52nd Woodland Winter Carnival brings community together for snowy good-time
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
WOODLAND — Puxatony Phil the groundhog’s got nothing on Woodland’s annual tradition, as hundreds of Woodchucks young and old converged on the community’s school to celebrate their 52nd annual Woodland Winter Carnival and raised almost $2,000 for the Woodland PTA.
While there wasn’t as much snow as previous years, community support bolstered the snowpack ensuring that the annual event stayed snowbound: volunteers from Crown Equipment of Caribou created the hill for sledding events and Rich Durette provided the trail grooming for the ski dashes, potato sack races and all the cross-country trails at the school.
The community spirit was palpable, with spectators cheering on and supporting all race participants — whether the competators were their own offspring or a friend’s.
Treska Berube, who now lives in Caribou Viking territory, hadn’t forgotten her Woodland Woodchuck roots and came out to enjoy the day with her granddaughter Madison May Ouellette (who seemed to thoroughly enjoy being pulled about the venue on her little sled).
“It’s nice to see all the old teachers come back out to support the event,” she said. Whether they were educators from eras past, Woodchucks who returned to their stomping grounds for seasonal fun or current Woodland parents and students, everyone was welcome at the school on Saturday — roughly all 200 of them.
After the trails were skied, the three-legged races sacked, and the sleds all raced out, community members warmed up in the school’s cafeteria to await the crowning of the Woodland Winter Carnival King and Queen. What makes these two titles so special is that contrary to most of the areas “royalty,” there’s no pageantry involved in the crowning. Instead, contestants are rated solely on their public speaking ability. There were four contestants this year vying for two crowns: Jennifer Chapman, daughter of Kevin and Ann Chapman; Dylan Conroy, son of Ralph and Vickie Conroy; Mackenzie Deveau, daughter of Peter Deveau and Wanda Anderson and Rebecca Page, daughter of Fred and Karen Page.
The four performed their speeches on Feb. 3 to a crowded room filled with faculty, staff and community members as well as their fellow students.
Dylan Conroy kicked off the speeches, performing a piece called “Grandma Beats Up Security Guards” which was adapted from Bob Wallace. He was coached by his father for the speech that had him performing the parts of a plethora of characters. His speech won him the crown and the title of Woodland Winter Carnival King.
Mackenzie Deveau followed Conroy’s speech with her self-written speech called “An Only Child.” Being an only child sounds good in theory, but as Deveau explained, being an only child means that you’re the only one that your parents worry about … and that excessive attention can be quite stressful. This was shown in her props, which included shin-guards and bubble-wrap her hypothetical parents insisted that she wear to keep her out of harm’s way. Her speech earned her the crown and the title of Woodland Winter Carnival Queen.
As hard as it is to be an only child, it’s even harder to be the Tooth Fairy.
This was explained by Rebecca Page, in a piece called “You Best Believe” she wrote with her mother. Even though she was dressed quite magically with wings, wand, and a toothbrush sticking out of her tiara, Page explained to her audience all the hard work that goes into retrieving those teeth tucked under pillows. It’s not easy being the Tooth Fairy — and she made that very clear.
While the contestants presented their speeches, students were able to learn a lot about putting themselves in someone else’s shoes. It’s not easy being an only child, it’s not easy being the Tooth Fairy, and Jennifer Chapman informed the audience about the tribulations of being a teacher.
Through her self-written speech called “My Life as a Teacher,” she described the circumstances that turned her dream into a relative nightmare — and the unfortunate story was really quite funny.
Based on the Feb. 3 speeches, each contestant was present during the crowning ceremony on Saturday — with Ryan Cole and Mackenzie Tracy acting as the crown bearers.
2010 Woodland Winter Carnival King and Queen Matthew Manter and Mariessa Sarmiento were also in attendance to crown the new court, Deveau and Conroy.
Once the new king and queen were adorned in their crowns and sashes, they performed their winning speeches once more for their new audience.
