Not even a flat tire could prevent the inevitable.

The log that will sit behind the goal and in front of the Timbers Army in 2016 has been chosen, chopped and taken to Camp 18, venue of the traditional curtain raiser to a Portland Timbers season, the log blessing ceremony.

At dawn this morning, it sat in the town of Vernonia, OR, waiting to be taken to Camp 18 and expecting an early morning rendezvous with Timber Jim Serrill and his brother George, the happy owner of a trailer.

In typically gloomy Cascadia spring weather, the brothers set off only to be distracted by what at first appeared a bumpiness in the gait of the trailer. It was more than that however. The left rear wheel was flatter that a route map of South Texas and as useful as a moderator at a primary debate.

By the roadside in driving rain, the Serrill brothers successfully removed the offending tire but came upon a hazard when the spare one revealed two rusty bolts keeping it in place on the trailer. One by one the bolts were removed by a combination of brute force and guile, only to reveal a padlock. The whereabouts of its key were unknown, almost causing a soaking George Serrill to utter an expletive, shortly before causing George Serrill to utter an expletive.

Undeterred, the brothers remained anything but grim and separated trailer and wagon, to head to a nearby tire store where a new tire was purchased. After returning to the trailer, the clan restarted their drive out to Vernonia where a freshly cut log awaited courtesy of Holce Logging and the Weller Timber Corp.

This is the piece of lumber that will be held high by Fanendo Adi, Diego Valeria, Lucas Melano and company as the Timbers defend their MLS title.

With the log finally loaded onto the trailer, the stage was set for the log’s journey to Camp 18 where it will be the cornerstone of the traditional Log Blessing Ceremony . That will begin at 9am on Sunday 28th at Camp 18. The venue is laying on a buffet in the Lower Banquet Hall with a flat rate of $20 for fans attending the ceremony.

There, Timber Jim will celebrate the Timbers’ championship year aided by a slideshow presentation of the best photographs from our book “Cup Bound & Crowned”. The full price menu will still be available upstairs if the lower hall runs out of space.

The log blessing ceremony will take place outside afterwards conducted by “Patch” Perryman who also conducted it last year and is scheduled to begin at 10.30am.

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