
What’s With The Oil?
This year, we headed out to some fishing pond near Riverton, where the family now lives, to do several video takes, which Veronica edited into the final version you see here.
We certainly got some strange looks. I can’t imagine what was going through people’s minds when they showed up to toss a line, never expecting to see some yahoo with a chainsaw.
Because it’s a special anniversary for the USA, I upgraded from the Stihl MS 261 I’ve used for previous videos to my flagship saw, the 500i.
It’s Stihl’s first fully fuel-injected model, which cuts like an absolute beast.
I noticed, as I did last year with the MS 261, copious amounts of bar oil leaking from the saw — which you might also notice in the video.
I did some research, and it was as I thought. If you run a saw at high speed for extended periods without cutting wood, the bar oil that’s constantly lubricating the chain has nowhere to go, and thus starts spilling out of the saw.
I hope you enjoy this year’s Cowboy State Daily chainsaw salute to our great nation.
Happy 250th, America!
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
