Captain's Log 6/22-29

Greetings from the road....and I do mean the road. 800 miles in the last week as I was off to Granite Falls, Melrose, Sauk Rapids and Willmar. The good thing is gas was only $3.96 per gallon.

Cough, cough. Anyone hear crickets? I think a moth just flew out of my wallet.

Anyway, let's start in Granite Falls where last Saturday (the 21st) Princess Jenna and I attended Western Fest. Western Fest was a day long festival for us (the whole weekend for Granite Falls) and is highlighted by one of the bigger rodeo stops in the state.

Quick story...one of the people I work with at WCCO is the legendary Charlie Boone who was Aquatennial Commodore in 1996. Charlie is still an avid Aquatennial supporter and he used to host the Granite Falls coronations in the 1970's (plus his wife is a Granite Falls native). As I'm driving to Granite Falls, I turn on Charlie's Saturday morning show on 'CCO and who does he have on? Granite Falls native and the 2000 Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes, Emily Aus! Perfect....thanks Charlie! Great plug for the weekend.

In Granite Falls, Jenna and I with the outgoing Ambassadors from Clara City
(we'll both be there on July 12th for Prairie City Days)

Jenna and I hit town in the morning for the Queen's brunch before the parade and coronation. Granite Falls is a beautiful town on the Minnesota River and it's been a few years since I had been there. Terrific people and we had a terrific time.

Jenna and I before the Granite Falls Parade

Granite Falls has produced a few Aquatennial Ambassadors over the years....in addition to Emily Aus in 2000, they had the 1958 "Minnesota Centennial" Queen of the Lakes plus princesses in back to back years (1966 and 1967) plus a Princess in 1985, Brenda Schuler Beam. Brenda happened to be in Granite Falls last weekend and joined Jenna and I for coronation.

New Royalty from Granite Falls

Wednesday, it was Princess Jenna and I again heading to a coronation, this time in Melrose which is about a half-hour past St. Cloud on I94. Melrose is a special stop for us this year because the co-MC of this year's coronation was the former Miss Melrose and the 1997 Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes, Christine Scherping.

Jenna and I with Christine (in the middle with black dress)
and her Mom...she just looks like a Queen!

Christine is on the Aquatennial Board and is the person responsible for getting the Aquatennial "crowns" their proper gowns, dresses and all that stuff they need to make these appearances throughout the year. She's one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet in your life and is a tremendous asset to Aquatennial. It's great when a person like that decides to stay involved after their reign.

Thursday, Princess Tzvet and I were off to Sauk Rapids for Rapids River Days. Sauk Rapids is a town just slightly past St. Cloud on Hwy. 10 and besides the coronation which we attended, they have a parade and "Foodfest" all day Saturday. Unfortunately, we are missing Foodfest. I guess you can't have it all. Oh well. The pork chop on a stick will have to wait.

On a sadder note, (and I don't mean to be a downer but this is a story that illustrates how sometimes these "Ambassador Programs" can really become important in people's lives) the outgoing Queen in Sauk Rapids had a very difficult year.

The Sauk Rapids Mayor told us this story and it came up in her farewell speech and I just want to paraphrase what happened. Just before she was crowned last year (I believe...this is from memory and it could have been after coronation), she suddenly lost her father to cancer. Obviously a tragic circumstance for a young girl around 18 years old but when you're about to become the busiest you've ever been and supposed to represent your community for the next year, it's extremely difficult. Who do you turn to?

In her farewell speech, she broke down for obvious reasons while talking about her Mom but what struck me was what she said next. The two Princesses she reigned with had talked about the family atmosphere that their group had become but what the Queen said was that the Princesses Dad's had basically taken her in and in the last year, didn't replace her late father but become father figures. It was heartbreaking while still being uplifting. In a situation where I think a lot of people would resign from being an Ambassador and deal just with family issues, they took it in another direction and made a new family out of it. We all need help and sometimes in the worst of times, you find that life takes you in a whole different direction. Really a great thing to witness.

New Sauk Rapids Royalty...that's Tzvet on the Right

We were joined in Sauk Rapids by the Anoka Royal Ambassadors and the newly crowned Royalty from Cambridge (which we attended a couple of weeks ago). Anoka and Cambridge are two fantastic groups and are very close with Aquatennial. We're always glad when we can attend festivals with them. The Anoka Halloween parades and coronation really are highlights on the schedule for us each year.