While there’s only one King and Queen of Winter Carnival, there were dozens of winners during Saturday’s races. Winners included:
Tubs preK-K: 1st: Jesse Taggett, 2nd: Jillian Zeigler, 3rd: Lillian Bray
Tubs Grade 1: 1st: Ryan Cole, 2nd: Amanda Poulin, 3rd: Mackenzie Tracy
Tubs Grade 2: 1st: Krysta McLaughlin, 2nd: Matthew McCormack, 3rd: (Tie) PJ Thornton and Rylan Masse
Tubs Grade 3: 1st: Joshua Ostlund, 2nd: Alexis Parker
Tubs Grade 4: 1st: Wyatt Taggett, 2nd: Maren Moir, 3rd: (3-way tie) Julia Dahlgren, Ghent Durepo and Hollie McDougal
Tubing preK-K: 1st: Connor Dodd, 2nd: Connor Soucy, 3rd: Delaney Crouch
Tubing Grade 1: 1st: Gabrielle Sutherland, 2nd: Tanner Prashaw, 3rd: Ryan Cole
Tubing Grade 2: 1st: Ethan Albair, 2nd: Dylan Dodd, 3rd: Macy Wakem
Tubing Grade 3: 1st: Alexis Parker, 2nd: Joshua Ostlund
Tubing Grade 4: 1st: Julia Dahlgren, 2nd: Phillip Easton, 3rd: Monica McLaughlin
Tubing Grade 5: 1st: Cameron Doody, 2nd: Sarae Greenier, 3rd: (Tie) Carter Moir and Mariah Connolly
Tubing Grade 6: 1st: Megan Thornton, 2nd: Dianna Poulin, 3rd: Simone Michaud
Tubing Grade 7: 1st: Mollie Cummings, 2nd: Adrianna Bither, 3rd: Liza Durette
Tubing Grade 8: 1st: Dylan Conroy, 2nd: Rebecca Page, 3rd: Mackenzie Deveau
Cross Country Girls Grade preK – 1: 1st: Anna Belanger, 2nd: Saffayia Durepo
Cross Country Boys Grade preK-1: 1st: Connor Soucy, 2nd: Tanner Prashaw
Cross Country Girls Grade 2-4: 1st: Maren Moir, 2nd: McKenzie Rossignol, 3rd: Brooke Moir
Cross Country Boys Grade 2-4: 1st: Ghent Durepo, 2nd: Keith Bray, 3rd: Rylan Masse
Cross Country Girls Grades 5-8: 1st: Liza Durette, 2nd: Megan Thornton
Cross Country Boys Grades 5-8: 1st: Dylan Conroy, 2nd: Gunnar Bondeson, 3rd: Scott Bray
50yd Ski Dash Grades preK-2: 1st: PJ Thornton, 2nd: Connor Soucy, 3rd: Macy Wakem
50yd Ski Dash Grades 3-5: 1st: Scott Bray, 2nd: Carter Moir, 3rd: Lane Moir
220 yd Ski Dash Girls Grades 5-8: 1st: Liza Durette, 2nd: Megan Thornton, 3rd: Dianna Poulin
220 yd Ski Dash Boys Grades 5-8: 1st: Dylan Conroy, 2nd: Brandon Manter, 3rd: Scott Bray
440 yd Ski Dash Grades 6-8: 1st: Dylan Conroy, 2nd: Gunnar Bondeson, 3rd: Megan Thornton
Snow Shoeing preK-K: 1st: Connor Soucy, 2nd: Keanen Masse
Snow Shoeing Grades 1-2: 1st: Keith Bray, 2nd: Rylan Masse, 3rd: Brooke Moir
Snow Shoeing Grades 3-4: 1st: Maren Moir, 2nd: McKenzie Rossignol, 3rd: Ghent Durepo
Snow Shoeing Grades 5-6: 1st: Megan Thornton, 2nd: Scott Bray, 3rd: MacKenzie Conroy
Snow Shoeing Grades 7-8: 1st: Dylan Conroy, 2nd: Rebecca Page, 3rd: Liza Durette
3-Legged Race preK-K: 1st: Saffayia Durepo and Kay-Lee Parker, 2nd: Laura Plourde and Delayne Crouch, 3rd: Natalie Landeen and Lillian Bray
3-Legged Race Grades 1-2: 1st: Brooke Moir and Macy Wakem, 2nd: Matthew McCormack and Krysta McLaughlin, 3rd: Madison Zeigler and Halle Greenier
3-Legged Race Grades 3-4: 1st: Julia Dahlgren and Hollie McDougal, 2nd: Wyatt Taggett and Maren Moir, 3rd: McKenzie Rossignol and Monica McLaughlin
3-Legged Race Grades 5-6: 1st: Megan Thornton and Simone Michaud, 2nd: Mariah Connolly and Sarae Greenier, 3rd: Adia Greer and Dianna Poulin
3-Legged Race Grades 7-8: 1st: Mollie Cummings and McKenzie Deveau, 2nd: Erin McBreairty and Jennifer Chapman, 3rd: Adiranna Bither and Desirae Belanger
Snowboarding preK-2: 1st: Keith Bray, 2nd: Matthew McCormack, 3rd: PJ Thornton
Snowboarding Grades 3-5: 1st: Cameron Doody, 2nd: Carter Moir, 3rd: Ghent Durepo
Snowboarding Grades 6-8: 1st: Adrianna Bither, 2nd: Megan Thornton
Tobogganing All Grades: 1st: Rebecca Page, McKenzie Deveau and Erin McBreairty, 2nd: Simone Michaud, Megan Thornton and Mollie Cummings, 3rd: Adriann Bither, Liza Durette and Desirae Belanger
Tubing Adults: 1st: Amanda Dean, 2nd (Tie): Lori Albair and Sherri Parker, 3rd (Tie): Karen Poulin and Dave Doody
