FORT KENT – The late Willard Jalbert Jr. mushed dogs in Fort Kent decades before mushing was the biggest event of the year in this northern Maine town that was invaded by nearly 1,000 dogs and 90 mushers over the weekend and thousands of fans Saturday.

Jalbert used to run a ragtag team of local mutts harnessed to a homemade sled, giving rides to his wife, six kids and other neighborhood children. He was a policeman for a time, and later did surveillance at the port of entry with U.S. Customs.

A fun-loving man, devoted to his family and his community, he was a member of the local board of education fighting for programs for girls, a subject close to his heart because of his five daughters.

He died a young man still in his 50s in a fiery crash with his only son, Billy, in 1976 as they were returning to Fort Kent after watching daughter Bonnie’s team play in the Eastern Maine Basketball Tournament in Bangor.

Saturday morning, 30 mushers took off on a 60-mile race through the northern Maine woods in the Willard Jalbert Jr. Memorial Race, part of the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog championships.

Another daughter, Phyllis Jalbert of Brooklyn, N.Y., put up the $7,000 purse for the memorial race in her father’s name.

“Dad lived for sports way back, even before I was born,” she said with emotion in her voice Saturday.

“He had a dog team, a motley crew,” she recalled. “He would be very happy here today to see the female mushers involved in this race. He had five girls, and girls and athletics had a special place in his heart.”

Phyllis, her four sisters – Maxine of Atlanta, Ga., Susan of Boulder, Colo., Patty of Portland and Bonnie Slocum of North Yarmouth – and their 86-year-old mother, Blanche, were on the starting platform Saturday morning as mushers rushed out of the starting gate.

Phyllis hitched a ride on one of the sleds as it sped out of the gate for the first quarter-mile of the race down Fort Kent’s Main Street.

Though she has lived for decades in New York where she is involved in real estate, Phyllis Jalbert has never forgotten her hometown. She donates to many local causes, including the Can-Am Crown and the 10th Mountain Division Lodge, which is the home of world class biathlon and cross-country facilities in Fort Kent. Last winter during the Biathlon World Cup she bid $10,001 for a pair of world-class cross-country skis, one of nine pairs made for auction at nine Biathlon World Cup competitions. The skis sit in a trophy case at the lodge with a plaque dedicating them in memory of Willard Jalbert Jr.

“I love my hometown, there’s no better place to live or be from,” she said. “Many of my friends are here. This is a very unique place.

“The volunteerism – this community pulls together time and time again,” she said. “The volunteers here are like Energizer bunnies, and it’s infectious.

“I just like to do what I can do, I help with money and I volunteer myself when I can, like last year during the biathlon,” she said. “Today, we are all here, my sisters, and my mother, and we are all happy about that.”

Phyllis Jalbert travels to northern Maine many times a year. She owns and operates the Jalbert Camps on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, is a registered Maine Guide, and is on the advisory committee for the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

“I just love the Allagash,” she said as she walked back toward her mother and sisters to continue enjoying the weekend festivities.