Speaking of highlights on the schedule, this past weekend (Friday through Sunday) was Willmar Fests. Princess Jenna and I spent the whole weekend in Willmar which is one of the biggest festivals in the state and certainly one of the most successful. We were joined by royalty from Anoka and Cambride (their first ever trips to Willmar Fests which was great) plus the South Dakota Snow Queen Festival and Montevideo Fiesta. A great group of people and we had a really fun weekend with them.

Jenna with new Montevideo Royalty and the
South Dakota Snow Queen in Willmar

Friday night was the International Banquet. Willmar has three Ambassadors representing the different Willmar Festivals (they used to be seperated...now they've combined them, hence Willmar Fests....plural). They have and International Queen representing the diversity of the city, the Aqua Queen representing the lakes and watersports of the city and surrounding areas of Kandiyohi County plus the Queen of Festivals who reigns over the whole works.

At the banquet, we had dinner, did some introductions and said a few words to the group and then enjoyed some music and dancing the rest of the night. Although one thing that Jenna and I can definitely agree on....dancing is not in our repertoire. I'll watch thank you very much.

Saturday we started with the Queen's Brunch which was followed by the parade. Let's just say Saturday was not the nicest day of the summer. I think it was maybe in the upper 50's and windy. And looking like rain. Then it rained. And rained. Then REALLY rained. Then rained. Another beautiful October day in the Pacific Northwest.

Luckily for us, Jenna and I were in the earlier part of the parade and were done when it started raining. Can't say that for everyone else although we have to give credit to everyone in the parade and everyone watching who gutted it out and got it all in. Then we jumped on the bus with the heat at full blast to warm up. I'm not kidding. We were frozen.

Following the parade, it was time for coronation. One of the things I do before coronations is go back through the Aquatennial alumni list to see if that community has sent anyone to Aquatennial that has become a Queen of the Lakes or Princess. I knew Willmar had done well in the past (a former Miss Willmar and Queen of the Lakes, Lisa Carlson is now on the Aquatennial board) but I have to say, they've done phenomenally at Aquatennial which is really a credit to their community and festival.

Outgoing Willmar Royalty...L-R;
Queen of Festivals Shelby Warner (coming to Aquatennial as a candidate in July),
Aqua Princess Brittney Holtberg, Princess Jenna and Aqua Princess Sara Oestreich

In 69 years of Aquatennial, Willmar has had 12 Queens or Princesses.....think about how many communities and festivals send candidates every year and to have a full dozen representatives is really outstanding. Not only have they done well recently but they had the 1959 Queen of the Lakes. Aquatennial and Willmar have really had a long and successful relationship and it was great to be there and be a part of it.

Another quick story....we gave a Commodore Award to Deb Zinda-Hanson who has been a volunteer for Willmar Fest for many years and was very deserving. It was another reminder for us how much these things mean to people. We surprised Deb with during the coronation and when she came out, she was wiping tears and gave us hugs and was absolutely grateful. Sometimes we do so many of these that we forget what it means to the community we are in. It was nice to see that what we do matters to people and made Jenna and I really proud to be representing Aquatennial.

New Willmar Royalty...L-R:
Princess Jenna, International Princess Laura Virgen,
Queen of Festivals Jenna Savoie,
Aqua Princess Kelsey Swanson and Me

Following the coronation, we were supposed to head to a beach party for a Ski Show (Willmar has one of the nations best ski teams....I'm not kidding, they've been national champs....check it out) and fireworks on Robbins Island on Foot Lake. Well, as I mentioned earlier, it was great weather if you're a duck heading south for the winter but not so good for a ski show or fireworks. Plan B.

The folks from Willmar moved us inside to a Bowling Ally/Banquet center with some quick thinking. We ended up bowling a few games (I had a 163! I rule!) and then spending the evening with a live band they brought in. Not a bad Plan B.

The bowling was really a blast...lots of laughs and bonding with all the different groups not to mention my 163. Did I tell you I had a 163? Yeah, that's right. 163. Although, Patti, who was one of the judges who said she NEVER bowls did get a spare at one point and she proudly announced to us all that since she picked up a spare, she wins. We agreed.

Jenna Picks up a Spare of her own...

Finally on Sunday, it was time for breakfast with the group, a gift exchange, lots of thank yous and goodbyes before heading for home. Another really fun festival and a great weekend. Jenna and I really had a blast. The one thing about Jenna that is great is she is always having fun. It's infectious and I always really enjoy my time with her. Aquatennial couldn't have done a better job picking royalty then they did last July....all three are just fantastic. I'm really going to miss them when they give up their crowns at Aquatennial.

Princess Jenna in full-blown Bowling mode!

