FORT KENT – One hundred volunteers a day will be needed during the TD Banknorth Festival at Fort Kent later this month and in early January where the best biathletes in the United States will be competing for nine slots left on the U.S. Biathlon Team.

Organizers are expecting 500 spectators a day during the four days of competition at the 10th Mountain Division Lodge on Dec. 29-30 and Jan. 2-3. While the competition will have fewer participants than previous biathlon events at Fort Kent, athletes who compete will be motivated by the prospect of earning a spot on the U.S. team that will compete in the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, this February.

There will be a banquet at the University of Maine-Fort Kent on Saturday, Dec. 31 and an end-of-the-competitions announcement by the U.S. Biathlon Association on Jan. 3 at the lodge. That’s when the team members will be announced.

Twenty-five men and 15 women will be competing for the open slots. Only the top 20 percent of them will qualify for nine spots open on both the men’s and women’s teams.

“Biathlon is the number one sport in Europe,” Nancy Thibodeau, event coordinator for the Festival at Fort Kent, told a business breakfast at UMFK last Friday. “Come to the competitions and see why.

“We will also need volunteers for the event,” she said. “There are a number of jobs open for anyone who is interested.

Thibodeau hopes that spectators will attend and cheer the hometown athletes in their quest. U.S. biathletes who have made the Fort Kent biathlon venue their home for training include Tracey and Lanny Barnes, Haley Johnson, Denise Teela, Walt Shepard, Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, Jeremy Teela and Brian Olson.

The town where the Maine Winter Sports Center started its goal of re-introducing skiing as a way of life six years ago is already buzzing. Biathlon banners are hanging from light poles, work on trails has been under development for weeks and plans are being made for non-competitive activities when athletes are off the trails.

A lot of open time is available because the events only last from 90 to 150 minutes a day.

“The competition is very important to the 40 athletes coming here,” Thibodeau has said. “They are focused on making the team.

Only one spot has been decided on the U.S. Team. Jay Hakkinen has already qualified. There are four spots remaining in the men’s team and five spots on the women’s team to be filled.

The events will be held between 10 a.m. and noon.

The Greater Fort Kent Chamber of Commerce is developing ways to promote northern Maine while these athletes, their coaches and families and biathlon officials are in town.

They are looking to promote snowshoeing, making and using them, Alpine and cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.

The downtown area merchants and residents have already started lighting up the streets. Street light poles have been festooned with bright white lights, and stores have been decorating the exterior of businesses.