If you don’t have plans for Valentine’s Day, consider eating alligator while ice fishing on a lake in northern Maine.
That outlandish combination is a possibility — for the first time ever — thanks to the imagination of several Aroostook County locals looking to engage children in outdoor activities.
Part kids ice fishing derby, part alligator cookout, the event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 14, on Portage Lake via the West Road boat landing.
“This will be the first alligator cooked on the ice while ice fishing in history of mankind,” the bio of a newly-created Facebook page for the event boasts.
Brothers-in-law Chip Hafford and Jodi Spiers concocted the idea earlier this month, intending originally to host a get-together for friends.
But after Hafford, a TikTok creator with more than 110,000 followers and the owner of the Presque Isle-based Hafford Property Maintenance, posted a video detailing their plan, it received so much interest that they’ve morphed the event into a free ice fishing derby for children 15 and under.
“I’ve never seen an alligator. I’ve never tasted it,” Hafford said. “The first time I’m going to cook an alligator is gonna be for a whole bunch of people. So there’s a little bit of pressure there.”
Businesses and individual sponsors from around Aroostook County have chipped in to donate and fund a plethora of food besides alligator, including hot dogs and hamburgers. They’ve also funded $500 in prize money split between the best catches in a few fish categories.
“The amount of people who wanted to get involved, it was really overwhelming at first. I wasn’t expecting it,” Hafford said. “It was not only heartwarming, but it’s made me realize that if I can get an event together like this — starting out as a barbecue — then maybe I could turn this into something where we could raise money to help people who are in need.”
Monmouth-based ice fishing outfitter Jack Traps donated a package of fishing gear that each child will receive a raffle ticket for, and there will also be raffles for youth turkey and bear hunts, Hafford said.
Hafford and Spiers hope the preposterousness of the event draws kids outside to engage in an activity that has been a winter staple for generations of Mainers.
“Too many kids are sitting on a computer screen and not going out and doing physical activity,” Hafford said. “So I thought, what better way than to do something like this. Kids might see other kids they know with a little bit more experience, and then the next thing you know, they’re helping each other out, maybe wanting to do that more often.”
For those who have never ice fished and don’t have the gear, there will be people onsite to assist.
“There will be some guides in the warden service there to help you,” Spiers said. “We’ll have some extra traps. We’ll have augers there [to] drill some holes.”
Fishing will begin at daybreak, and food will be served starting at noon — though the two 40-pound alligators they’ve ordered may take longer to cook. Organizers will give out prizes at 3 p.m.
If there’s a good turnout, Hafford plans to make the event annual.
“We’ll get bigger as the crowd allows,” he said.
The derby will wrap up a few hours before the start of the Portage Lakers Snowmobile Club’s annual pie auction, an adult-oriented event with a live band at 6 p.m.
For the family crowd, a community group in next-door Ashland is hosting a Valentine’s dance at the town’s recreation center beginning at the same time.
But during the day, all the attention will be on the lake — and the alligators cooking in Hafford’s smoker.
“What better way for people to hang out with the kids and go do something out of the ordinary,” he said. “Who cooks an alligator in northern Maine in the wintertime?”