That's it for now...this week is 4th of July week and we have a bunch of things going on again. I'm in Coon Rapids Thursday night for the Lions Club Parade with Tzvet, Annandale 4th of July all day on Friday with Queen of the Lakes Charissa and in Starbuck for Heritage Days all day Sunday with Jenna. Should all be fun!

Who wouldn't have fun with us?

Don't forget to check out the Aquatennial Website for a list of events and get tickets for coronation. We want you there with us! The MC's this year are 1994 Queen of the Lakes Sara Borg Holje and my friend and WCCO employee, Tim Russell (Tim is absolutely the funniest, most engaging person I've met in radio...you'll love him!).

Here're the other appearances this week and we look forward to seeing you around! Have a safe 4th of July and we're now less than three weeks (THREE WEEKS!!!!!!!!) until Aquatennial.

Make sure you check out and support your local events:

Wednesday and Thursday, July 2nd and 3rd- Eagan Funfest

Thursday, July 3rd- Delano 4th of July Banquet ant Coronation

- Coon Rapids Lions Club Parade

Friday, July 4th- Delano 4th of July Celebration
- Richfield Hometown 4th of July Celebration
- Annandale 4th of July Parade and Coronation

Sunday, July 6th- Richfield Hometown Coronation and Dance
- Starbuck Heritage Days

Wednesday, July 9th- Lakeville Panorama of Progress Coronation
- Isanti Rodeo Jubilee Days Parade
- White Beark AV Tea, Parade and After Party

Thursday, July 10th- Pierrre Bottineau Days Parade in Maple Grove

Friday, July 11th- Maple Grove Days Dinner, Coronation and Gala

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Captain
Minneapolis Aquatennial

6/12-6/19 Captain's Log

Hello all!

Well, it's been quite a busy week in Aquatennial world...the busiest I've had so far. Five different cities in five nights. I feel like I'm a rock band on tour....."Hello Cleveland! Or wherever we are!"

OK, maybe not a rock band. We have yet to acquire groupies. But we're working on it. And a tour bus would be nice. Something with a fridge and a satellite maybe? What? It's not in the budget? OK, fine. I'll keep driving. Granite Falls, here we come!

Back to the start....last Thursday was the Princeton Rum River Festival Parade. This was one I was looking forward to. Princess Jenna and I fought off the Twin Cities traffic and headed up Princeton way where we met up with two of our Senior Ambassadors, Senior Princess Judy Holmquist and Vice-Commodore Patrick Bohmer. They were riding with Judy's daughter who lives in Princeton while Jenna and I rode with last year's Miss Princeton who was our driver in a nice, new, candy-apple red Corvette. Nice.

Princeton is near my hometown of Elk River/Big Lake and that whole area. My sister and her family live close to there as do several high school friends who we saw along the way. 32 years old and I still get heckled by the people I went to high school with. Oh well. It was all in fun.

Jenna and Lindsey in their Corvette....Nice

It was a beautiful night for a parade and (despite the mosquitoes hounding Jenna....nice perfume), we had a great time. Princeton had a very responsive and into it crowd. It's nice when the people you are waving at actually wave back and appreciate our being there. Really makes it fun.

Friday night we had to head to Cambridge for another coronation. Cambridge is a big deal...they have a terrific pageant and have had a lot of success in the Queen of the Lakes program over the years, sending fantastic candidates to Aquatennial every year and winning their share of ambassadors. Attending was almost our whole group....Captain Rob, Queen Charissa, Princess Tzvet plus senior Queen Ann Hair, Senior Commodore Doug Anderson, Senior Princess Judy Holmquist. Ann's husband Doug came as well. He was the Senior Commodore last year and he pinch hit as the escort for Judy.

We also were blessed with a great MC for the night...former Aquatennial Commodore in 2002 and President in 2007, Joe Johnston. A former Captain, Skip Nelson was also there and Skip is kind of our go-to-guy when we have questions and he helped get us trained in this past spring when we had no idea what we were doing! Not that we know now.

Anyway, my point was, this was a good night for me to get it right! I had to do the presentation (after Rob did the introductions) and hand out the Commodore's Awards. All went well (except for one of the award recipients going MIA that is but what can you do?) and we had a great time.

Of note is the Winter Carnival making an appearance and the Queen of the Snows, Brooke Stoeckel and South Wind Princess Erin Smith being from Cambridge. They are good friends of ours and it was nice to see such a warm reception for two great young women in their hometown. It also should be noted that Erin's little sister was one of the outgoing Cambridge ambassadors so you could say it runs in the family. She gave a very emotional farewell speech that was very touching. It's amazing to see what being ambassadors for these communities does for these young women. It's life-changing for a lot of them.

