Carnival Caravan could be fini

     Sarah Brooks said, “Because of the passport business and the problems for crossing the border, it may be just too difficult to try the trip another year.”
The caravan crossed the Maine-Quebec border at St. Pamphile, Quebec, without a problem, except for a few whose names were spelled differently on their driver’s licenses than what was on the Customs list, supplied ahead of time by Sarah (like Jerry for Gerald).
About 64 people from Aroostook County and Freeport left Portage at 7 a.m. with temperatures about zero, a beautiful cold day. Aroostook Technologies supplied each car with a hand-held two-way radio for communicating from car to car. The roads were well plowed and the caravan drove up to 45 mph.
I would like to mention all the people who made the trip, but that’s a lot of names. The Roland Paradis family from Frenchville made the trip. It was the grandfather, Roland Paradis, who cleared the woods road on the first trip 50 years ago.
I traveled with my friend, Dr. William “Bill” Forbes, a geologist and also a paleontologist, from Washburn. He formerly taught at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. During the trip, Dr. Forbes would use the radio to give a geological history of the various areas we were going through. The travelers were thrilled by Dr. Forbes’ commentary. He has done much paleontology work in Quebec and knows the province like the palm of his hand. And best of all, he drove.
Coffee and donuts and a 50th anniversary cake were enjoyed at Clayton Lake, a lumbering settlement about halfway to the border. (You may have seen weather reports from there before.) They have a post office and their mail is delivered through Quebec. Freeport resident and caravan participant Frank Guidi celebrated his birthday that day, helping Sarah cut the cake.
We made good time getting to Quebec City with some of the group choosing to cross the huge Saint Lawrence River bridge, while the rest of us chose to take the ferry from Levis, a city across from Quebec City. One of the first things we saw was the hazy silhouette of the Chateau Frontenac looming over the cliffs of the lower city. The chateau is the largest hotel in Quebec and resembles a large castle with turrets and pointed roofs, where many famous people have stayed, including President F.D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, who held a meeting there in World War II. No, I wasn’t there – not that time.
A reception was held in the Quebec City mayor’s office. Sarah addressed the group in both French and English. She presented two art photographs to the president of the Winter Carnival. One was mine and the other was Mike McNally’s (a news cameraman with WAGM television in Presque Isle). Other gifts were presented to the caravan members and Bill and I each receive a ceinture flechee 53rd Edition Arrowhead sash. They are the colorful sashes that carnival celebrators wear which resemble the sashes that were worn by French Canadian Voyagers. The big snowman-like gent with the red cap, Bonhomme, the host of the carnival, spoke to the group and danced with several members.
Maine state Sen. John Martin, of Fort Kent, who attended the reception with other members of the legislature, presented a legislative document to Sarah that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Maine-Quebec Highway trek.
The caravan members stayed at different hotels in the city and we lost contact with most of them. Richard and Vickie Brown, of Presque Isle, were at the Chateau Laurier with us. We were able to watch the night parade from our hotel window. In spite of the bitterly cold weather, the streets were jammed with people, dressed for the weather and from various countries around the world. We couldn’t tell if we were seeing a woman or a man as all we could see were eyes, they were bundled up so much. The Canadians, especially the Quebecers, are winter people and they are really great. A good many spoke some English and they didn’t hesitate in letting us take their photos and even gave us their e-mail addresses so Bill could send the photos to them.
Members of the caravan took in as many of the carnival events as possible, but there was just too much to see in just two days. Sarah enjoyed the horse racing so she stayed over an extra day. She had made new friends.
Some of the group went toboggan sliding by Chateau Frontenac and screamed all the way down. Others took in the international snow sculptures with entries from various countries, including: Mexico, France and Chili. And boy, was it chilly. There was dog sled racing; a snow bath where jokers wearing only bathing suits or other scanty garments would actually roll around in the snow, then ran inside to get warm. One of the big events that we all missed – because it was held before we got there – was the canoe, or bateaux, race across the ice-jammed river.
On the return trip we came back through the Riviere-du-Loup border crossing, since the Customs Office at the St. Pamphile border is closed on Sundays.
Adieu.