Axe Women Founder Becomes First Person to Logroll Across Mississippi River

On September 26, 2019, Alissa became the first person in history to logroll across the Mississippi River! Preparation took almost a year. Practice began in the cold North Atlantic waters off the coast of Maine in early Spring and continued under all weather conditions throughout the summer, with Alissa logrolling for hours at a time. To ensure the safety all involved, multiple government agencies, private enterprises and communities worked with Alissa and her team from the beginning: the U.S Coast Guard (logistics and rescue coverage), the Army Corps of Engineers (logistics), the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (river expertise), ALL of the major barge company owners that operate on the Mississippi (scheduling logistics), as well as news station WQAD (rescue team), Tuggers Ale House (launching dock location) and of course, the Riverview Roadhouse (where the idea was hatched), and the good citizens and communities of Port Byron, Illinois and Le Claire, Iowa (river expertise and support). The morning of September 26th dawned with the river at flood stage, but skies were clear and winds were calm. Alissa stepped off the Tugger's Ale House dock in Port Byron, Illinois and onto the competition logrolling log. A 20 foot line was attached from the upriver butt end of the log to the stern of a canoe. The theory was that the canoe would act as a rudder, keeping the log parallel to the shoreline and preventing the log from "pinwheeling" in the swirling waters of the flooding river. It was not needed - less than 30 minutes later, with the waiting crowd cheering, Alissa stepped off the log, onto the dock in LeClaire, Iowa, and into the pages of history!