Next up was a photo shoot on Saturday morning. We all gathered at the Rec Center in St. Louis Park to take some shots that will be used during Aquatennial in the program and whatever else they need them for. Another beautiful day, we spent an hour trying not to squint (that was a failure) and smiling so much that it felt like your face was broken. Nobody said this stuff was glamorous! Actually, why would anyone think it's glamorous? I have no idea.

The Group Shot from l-R (back row first)
Jenna, Rob, Charissa, Lindsey, Tzvet
Doug, Ann, Mary, Judy and Patrick

Then we had the St. Louis Park "Parktacular" parade. St. Louis Park is where I call home now so it was nice to see a lot of neighbors and friends. Another great turnout and a great crowd!

On Sunday night, Princess Tzvet and I headed out to Fridley for the Miss Fridley pageant. Fridley is another town I have a connection to (are you getting the feeling I've lived everywhere? Well, I have). My Mom and Uncles graduated from Fridley and that is where almost 40 years ago, my Dad an Grandpa started the family auction business. I mentioned that while on stage and a couple of people came up to me afterwards and remembered my Grandma. Small world.

New Fridley Royalty with Tzvet and Me

Finally, as the world tour came to a weary end, Princess Tzvet and I were off to Paynesville on Monday. Paynesville is about 30 minutes west of St. Cloud (or almost 2 hours from Minneapolis...hello Cleveland indeed!) and a beautiful small city with what I've been told is quite the picturesque little lake, Lake Koronis. Captain Rob's wife, my WCCO co-worker and one of the all-time great people, Amy, has an Aunt and Uncle that live on the lake. John and Sheila Merrill host great parties for the family at their lake home and even though I have yet to make it (I will....just hasn't worked out!), I hear it's just fantastic.

I made sure I mentioned Sheila while onstage in Paynesville...she had two daughters participate in the Paynseville pageant, one crowned a queen, the other a princess. They're great people as was everyone in Paynesville. They can also boast the 2006 Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes, Katie Nelson who was there. It was nice to meet her and showed me once again that the Aquatennial knows what they're doing when they choose ambassadors. These are absolutely terrific young women.

New Paynesville Royalty with T zvet and Me

It was at about this point that Captain Lindsey hit the wall. The drive home was a long one and after getting home at 12:30 in the morning and getting to work at 7:00 AM Tuesday, I was spent. I think we all were. Rob, Tzvet, Jenna, Mary, Charissa....we were all over the place this weekend. Besides what I was doing, we had appearances in Fridley, Cottage Grove, St. Francis, Buffalo, Hutchinson and Albertville. We are in the middle of festival season right now and it's going fast! Believe it or not, we are one month away from Aquatennial! I'm already dreading having to say goodbye to Charissa, Jenna and Tzvet although I'm sure the next group of candidates will produce ambassadors ready to do us all proud.

That's it for now....I'm off to Granite Falls on Saturday with Princess Jenna for Western Fest. It's a day long festival with a morning Queen's Tea, a parade and coronation. Jenna heard we may get to see a rodeo as well. Here's hoping! I'll let you know how it goes next week. In the meantime, see you on the road and here's where we are appearing in the next week:

Brooklyn Park Tater Days on Thursday 6/19
Oakdale Summerfest Grand Parade on Thurday 6/19
Atwater Festival Days on Saturday 6/21
Western Fest in Granite Falls on Saturday 6/21
Howard Lake Good Neighbor Days on Sunday 6/22
Swedish Midsummer Festival (Svenskarnas Dag) on Sunday 6/22
Rose Parade in Roseville on Monday 6/23
Northeast Minneapolis Parade on Tuesday 6/24
Miss Melrose Pageant on Wednesday 6/25
Celebrate Northeast Minneapolis on Wednesday 6/25

By the way...I have more photos. Forgot the darn things at home. I'll upload them later. Oh well.

Captain Lindsey Peterson
2008 Captain
Minneapolis Aquatennial
lpeterson@wccoradio.cbs.com

June 5th-10th

Hi all,

Another quick update on Aquatennial life as we head into "crazy busy season"....

The Sponsors, the Mayor, the Downtown Council
and our Aquatennial Group at the IDS Crystal Court

Last Thursday we were in the IDS Crystal Court for our first media appearance as we announced the events and event sponsors for this year's Minneapolis Aquatennial. Commodore Mary, Captain Rob and I introduced (OK, Mary introduced but Rob and I were with and at least we looked good!) some of the key sponsors and some of this year's special events. We were also joined by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Minneapolis Downtown Council President and CEO Sam Grabarski. The Downtown Council's Vice President of Events and Marketing, