Gone to the Dogs Fort Kent turns canine during annual mushing event

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March may come in like a lion for the rest of the world, but in northern Maine the last weeks of winter are ushered in on the paws of dogs. Lots and lots of dogs.

For the 10th year, Fort Kent becomes immersed in all things having to do with sled dogs and sled-dog racing as the Aroostook County town gears up for the annual running of the Can Am International Sled Dog Races on March 2.

For one weekend every year, the canine population of Fort Kent increases dramatically. This year, 90 teams are expected to register among the three races with each musher bringing between six and 24 dogs.

Just do the math and it’s easy to see why local grocery stores regularly sell out of frozen fish, chicken livers and other tasty – to sled dogs, anyway – treats.

At the center of it all are the mushers and their dogs. Starting on Thursday right up to the start of the mushers’ meeting Friday night at the town office, teams will be arriving in Fort Kent.

Streets are suddenly lined with pickup trucks or trailers sporting modified boxes for carrying dogs and racing equipment.

Anywhere there is an open space, there is a team parked with huskies tethered to their owner’s truck. Some of the dogs are waiting to be fed. Some appear to be taking in the scenery and others are doing what comes naturally after an hours-long ride cooped up in a dog box. The lucky ones are tethered next to a handy truck tire.

Then there are the fans who descend by the hundreds on Fort Kent Saturday morning for the start of the 30-mile race at 8 a.m., the 60-mile race at 9 a.m. and the weekend’s flagship event, the 250-mile race at 10 a.m.

West Main Street takes on a carnival atmosphere from the start line at the intersection of West Main Street and Meadow Lane to the turnoff into the woods about three-quarters of a mile down the street past the town office.

Spectators begin lining up way before the first start time of 8 a.m., as any true sled dog-racing groupie knows, because some of the best viewing comes with watching mushers and handlers prepare their teams.

Behind the fenced-off staging areas adjacent to the start line, spectators can watch the dogs being unloaded from their boxes, inspected by veterinarians and “dressed” for the race with harnesses and special booties worn to protect their feet over the long stretch of snowy trail.

As the start time nears, it can be hard to determine who is more excited by it all – mushers, fans or the dogs. My money is on the dogs. It often takes five or six volunteers to control some of the larger teams as they approach the start. It’s near bedlam with mushers and handlers shouting instructions in mixtures of English and French over the deafening barks and howls of the dogs.

One by one they enter the start area, the countdown is begun and off they shoot down a corridor lined with people cheering and waving them on.

No sooner has one musher disappeared around the turn, then the next is heading to the start.

The town and the residents have embraced this race and opened their arms, businesses and even their homes to the participants – two and four-legged alike.

“The dogs are welcome, too,” Maurice Bard said of the Knights of Columbus breakfast planned for Saturday starting at 5:30 a.m. in the K.C. hall located about a mile out of town on the Frenchville Road.

“The Can Am is quite a function for the town,” the K.C. member and breakfast organizer said. “Last year the local restaurants were overloaded with people coming in, so we are trying to help out that way.”

For $6, early risers will get a full-course breakfast to start race day off. Children under 12 eat for $3.

Food and hot drinks are available right on Main Street, as many businesses will have plenty of coffee, tea and hot chocolate on hand.

“The races begin at 8 a.m. and the town has to be open early,” Susan Tardie, Fort Kent Chamber of Commerce office manager, said this week. “It’s a good time to go into some of the stores and look around or hit some of the restaurants.”

At Penguin Music and Cafe, they are not waiting for people to come to them.

“We are going to be selling our specialty coffees up and down Main Street,” Joe Shadel, cafe owner, said. “Back inside, we are going to have a whole bunch of goodies.”

It’s the same story at Key Bank, the traditional staging area for the race. Bank doors are open early Saturday morning with coffee and doughnuts available.

Not to be outdone, across the street at First Citizens Bank, another staging and spectator area, there will be more coffee, cocoa and doughnuts.

No one goes hungry in Fort Kent on Can Am weekend.

Anyone who still is hungry once the last teams have left town need go only as far as the Senior Citizen Center on East Main Street, where they are serving up a chicken stew lunch starting at 11 a.m.

Race fans can fill the few hours between the end of the race start and the finish of the two shorter-distance races by taking in a movie. Plourde Century Cinema, the town’s only movie theater, is running a special 1 p.m. matinee of the new film “Snow Dogs.”

Those who can’t get enough of the race can either hang out at the finish line at Lonesome Pine Ski Lodge or at Can Am Central Base housed at the town office.

At either location, up-to-the-minute times, locations and statistics for each musher in the three races are posted and updated.

Finishers for the 30-mile race are expected to start arriving at noon with participants in the 60-mile race anticipated to start trickling in at 2:15 p.m. Don’t expect to see the first finishers of the Can Am 250 before late Sunday or early Monday.

While waiting, the ski area will be open for alpine skiing and rental equipment is available. Not far up Route 11 are the Trails of Acadia, home to the 10th Mountain Division Biathlon lodge and world-class cross-country ski trails.

On Sunday morning, teams from the 30- and 60-mile races gather at 8 a.m. for the awards breakfast back at Lonesome Pines, where fans are welcome to congratulate and mingle with the mushers.

A complete Can Am race weekend schedule and related information is available by going to www.can-am-sjv.net. Other information can be obtained from the Fort Kent Chamber of Commerce Web site at www.fortkentchamber.com or by calling -834-5354.