and grade school students
from surrounding towns
competed in skiing, skating
and snowshoeing races. They
also featured international
hockey games, horse racing
on the frozen Aroostook
River, boxing, dog racing,
wood-chopping competitions
and a ski marathon. The ski
marathon was a three day,
tri town, 35-mile event with
competitors skiing between
Fort Fairfield, Caribou and
Presque Isle. The 1937 ski
marathon winner was the only
female competitor, Laverne
Anderson from New Sweden.
Anderson came in first each
day of the race and won $50
for her efforts. And the cold
weather did not stop skiers.
On day one of the race the
temperature hovered around
30 degrees below zero. Some of
the skiers wrapped newspapers
around themselves for warmth
and cars followed the skiers to
offer hot soup and to pick up
those skiers who threw in the
towel.
Some of the more unusual
races were simply dangerous.
The tamest of these was the
ski-potato race for women
where competitors skied
without poles for 50 yards,
picked up a potato and then
skied to the finish line. While
not all that dangerous, it does
sound tricky. The women’s
three-legged
race
seems
more daunting. \