Matthew Farfan

"PROUD OF OUR ROOTS"
With "Proud of Our Roots" as the theme of this year's Border Fest, Stanstead's fourth annual celebration of life on the Border kicked off with "Le Coureur," a 5 km race through the historic town that drew close to a hundred runners. After the race, a massive parade made its way up Dufferin Street, with throngs of spectators lining the sidewalks for a mile on either side. The consensus was that this year's parade was the best ever.


OLD-FASHIONED GAMES
In keeping with this year's theme, many of the day's events were of a more traditional, old-fashioned nature. There were outdoor games for children -- old favourites like sack races, tugs of war, bow and arrow games, "sword" fighting, and others. There were horses and buggies to give rides, clowns, old-time dance demonstrations, and displays by both 18th Century "Loyalists" and 12th Century "medievalists." There was even a giant papier-maché dragon, which proved quite popular with the kids.

PERIOD COSTUME
Also in the heritage vein, there were open-houses at the recently restored Centenary Church, the Masonic Lodge (celebrating its 200th annivesary this year), and the Colby-Curtis Museum. Guides from the museum, dressed in period costume, gave spirited tours of historic sites around town. An exhibition and a documentary video on the granite industry were shown by the local Youth Centre.

There were kiosks for local artisans and community groups, food-tasting galore, and a delicious old-time dinner put on by the local grocery store. Up the street there were demonstrations by local skateboarders. Finally, rounding off the day was some fine evening entertainment, including the bluegrass by the Wind River Band, rock music by the Ursuline College band, country music by Buckshot, and oldies by perennial local favourite, Mike Goudreau.

GREAT TRADITION
Though skies were overcast for most of the day, with even a little rain around 4 o' clock, people (including many from neighbouring Vermont) seemed to really enjoy themselves. One visitor summed up Border Fest this way: "It's a great tradition, a wonderful way to show off our town, meet neighbours, make new friends... I look forward to this every year."

For more pictures of Border Fest 2003, click here.