The Blade Axe House Opens Axe Throwing in Roseburg

What happens when two friends and business partners go on a trip together? For Laurie Sims and Shea Wheeler, they open an axe throwing room in less than a year. The Blade Axe House opened on Oct. 6 at 1873 NE Diamond Lake Blvd. The friends met two years ago and have been working in real estate and contracting together since. In January, they went to Reno, Nev. and on their way to dinner one night, spotted an axe throwing place called Reno Axe. They reserved a slot for their group and had so much fun they started scheming on how to get one in Roseburg. “Because, what does Roseburg not need?” Sims asked. “We are starving for this. Give people something to do at home, and they’re going to do it.” Wheeler said wanting more activities in Roseburg is something that has developed for them over the years. They both moved from larger cities and love the small city life, but miss some of the amenities of being in a metro area. Both women have adult children who they tried to convince to open an axe throwing business, but it didn’t work out for different reasons. In June, they walked past a vacant building and decided if no one else was going to do it, they would. Within two weeks, they were signing a lease. “Everything just fell in the right place,” Wheeler said. “Everything was effortless as far as not a lot of struggles to get it going, everybody helped.” “Not to say that it wasn’t scary,” Sims said. “We kept thinking at every stage, the floor is going to fall out if it’s not meant to be, but it never fell out.” They sampled almost a dozen axe throwing places to make the space something people would enjoy, noting the good and the bad of each place. The room is set up with six two-target bays, a log with a variety of throwing axes in the middle of each bay, and tall tables running down the middle of the room. The bays and axes meet the World Axe Throwing League requirements. The Blade Axe House will host leagues, like in bowling, that compete nationally. Patrons have to reserve their bay in advance on the website or over the phone. They will sign a waiver before being taken to the bay for a one-on-one rules and safety lesson, and then left to play league-style games, one of the games in the book on the wall in each bay, or to make up a target game. “You’re in here for an hour and a half and it takes just a little bit of time to figure out how to throw it,” Sims said. Make sure to wear closed-toed shoes and have fun. Address: 1873 NE Diamond Lake Blvd. Phone: 541-900-1190 Website: www.thebladeaxehouse.com Hours: Wed.-Thur. 4-9, Fri. 4-11, Sat. 2-11, Sun. 12-5