The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Imagine a championship so special it is held once every 100 years. Now, imagine that a special group of Manitobans won that championship in replica vessels from the 1800's; such was the unique event that was the 1967 Centennial Canoe race. Teams were comprised of nine paddlers. On each day, six of those paddlers were in the 25-foot-long-260-pound canoe with the others serving as the ground crew and moving by land to the next camp. The Canadian Centennial Commission organized and sponsored the 104 day-long event that started from Rocky Mountain House, AB and finished up at Montreal on Isle Notre Dame at Expo '67. 1966 The Western Trial Race ran from Prince George, BC down the Fraser River to Vancouver, across the Straits of Juan de Fuca to Victoria in a 600 mile, 10 day event that saw eight provinces and two territories enter. Manitoba finished first, followed by BC just 23 minutes later; the remaining order of finish was Alberta, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Yukon, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories. The Eastern Trial Race started at Lachine, QC and ran down Lake Champlain and the Hudson River to New York City, NY for a 470 mile event. The Canadian government hoped to publicize and promote the upcoming Expo '67 to the Americans. Once again Manitoba prevailed over Alberta this time, with BC third and host Quebec finishing fourth. The remaining order of finish was Ontario, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Time Magazine featured a cover photo of Manitoba leading the race into New York City. 1967 The event started May 24 at Rocky Mountain House in Alberta and set to cover 3,343 miles (3,282 miles paddling and 60 miles portaging) with 406 miles in Alberta, 574 miles in Saskatchewan, 682 miles in Manitoba and 1,621 miles in Ontario and Quebec to finish on September 4 at Montreal on Isle Notre Dame at Expo 67. Manitoba led the race the whole way except for one day when, ironically in Manitoba, they went off course and surrendered a hard-fought lead to BC. They took back their first place position the next day on the first leg across Lake Manitoba. Manitoba won the race and finished with a time total of 531:6.15. BC was second at 532:26.14. And Alberta third at 535:26.14. The remaining order of finish was Ontario, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nova Scotia. The tiny Manitoba mining town of Flin Flon not only contributed eight of the 10 Manitoban team members, but also seven of the Saskatchewan entry as well Jim Rheahme (Chief Voyageur) Ð Flin Flon John Norman Ð Flin Flon Norm Crerar (Captain) Ð Flin Flon Wayne Soltys Ð Flin Flon Gib McEachern Ð Flin Flon David Wells Ð Flin Flon *Joe Michelle Ð Sturgeon Landing Don Starkell Ð Winnipeg Roger Carriere Ð Portage Cranberry Blair Harvey Ð Winnipeg *Deceased
