An annual attendee, Jack Cibor and his brother had just finished a winter backpacking trip in the Presidential Range of New Hampshire’s White Mountains back then. So the real-life adventure films were a fun way to wind down from their own experience. An impromptu house party was born and it’s still going on nearly two decades later.
Next week, Mr. Cibor and his brother will grab their sleeping bags and join at least a dozen other like-minded outdoor adventurers from as far away as Arizona and Michigan and head to Maine. They’ll all converge at Mike and Lynne Staggs’ Town Hill home where they will spend Feb. 3 to 5 celebrating their friendship, catching up, swapping personal tales and taking in this year’s film festival at The Grand.
For 18 years now, Cadillac Mountain Sports has brought the cinema event named for the national park where it is headquartered in Canada’s northwestern province of Alberta. The festival is held in Banff in November. Afterward, a selection of the best films goes on tour in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. This year, the traveling show will touch down in 32 countries.
Cadillac Mountain Sports of Bar Harbor and other host organizations get to choose a selection of the festival’s films of interest to their communities. The documentaries are divided into three categories – Culture, Sport, and Best of Banff – and spread over three days at The Grand.
Back in the mid-1990s, Mr. Staggs was a buyer at Cadillac Mountain Sports when he and another store employee Angie Dearborn staged the first Banff festival at The Grand. Part of their job was to squire around the festival’s show host or “road warrior.”
When the Cibor brothers showed up, they joined Mr. Staggs as sightseeing guide and took the Banff staffer for a February hike up Cadillac via the North Ridge Trail. Mr. Staggs also threw an impromptu party the night of the then one-night festival.
Like the festival, Mr. Staggs’ bash has grown into a three-day extravaganza.
“It’s basically the things I live for,” he said. “Spending time with people doing that kind of outdoor adventure.”
For more arts entertainment news, pick up a copy of the Mount Desert Islander.
Linda Smith walks her dog Rudy every day, but with the temperatures rising, and Rudy’s age, a simple walk takes a little more preparation than just grabbing the leash.
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