Newcomers trying to understand what is at the heart of Timbers soccer need look no further than the top of the 80-foot, banner-draped pole behind PGE Park’s south goal.

There, perched high above the field and the cheering masses for the second half of every Timbers game, Timber Jim bangs out the pulse of Timbers nation on his well-worn drum.

In the 28 years since he first revved his chainsaw to energize the Civic Stadium crowd, Timber Jim, a.k.a. Jim Serrill, has rappelled from the stadium’s rafters with his chainsaw blaring, back flipped with a unique grace that must be seen to be believed and brought thousands of smiles to a first-time visitors’ faces in his never-ending quest to make the Timbers experience like no other.

In that time his full beard has gone from black to gray and his handsprings may have lost a little of their height, but his stature has only grown.

The Beginning
The Timber Jim character evolved alongside Serrill’s passion for the Timbers, starting in 1977. Never much of a soccer fan, Serrill reluctantly agreed to join his family to see Pele take on the Timbers. Seated behind the Mac Club goal, he had a blast and was blown away when Timbers player Jimmy Kelly gave his sister a rose in the then traditional post-game rose giveaway to fans.

The next winter, Serrill’s father died and Jim and his brother decided to remember him by continuing to go to Timbers games, as the game they had to gone to with their father was one of their best memories with him.

Less than a year later, Serrill called then-Timbers GM Keith Williams to ask if he could bring a chainsaw to a coming game to rev up the fans.

“Hell no, you can’t bring any chainsaws in the stands! Are you crazy?” Serrill remembers Williams saying.

After Serrill explained that he wasn’t crazy and was actually well trained with the chainsaw by way of his job as a tree trimmer, Williams invited him to sit in the dugout with his chainsaw and come on the field to saw a slab off a log every time the Timbers scored.

In a subsequent game, Williams introduced Serrill as “Timber Jim” and expanded his on-field role to include energizing the crowd.

“I had no idea that he was going to come up with this moniker. It was kind of embarrassing,” said Serrill.

He quickly learned that a crowd of thousands wasn’t as easily revved up as his chainsaw. When words failed him, Serrill resorted to the high-wire acts that have since become his trademark. He climbed a towering 110-foot light pole, quickly lowered himself 30 feet on a safety rope, flipped upside down and fired up his chainsaw.

“That was it. That is the trick that changed how people responded to me,” he said.

The return of Timber Jim
When the Timbers returned from a 19-year hiatus in 2001, former Timbers general manager Jim Taylor sought out Serrill in hopes of having him help to train a successor, only to find him adamant about resuming his old gig.

Serrill laughs off the idea that being Timber Jim is hard work. He admits that landing the flips at 53 “can be a little dicey,” but says climbing and coming out of the rafters “is easer than taking the elevator” and that the whole gig is nothing compared to tree trimming and line work.

Former Timbers midfielder Scott Benedetti remembers watching Timber Jim as a kid back in the ‘70s and doesn’t think age has hurt him at all.

“He’s one of a kind,” said Benedetti. “There’s no one else like him in professional soccer or anywhere. Timber Jim is really an icon.”

Icon was one of the words fans frequently used to describe Timber Jim, as most agreed that “mascot” failed to capture what made Serrill’s character so special.

“It takes a very special person to be able to pull that off not being behind a costume,” said Taylor. “You just don’t see it. It’s very rare.”

Taylor suggested a more appropriate title for Timber Jim would be “super-fan.”

“He’s probably our biggest fan. He’s willing to do anything for us,” said Taylor. “He obviously risks his life every night doing what he does.”

Amy Coyle, a diehard member of the Timbers Army, went even further.

“I would call him the champion of the Timbers Army,” she said. “He goes to battle with us every night. We have set him up on a pillar as a god.”

Tragedy leads to love
While age has had little effect on Timber Jim, tragedy struck Serrill off the field two years ago. In the midst of a Timbers match with the Minnesota Thunder, Serrill found out that his 17-year-old daughter, Hannah, had been killed in a car accident on Highway 18.

Her death has led Serrill to some serious soul-searching.

“I wake up in the morning and I just can’t believe she’s gone,” he said.

He has since dedicated himself to educating people about preventing accidents so that no one else has to suffer through what he has.

“I really want to honor my daughter. It’s kind of painful to tell the story over and over but it’s necessary,” he said. “I’ve always been involved in safety training of some sort. It’s just a new direction for me because it’s so personal for me now.”

Another positive that has come out of the tragedy it has been the overwhelming outpouring of support from Timbers fans.

Coyle has enjoyed the opportunity to give back to the man who has given his heart and soul to the Timbers.

“It’s been an absolute and complete joy,” she said. “I have known a few people in my life that have a bubble of positive energy that surrounds them, and when you’re in that bubble, or just around that person, you feel better. He’s one of those people.”

“I’ve got to find the joy again and the Timbers Army is giving me that joy,” said Serrill. “Those people genuinely love me, and I’m very grateful, very humble. They have healed me. I will be eternally grateful to them.”

Serrill still worries that he is a distraction and he wonders if the Timbers wouldn’t be better off with a younger, hipper Timber Jim.

“They’re not gonna watch Raquel Welch anymore when Jessica Simpson is on the stage,” said Serrill. 

But for now, he is basking in the “love fest” and concentrating on his goal of filling PGE Park with a sea of green and white clad Timbers fans.

“Spreading the love -- to me that’s what it’s all about,” he said, borrowing from the team’s slogan from last season. “What I want to do is to help them get more people in the stadium. People need to be exposed — they need to come to games and see what it’s about, and then they’ll keep coming back.”

- written by Ian Ruder