1-26-08 Winter Carnival Grand Day Parade

This past Saturday was our first parade as Aquatennial Ambassadors....at least for Mary, Rob and I. The rest are old hat at this since they've been going since last July! Here's how it went down...

Tzvetelina, Charissa and Jenna at the Vulcan Coming Out Party

We met at the St. Paul Hotel again in the morning. Jenna and Tzvetelina joined Rob and me along with John Brant in the lobby (John by the way is a former Commodore and has been helping us along the way). We were going to the Vulcan "coming out party" which is another part of the Winter Carnival lore. Since we witnessed a good part of the legend at the coronation Thursday night, John thought this would be an interesting follow up as to what happens on the Vulcan side. Mary and Charissa had already been at it a while and were meeting us at Wacouta Park.

The Vulcan's on their signature firetruck

We met the Senior Queen, Ann and Senior Princess, Judy along with the 2004 Queen of the Lakes, Sandy Vucinovich. The park was full of people as we welcomed the new Vulcan's to the party. The Vulcan's did their thing, we took a few photos and then it was back to the hotel for a quick lunch.

The welcoming of Vulcanus Rex and the Vulcan Crewe (notice the flames....they like heat)

We got back to the hotel and started layering up....no, it wasn't THAT cold but let's be honest. We all claim to be rugged Minnesotan's but when you have to stand outside for an hour, then get on a float being pulled down the streets of St. Paul in the middle of January, you check your pride at the revolving door. It's long-johns and four sweaters. I can look pretty later. In the meantime, I weighed 400 pounds.


The parade ran through downtown St. Paul and the turnout was tremendous. It was a boisterous and energetic crowd. We followed the truck with the Winter Carnival South Wind Prince who was revving up the crowd with "Olé!" contests. I can also say that I never want to hear "Hot, Hot, Hot" by Buster Poindexter ever again. Took me days to get that out of my head.

We took a bit of grief (all in good fun I'm sure....ok, I hope) from the fine folks from St. Paul. Welcome to the right side of the river was the theme of the day. Hopefully we can welcome them to Minneapolis come July!

After that it was off to a reception to mingle with some of the other festivals from out of town. Spent a bit more time with the family from Festival Du Voyageur in Winnipeg, since that's our next stop in February. I'll share more later but there's much more to that city than I knew...the French culture runs through more of Canada than just Quebec. We'll be learning all about that in a couple of weeks.

Following dinner at Schroeders Bar and Grill in St. Paul, we were all pretty spent. We piled into a van and headed for home. Another day with a lot of smiles, laughs and good times for all of us!

Tzvetelina, Jenna and Charissa

We want to invite you to come see us on Saturday, February 2nd for the Winter Carnival Torchlight Parade....starts at 6pm on 5th street in downtown St. Paul. See you there!

1-28-08 St. Paul Winter Carnival Coronation

This past week brought in a ton of new people and events into our ambassador world. First of all, we added a second Captain (there typically would be two because we escort two princesses....nice math right?). His name is Rob Mauzy and he's the husband of our Promotions Director at WCCO, Amy. Rob is perfect for the role....very sociable and always very prepared. He's a terrific addition.

He stepped in just in time to join us for the festivities surrounding the St. Paul Winter Carnival. Those began last Thursday night with the coronation which was held at the Rivercentre (part of Xcel). Before I get into that, I have more introductions to do though....meet the princesses:

From left to right, Jenna Forstner of Gibbon, MN, Tzveletina Pramatarov of Anoka, MN, Charissa Pederson (Queen) of Monticello, MN and our Commodore, Mary Niemeyer.

We met at the St. Paul Hotel before hand and got to know each other a bit before heading over to the reception at Rivercentre. For Rob and I, our duties are to be escorts for the princesses. Basically, that means be a gentleman....open doors, pull their chairs out, get them beverages, etc. If they need something, we help them out with it.

I want to say one thing about these young women before we get to far into this and you start to think it's just a "beauty pageant" (and that's the last time I use those words). These are young women that are all obviously very pretty. They don't just stop there. All three are in college (Jenna and Tzveletina at St. Cloud State, Charissa at Northwestern College in St. Paul) and their intelligence, maturity, poise and elegance shows through immediately. These are the girls you want your sons to find. They are all bound for big things after their Aquatennial duties wrap up. Had to get this in because it's very important for people to realize this and it's why we all do this. Check out their bio's on the Aquatennial Ambassador site for more info (plus you can see mine and wonder just like me what I'm doing here!).

