Winter Adventure?
In 1960 the first bag of mail delivered to Clayton Lake
via the Realty Road was taken by the caravan. Prior to this
delivery all mail had been delivered through Canada.
The caravan was originally organized by the Ashland
Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2002 the Ashland Rotary
Club undertook the re-establishment of the trip. Northern
Maine Community College helped with the 50th anniversary trip in 2007. In recent years, the Central Aroostook
Chamber of Commerce, which serves Ashland, Portage,
Masardis and OxBow along with 9 other communities, has
coordinated the event.
Plans for the 57th annual Maine – Quebec Winter
Carnival Caravan are under way. The caravan will begin
with a breakfast at Dean’s Motor Lodge in Portage at 6:00
a.m. on February 14, 2014. The group will depart Portage
at 7:00 a.m. and proceed to the first stop at Maibec for the
traditional coffee, doughnut and restroom break. They will
proceed to St. Pamphile to cross the border into Canada.
From there the caravan will proceed to Quebec City via the
Levi ferry.
The trail master will be outfitted with a special radio
system to communicate with other traffic using the logging roads. Each vehicle in the caravan will carry a two-way
radio provided by Aroostook Technologies, Inc. In addition
to the need from a safety point, the radios have proved to
be of great entertainment value.
This traditional caravan will coincide with the final
weekend of the 60th Quebec Winter Carnival held in
Quebec City, Canada. The Quebec Winter Carnival is the
largest in the world with approximately 1 million people
attending during the two-week long carnival.
Participants in the caravan have already received an
invitation to attend a reception at the Quebec City Mayor’s
office and have an opportunity to tour Quebec Legislature
Sculptors from all around the world make blocks
of snow come to life during the International Snow
Sculpture Competition that takes place during the
Quebec Winter Carnival.
in addition to all of the Quebec Winter Carnival activities
that will be going on.
There will be dances, sleigh races, dogsled races, snow
slides, snow rafting, sleigh rides, a night parade plus other
entertainment and shows throughout the city. If you have
never experienced Quebec Carnival this is a great opportunity to have two unique experiences at once. More information about the Quebec Winter Carnival may be found
on their website: https://carnaval.qc.ca/en.
Room reservations in Quebec are the responsibility of
the participant. The return trip is on your own re-entering
the United States at a port of your own choice. It is not
recommended to travel the working woods roads for the
return trip.
The registration fee to join the caravan is $35 per
person. Individuals are responsible for their own expenses
during the trip.
For more information please contact the Central
Aroostook Chamber of Commerce at 207-764-6561 or
[email protected].
Above: The Maine delegation are invited annually
to a reception by the mayor of Quebec City, where
among the various dignitaries, they have the chance
to see Bonhomme Carnaval, the ambassador of the
winter carnival to foreigners and the symbol of the
festivities during this joyous period of the year.
Left: Participants in the 2012 Maine-Quebec
Caravan stop in Maibec for a break during the trip.