CALAIS – In a little more than a month, dignitaries from as far away as France will visit Down East to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the French landing on St. Croix Island.

Last week, National Park Service officials were overseeing the cleanup of the island and mainland park in preparation for the celebration.

The mainland park, located across from the island, has statues that depict the French settlers and the Passamaquoddy Indians who helped them. There also are panels that tell the story of the first French settlement in North America.

“It looks like the statues are doing pretty well. [Last year] the crews made some covers for the statues,” Deb Wade, National Park Service spokeswoman, said last week. “The statues were one of the things we were worried about something happening to. Down the trail I can show you where a tree came down … probably within six inches of one of the figures.”

The 400th anniversary commemorates a tiny French expedition that spent the winter of 1604-05 on St. Croix Island. The settlement existed three years before the famed English settlement at Jamestown, Va. Weather and disease took a toll on the group, and in 1605 the expedition relocated to what is now Port Royal, Nova Scotia.

Celebration of the anniversary of the colonists’ June 26, 1604, arrival on St. Croix Island will begin at dawn June 26. The tiny island is located between Calais and Bayside, New Brunswick. The rest of the day will be given over to dignitaries and heads of state.

Some high-powered guests have accepted invitations from the people organizing the celebration. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin have said they will visit, and so has Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. The celebration will highlight Acadian culture and Louisiana’s Cajun population, which descends from Acadians expelled from this area in the 18th century.

Wade said that they also began the cleanup early to have the park ready to commemorate the grand opening of the Downeast Heritage Center later this month.

Officials at the heritage center announced Monday that the center has been named in “What’s Hot in New England” in the Yankee Magazine 2004 Travel Guide to New England.