I should also mention we have Senior Ambassadors with us....I had mentioned our Aquatennial Queen, Ann Hair but we also have an Aquatennial Senior Princess, Judy Holmquist, Aquatennial Senior Commodore Douglas Anderson and Aquatennial Senior Vice-Commodore Patrick Bohmer. You can also check them out on the bio's page.

Here's the whole group!

At coronation, the Winter Carnival introduces a brand new royal family and also chooses its 2008 Queen of the Snows and Princesses of the Four Winds (they have a HUGE group of people and for the whole history, check out their website here...it's actually quite the legend and a worthy read). Our role in this is to be visiting dignitaries....along with other festivals from around the state and even from around the country (Winnipeg, Macon and San Antonio are just a couple that send representatives).

We get brought up on stage and introduced to the crowd...in line with the usual protocol of the Aquatennial, the Captain does the introductions. That would be me. This was the first time I've had to do this and I was a bit nervous. I'm not a person who gets nervous in front of a crowd or anything like that but I did not want to screw up a name or title (Tzvetelina Pramatarov, cough, cough). I was able to get through it however and Mary said a few words and off we went. Not bad for what was really our first time all together.

This is me going through the intros on stage....quite the good looking crew!

This was followed by a reception at the Landmark Center where we were able to welcome the new Winter Carnival Royal Family and meet them face-to-face for the first time. This is a group of people we will be spending a TON of time with over the next year. One thing about the Winter Carnival...they always have a lot of fun! I'm sure this group will be no different.

No sign of the Vulcans for now....we'll hear more from them next week.

From there it was home to rest up for the rest of the weekend. Next up, the Winter Carnival Grand Day Parade.

1-16-08 Preparing for the Winter Carnival

As we get set for the St. Paul Winter Carnival events next week, let me share a couple more notes from the inside workings of being an Aquatennial Captain:

Yesterday, I was taken to American Army and Navy Surplus where we get our Captains hats (check it out....pretty spiffy!).
I, of course, have a goofy sized head. My size wasn't in stock so we ordered it. I guess, from what I've been told, it can be tough to get these during times of war. Materials run short. Lucky for me, the company that makes them had some in stock. The uniform is now complete....well, kind of.

While the Aquatennial is always thought of as a summer event (and it the event itself does take place in July), there is much to do throughout the year. Besides the St. Paul Winter Carnival, we travel to Winnipeg in February. So, that's two parades in St. Paul, a drive through North Dakota and Canada, then Winnipeg. They don't do a "parade" in Winnipeg. There, we parade up the frozen Red River at night with lit candles and between you and me, that won't be enough heat. And you thought St. Paul was cold! Check out this forecast:

Tonight Jan 16		Partly Cloudy	-14°
Thu Jan 17		Snow Shower	9°/-8°
Fri Jan 18		Partly Cloudy / Wind	-7°/-19°
Sat Jan 19		Partly Cloudy	-4°/-14°
Sun Jan 20		Partly Cloudy	0°/-6°
Mon Jan 21		Partly Cloudy	5°/-6°

Alright, enough complaining. It's January, it's supposed to be cold. I was told that the fine folks at Ribnick Furs borrow furs to the Queen and Princesses and if I wanted one, they'd borrow one to me also. They're supposed to be incredibly warm. Now, I've never worn a fur and couldn't tell you the difference between my dog Ernie and a Chinchilla coat but what the heck, might as well wear fur!

Mary and I had lunch today with Jim Erickson who is the gentleman most responsible for getting us our posts in the Aquatennial Ambassador Organization. A terrific guy who has served with the organization for a while now, including serving as Commodore a couple of years ago. We wanted to talk about the addition of another Captain.

Most years, there are two Captains....one is the primary (that would be me) and the other is the secondary. Remember that one of our main duties is to be an escort for the princesses. Since we have a female Commodore this year, it makes sense to have two Captain's for the purpose of escorting the young ladies. Another tough duty, I know.

We made a suggestion for the 2nd Captain and hopefully, I'll be able to share his story in the coming days, assuming it gets approved.

That's all for now....check back soon as I'll have more!

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Captain
Minneapolis Aquatennial

Captains Blog, 1/ 14/08 Aberdeen, South Dakota

Welcome to what I'm dubbing the "Captain's Blog"....and yes, the dorky Star Trek reference is intended! The reason for this blog is to share some of the experiences, travels and events associated with being part of the 2008 Aquatennial Ambassadors Organization (or AAO as it is referred to). I have a lot to cover in the first post so bear with me! I'll try and update it as much as I can during our trips.

A brief background....I work at WCCO Radio as the Assistant Program Director. In December, Mary Niemeyer, our Market Manager (the person who runs the three CBS station in the Mpls/St. Paul market), was asked to be Commodore of the 2008 Aquatennial and she asked if I would be the Captain. Our job is to be ambassadors for the festival and travel to other parts of the region (and in some cases other states or countries) and represent the city of Minneapolis and the 2008 Aquatennial. I gladly accepted.

