BRIDGTON – The annual Maine Canoe Symposium, where paddlers of all ages and abilities learn hands-on from North America’s foremost canoeing professionals, will be held June 8-10 on Moose Pond at Winona Camps.
Since 1986, this family-friendly weekend has drawn young and old, beginners and experts, for a celebration of virtually every aspect of canoeing and camping. It’s an all-volunteer, nonprofit, on the water and under the pines event.
Some land workshops include one-match fire building, cooking secrets, bug proofing your camp, choosing a Maine river, resources and tricks for identifying old wooden canoes, menu planning, essential knots, and paddling for aerobic fitness.
Water workshops include Canadian-style solo, skill building for women, canoe safety, sit and switch paddling, freestyle paddling, double-blade paddling, canoe poling, whitewater strokes and introductory paddling.
More workshops are listed on the Maine Canoe Symposium Web site, www.mainecanoesymposium.org.
Program leaders, headlined by Becky Mason and Cliff Jacobson, include Maine Guides, ACA instructors, national champions, authors, artists, explorers, and backwoods gurus.
Programs will begin Friday afternoon and run through Sunday, with a variety of experiences, including a Saturday night campfire, a war-canoe race Sunday and an auction and drawing for door prizes.
Jacobson will show a movie titled “The Wilberforce Affair” about his wedding on a canoe trip on the remote Hood River in Nunavut. Mason will present “Watershed Moments; Memorable Rivers I Have Paddled.” Kirk Wipper, founder of the Canadian Canoe Museum, will present programs on voyageur skills and songs.
A variety of accommodations are available, including family-size wall tents, rustic camp-style bunkhouses and scenic spots for pitching tents. Hearty “all-you-can-eat” meals are served cafeteria-style in the camp dining hall.
Registration fees for the weekend are $80 for adults, $40 for children age 12 and under. Meals and accommodations are additional and vary according to preferred lodging and duration of stay. Family discounts available.
To make reservations, contact Winona Camps at 35 Winona Road; call 647-3721; e-mail mcs@canoemaine.com; or call 892-3121.
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