JEFFERSON -- Tyler Rodin of Cushing helped the town of Jefferson celebrate its bicentennial by racing down an icy, 660-foot-long drag strip on Damariscotta Lake Saturday.

To Rodin, it didn't matter that snowmobiles weren't around when the town was first incorporated on Feb. 24, 1807.

What did matter to Rodin, 25, who prepared to race his 150-horsepower, purple Skidoo sled, was that it was a great day for racing. As many as 80-100 other people thought so, too.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., people from Jefferson, Nobleboro, Cushing -- and even a few out-of-staters -- battled heavy crosswinds and each other for bragging rights and three commemorative medals.

The daylong races kicked off the town's bicentennial celebration, which continues with events scheduled into the summer months.

The town, named for President Thomas Jefferson, has about 2,388 residents and sits between the towns of Nobleboro and Somerville.

Men, women, children -- even dogs -- turned out to watch the snowmobilers race down a long straightaway atop Damariscotta Lake. The course, which consisted of a plowed patch of ice, was lined with orange road cones separating the competitors' lanes.

The road-cone orange starting line could be seen from the nearby Damariscotta Lake State Park parking lot, as could the starting light signaling three yellow lights and finally a green.

Competitors raced in the stock, improved or modified classes in a two-round elimination.

"Two people will drag down the track and if you continue to win, you continue to the next round," said Joe Bodnar, race organizer and treasurer for the SnoPackers Snowmobile Club.

But if a racer loses twice, they're out of the running.

Bodnar said some of the bigger sleds competing could approach 100 mph on the ice. "They get going pretty good," Bodnar said.

Lining up at the orange starting line, racers waited as the starting light counted down to green.

Once they were given the go, competitors shot off the starting line, gaining speed as the ice skidded under their sleds.

Last weekend, competitors said, the top speed on the lake was 127 mph.

But with a strong, gusty wind Saturday, the speeds were a bit slower.

Still, spectators were glued to the races.

Jerry Greene, of Waterville, said he journeyed to Jefferson simply to watch the drag racing.

"My wife's working so I don't have much else to do," Greene said. "And my boys used to race in things like this."

So what was the best part of the day?

"It's not snowing or 20 below," Greene said.

While onlookers wouldn't know until early evening just who won the races, there were other bicentennial events to keep them busy until then. At the stroke of noon, local churches rang their bells 200 times in honor of the town's bicentennial.

The First Baptist Church, built at the head of Damariscotta Lake in 1808, the Bunker Hill Baptist Church, St. Giles Episcopal Church, Truth Baptist Church and the 1844 Trask Meeting House all rang their bells while people in town stopped to listen.

All of the snowmobilers, well into their racing, were asked to shut down their engines until the ringing stopped.

The final event of the evening was a public supper hosted by the Whitefield Lions Club at the Jefferson Village School.

President Thomas Jefferson himself (as impersonated by Gus Jacacci) was scheduled to attend.

Elizabeth Comeau -- 623-3811,

Ext. 433

ecomeau@centralmaine.com