The Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce’s 2008 Road Rally held during Potato Feast Days had over 25 people participating in eight vehicles.
The course was approximately 40 miles long and took about an hour and a half to complete. The route took the ralliers through Houlton, New Limerick, Linneus, and Hodgdon. All the entrants said it was a great day and a great ride, which matched well with the amazing weather of the weekend.
Rally participants had to follow a defined course and go by the directions they were given. Drivers and navigators had to figure out clues as to which road to take and which way to turn all the while making sure they were following the posted speed limits on each road. While on the route, they also had a series of 30 questions to find the answers to. The answers could be found by checking out the houses, fields, mailboxes, barns, signs, and many other things as they went along.
The winners were determined with a combination of scores based on the number of correct answers on the questionnaire, the number of minutes the participants were over or under the measured course time, and the actual mileage of the cars compared to the measured course mileage.
All participants expressed their pleasure with deciding to be in the road rally. Several of them said how they used to do it years ago and hoped that the Chamber would keep this as an annual event. Plans are already in the making for next year’s Chamber Road Rally.
Winners of the 2008 Road Rally were: first place $100, Team 4, Brent Estabrook; second place $50, Team #5, Roger Hayes; third place $25, Team 8, Skip Cleary; and “Luck of the Draw” prize, Team 4, Simone Carter.