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Sled Dogs Get the Attention at Bridgton's Mushers Bowl

January 28, 2009 - BRIDGTON -- As race time approached, dozens of dogs were yelping and straining forward, clearly eager to get going on the track.

Assistants had to hold back the dogs and grip the sleds to keep each group behind the start line until they got a signal to go. Then they would jolt forward and swoosh down the hill and around the bend.

"I've never seen it before. I think it's great," said Donna Borowick of Windham, one of the smiling spectators gathered by the start line.

The dog sled races are among the highlights of the Mushers Bowl Winter Carnival organized by the Greater Bridgton Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce. The final races at Five Fields Farm capped the 10-day event Sunday.

Sled dogs can be addictive to both mushers and non-mushers.

Bobbi and Jim Studley of Brownfield don't harbor any dreams of mushing with their border collie, but they enjoy the races and getting the chance to admire the athleticism of the sled dogs up close.

"It's just fun to be outdoors and watch all the dogs," Bobbi Studley said. "They get so excited."

An interest in northern breeds prompted Joe Comeno to get his first couple of dogs. Then he added a sled and some more dogs – and still more dogs.

These days, Comeno, a high school science teacher from Concord, Vt., has more than 25 dogs and a trail system on his 90 acres.

Now most of his winter weekends are spent on the mushers circuit – primarily in New England, although he has also raced in Michigan and Canada.

"It's exhilarating," said Comeno, who was competing in the six-dog class. "You know you're out there, you know you're alive."

The weather cooperated with this year's event, which aims to showcase the region and draw visitors to the area.

Races have been canceled or postponed a couple of times in recent years because of a lack of snow, but the weather was on organizers' side this year, said Mike McClellan, executive director of the chamber.

On Sunday, bone-chilling winds prompted the cancellation of snowmobile and horse-drawn hay rides on Highland Lake. But by midmorning, dog sled rides on the lake were well under way.

As many as 4,000 people attended Mushers Bowl Winter Carnival events this year, McClellan estimated.

Events included ice fishing, ice golf and skijoring, in which a dog pulls a Nordic skier.

There also were locally oriented events such as a public safety employees vs. chamber members basketball game, a talent competition and a variety show.

It's the second year that the chamber has had an expanded 10-day event.

In the past, it was four days. McClellan said organizers were already thinking about ways to beef up the weekends that bookend the event for next year.

On Sunday at Highland Lake, the sled dogs – Alaskan huskies, some with strains of malamute, German shepherd, Labrador and other breeds – gathered to give rides and were as eager to get started as their peers competing across town.

"It's mostly taking what they want to do and directing it in a positive direction," said Liz Como, co-owner of Winter Journeys, a Lovell-based guiding business, who was coordinating the rides. "They want to pull. What we're doing is taking that instinct to pull and having them pull a sled."

Ten-year-old Jimmy Toner and his 12-year-old sister, Kathy, were happy after returning from their ride on the lake.

"It was fun – really cold. I just like watching the dogs run," Jimmy said.

Those dogs reminded him of his family's golden retriever, Bonney.

His eldest sister, 15-year-old Mary, plans to train Bonney in skijoring.

"She's inclined to pull, but she's not inclined to listen," Mary said.

The Mushers Bowl Winter Carnival is a must-do for the Toner family, said Dale Toner, the children's mother.

The family lives in Falmouth, Mass., but has ties to the area. The family has a second home in town, and her husband, Jim, learned to ski in the area.

"We wouldn't miss this for the world," Dale Toner said.

By ANN S. KIM, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, January 26, 2009


Lakes: Highland Lake
Regions: Sebago


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