Mainers know Aroostook County as a land of extremes: It’s the state’s largest county, known for the coldest winters, most farmland and remotest landscapes.
But how about a room-sized pancake, a giant ice wheel or a handmade basket taller than most people?
These and other things have all earned The County a place in the world record books. From handmade creations to speedy vehicles and groundbreaking journeys, northern Maine has hosted unbeaten accomplishments. Here are five of them.
World’s largest potato basket
In the town of Littleton, just north of Houlton, a master crafter combined the art of Indigenous basket making with harvest tradition to make the world’s largest potato basket.
Mi’kmaq Nation Vice Chief Richard Silliboy learned the craft from his mother, Mary Ann Silliboy, who in the 1950s supplied many of the baskets used for potato picking. Inspired by conversations with friends and the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum in Littleton, he decided to make one bigger than the large one on the museum lawn.
In 2017, with funds from the museum, private donations and a Maine Community Foundation grant, Silliboy completed the project with his daughters, Rosella Silliboy, Chrissy Donnelly and Jeannette Marshall, and Marshall’s husband, Maynard.
The basket is 4 feet in diameter at the bottom and more than 5 feet at the top. The vessel itself stands 4 feet, 1 inch high, or 7 feet, 6 inches with the handle. It was certified the world’s largest by the World Record Academy USA, based in Miami.
The basket is displayed at the agricultural museum.
World’s largest ice carousel
Carving and sawing through nearly 29 inches of ice on Long Lake, the aptly named Northern Maine Ice Busters captured the world record for the largest ice carousel in April 2023. The freely spinning disc weighed 165,000 tons and was 1,776 feet in diameter.
The yearly competition unites the U.S. and Finland in a friendly rivalry. The prize has bounced from Chuck Zwilling’s group in Minnesota to Janne Kapylehto’s Finnish team and then to the Ice Busters, led by Roger Morneault of St. Agatha. They compete but also cheer each other on. Zwilling came to Long Lake to help the Ice Busters carve.
The World Ice Carousel Association monitors disc attempts throughout the world and tracks records. To qualify, the carousel has to make at least one full rotation. The Maine group has won the crown three times.
Fastest speeds on land
A duo from Scorpio Land Speed Racing in Vassalboro took off down the former Loring Air Force Base runway in July and clocked the fastest time on a tandem motorcycle.
Chad Roy and Jade Noonan-Couture were among many gunning for record-breaking speed in the Loring Timing Association’s summer land speed races in July. The two reached 195.681 mph in a 1.5-mile leg, timing association records state.
The previous record of 183.50 mph was set by Allen Millyard and Henry Cole in Yorkshire, England, in May 2023, according to Guinness World Records.
To be recognized by Guinness, contenders have to submit information 12 to 15 weeks beforehand. Roy’s team didn’t know that.
“Even though we weren’t recognized by Guinness, we still hold the world record for the fastest two people on a sit-on motorcycle,” he said.
Trans-Atlantic balloon firsts
With its open spaces and proximity to Europe, Aroostook has hosted several crews looking to make ballooning history. Two of those journeys became Guinness World Records.
Pilots Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, all of Albuquerque, New Mexico, took off from Presque Isle in August 1978 with the helium-powered Double Eagle II, seeking to become the first balloonists to cross the Atlantic.
They succeeded, landing safely in a barley field in Miserey, France, after a flight that lasted 137 hours and 6 minutes. Presque Isle created a park to honor the Double Eagle II and its pilots.
Six years later, Air Force veteran and Orlando, Florida, native Joe Kittinger launched from Caribou and became the first solo balloonist to cross the Atlantic. Kittinger’s Rosie O’Grady Balloon of Peace flew 3,543 miles in 83 hours and 40 minutes, landing in northern Italy.
Kittinger returned to Caribou in 2009 for the city’s sesquicentennial. He died in 2022. Caribou has a monument dedicated to him and the Rosie O’Grady.
World’s largest ploye
This record is unofficial, but folks in The County are certain no one else has created an Acadian-style buckwheat crepe 12 feet wide that can feed a crowd.
At Fort Kent’s annual Ploye Festival, a crew from Bouchard Family Farms, makers of the iconic buckwheat ploye mix, fill a specially made 12-foot griddle with batter and handle it with giant spatulas.
“We do it every year because it’s a traditional food of the area, and just something we’ve done for almost 25 years now,” the farm’s Janice Bouchard said. “We melt some butter [and] feed the group the whole ploye. The people seem to like it.”
They once looked into a record possibility, but it would have gone under the pancake section, and that record was something like 40 feet, Bouchard said.
It’s often been said that this county of extremes isn’t the end of the world, but you can see it from here. It may be remote, but now and then Aroostook logs one for the record books. Keep watching.