Mary and I are both new to this sort of thing...while it's an exciting thing to be named to these posts, it's also a bit daunting. It will certainly be a taxing year with all of the events we are involved with but as I learned this past weekend, the people involved with these events are the best. These are the people that make their communities the special places that they are. I think I can speak for Mary when I say we are honored to be a part of this and I hope through this blog many of you will consider becoming involved in some way and I also hope that you'll come see us at some of the events throughout the year. Many, many people work their tails off to make this happen and they certainly deserve our support. Besides....they're fun!

After getting fit for the uniform, getting to know some of the people we will work with throughout the year and figuring out what it is we do, it was off to our first appearance in our new roles, Aberdeen, South Dakota!

The 62nd Annual South Dakota Snow Queen Festival is held in Aberdeen and gathers many young ladies throughout the state as they compete for the title of "Snow Queen". Mary and I arrived on Friday after a wonderful drive through western Minnesota and eastern South Dakota. The trees were covered with ice and the surroundings were surreal. It's an area (especially South Dakota) that looks like it's relatively untouched. In fact, while gazing at the rolling hills and prairie land, I told Mary it looked like a scene from "Dances With Wolves"...no sign of Bison and/or Kevin Costner however.



After arriving at the hotel in Aberdeen, we were quickly introduced to Ann and Douglas Hair. Ann is the 2008 Aquatennial Senior Queen and Doug is the 2007 Senior Commodore. They are long-time supporters of the Aquatennial and through their volunteer-ism were named to their posts.

Our first order of business upon arriving in Aberdeen was to head out to the Living Center to be present for the crowning of the "Senior Snow Queen", a tradition that goes back to the '70's at the Living Center. After some entertainment provided by our hosts and a terrific job of fiddling by representatives of the Festival du Voyageur (a festival held in February in Winnipeg), we crowned the 2008 Senior Snow Queen. From there, it was back to the hotel.

Dinner brought in all of the candidates for the 2008 Snow Queen. We were joined by our friends from across the river, the St. Paul Winter Carnival. If you're unfamiliar with the royalty of the Winter Carnival, you don't know what you're missing! The royalty (King Boreas, the Princes of the Four Winds, The Guards, the Prime Minister, etc.) all are terrific people who donate a TON of time going to various events and know how to have a great time with it. I'm very much looking forward to getting to know this year's royalty (they are announced during the Winter Carnival Festival at the end of January).

Saturday brought on a new challenge....Frostopoly. Yes, just like Monopoly. This is a game not unlike a scavenger hunt. We were split up into teams of about 6 and were given two hours to complete tasks that were assigned on a Monopoly-like board (take a photo here, bring back a menu from there, find a live minnow, etc.) and bring everything back to the hotel. Let's just say that there are people that take this game very seriously....traffic laws are optional at best. To steal a line from Mary, Aberdeen is lovely but I'm sure it's much nicer when you're not going 70 mph down Main Street!

I was lucky enough to be on the same team as the 2007 South Dakota Snow Queen who was a terrific young lady and along with our other teammates (who were from Willmar, Winnipeg and Aberdeen) made the game very enjoyable even though we didn't win (I think we were robbed!!!!). Mary's team finished 1st. I'm not sure who they payed off but it worked.

Here, by the way is the 2007 Snow Queen, Elizabeth Troske:

We also welcomed our own Queen on Saturday....the 2007 Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes, Charissa Pederson (former Miss Monticello which happens to be next to my hometown of Big Lake). She came in with her parents on Saturday morning to join in the weekend's festivities. Another poised and wonderful young lady (I'm officially starting to sound like my Father....uh oh), I'm sure Mary and I will enjoy our time with her leading up to the 2008 Aquatennial when we'll welcome a new Queen.

Saturday night we loaded up the school bus with our out-of-town dignitaries (and I use THAT term loosely when referring to myself!!!) to head to the Aberdeen Civic Center for the coronation of the new Snow Queen. After being introduced to the crowd and meeting the candidates, we witnessed the crowning of Brittany Davis of Waubay, SD. We'll be seeing a lot of her over the next year at events throughout the region and will welcome her to the Aquatennial in July as well.

Charissa, Mary and Lindsey....

That's it for now....next up, the St. Paul Winter Carnival at the end of January. Come see us at the Grand Day Parade on January 26th at 1pm and also the Winter Carnival Torchlight Parade on February 2nd!

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Captain
Minneapolis Aquatennial