FORT KENT – There is no definite economic study to show the dollar benefits of the annual Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Race, but most people believe there is a great benefit, and it may not all be in dollars.

The effect the 12th annual race has in bringing people to Fort Kent, from near or far, promotes the town.

“This is great, just great,” Duane Walton, corporate vice president of the Northern Maine Finance Corp. of the Northern Maine Development Commission, said during the Maine Street start of the KeyBank 250-mile race Saturday. “We’ve been here several years, and this brings people here.

“These people spend money, and it shows them that something can be done here even during the winter months,” he said. “We have assets in northern Maine and they must be shown.”

There were people everywhere on Main Street, which is closed to vehicular traffic during the morning of the race start. Businesses offer free coffee and amenities. Many businesses had scores of people inside.

The River House Restaurant’s street-side tables were full with people having breakfast inside while dogs and mushers whizzed by.

Couches and chairs in the windows of Nadeau’s House of Furniture also were filled with people watching the racers go by just feet from the windows.

Peter Pinette, owner of Rock’s Restaurant on Main Street, said Saturday was the biggest day he’s had. His entire staff – half to two-thirds more workers than a normal Saturday – were on the job Saturday, and there was hardly a place left to sit in the establishment.

“This is the biggest day of the year for us each year,” he said in the flurry of serving food to dozens of customers. “We do tremendous business during the Can-Am.

“Look at the amount of people in town,” he said. “I did not expect this crowd this morning.”

Police estimated the crowd on the quarter mile of Main Street from the KeyBank start of the race to the International Bridge at 5,000 people or more. Others concurred, some saying it was the biggest crowd ever for the start of the three sled dog races.

Eighty sled dog teams were in three races: 30-, 60- and 250-mile distances. All races started on Main Street before heading into the northern Maine wilderness.

Town Manager Donald Guimond, one of about 400 volunteers for the races, was equally pleased Saturday.

“I don’t know what the dollars are for us, but look at all the people here,” he said. “Overall, this lasts for one week each year.

“I think a study would show that the economic benefits of this are fairly amazing,” Guimond said.

Politicians were among the people who came to Fort Kent on Can-Am weekend.

“This is exactly what northern Maine needs to do,” 1st District Rep. Tom Allen said. “People here have to take advantage of the climate.

“The St. John Valley in particular seems to focus on making the area a destination,” said Allen, a Democrat, on a break during his first-ever sled dog race at Fort Kent. “Between these races and the biathlon, there is tremendous potential.”

“This is a great event that helps the region economically for sure,” 2nd District Rep. Michael Michaud, also a Democrat, said Saturday morning. “There are no smokestacks, but this is an economic boost for the area that continues to grow.

“This is good for all of Aroostook County,” he said. “For many people it’s a time to see friends and family.”