The 59th annual Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race will be held on April 18 but it will be missing a local legend.
Edwin “Sonny” Colburn, one of the co-founders of the race along with the late Lew “Spook” Gilman, passed away on Feb. 20 at the age of 93 with wife Faith beside him.
Longtime high school and Air National Guard friends Colburn and Gilman met at Miller’s Restaurant in Bangor to discuss the creation of the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race, according to the race’s website. Gilman encouraged Colburn to pitch it to the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department, which was just three doors down from Bangor Furniture, the store Colburn managed.
They thought it would be fun.
A bicycle race had failed and the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department was looking for another fund-raiser.
So it was approved and, on May 21, 1967, 51 paddlers climbed into 32 canoes/kayaks for the inaugural race with Sam Stoddard and Jim Robbins winning while competing in the two-man canoe class with a time of 2:52.53 over the 16.5-mile course.
The race grew and underwent a number of changes including the addition of classes.
In 1994, the record was set for craft (745) and paddlers (1529).
There were 406 craft carrying 760 paddlers last year, which brought the total of canoes/kayaks to 21,763 and paddlers to 42,287 since the race’s inception.
The race has attracted paddlers from all over the country as well as the Canadian provinces.
“Lew and Sonny were definitely the icons of this race,” said Debbie Gendreau, the assistant Bangor Parks and Recreation director who is in her 18th year as the race director.
Gendreau said Colburn used to come to all the race committee meetings until five years ago and, even after he stopped attending the meetings, he would come to “my office at least three times before the race every year.”
“He would always have a Kenduskeag canoe race shirt on as well as a hat. He was so passionate about this race. There was nothing else he would talk about, at least in front of me,” Gendreau said.
He always attended the race and he and Gilman occasionally paddled in it.
Gilman died in 2011.
“We owe a lot to them, what they did to get this race started and to the longevity of the race,” said Tracy Willette, the director of the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department.
“To have this still going for over 50 years is truly a testament to them and to what they did to develop this event. They are legends of canoeing in the area and in the state,” said Willette.
He said Colburn was a great guy.
“He had a great sense of humor and always had an idea. He was always thinking outside the box a little bit. And he wasn’t shy about sharing those ideas,” Willette said. “I always looked forward to seeing him and having him out there with us on that Saturday morning.”
“He is going to be missed,” added Willette who noted that the race continues to be one of the most popular paddling events in New England.
“They had a great idea in 1967 and here we still are in 2026.”
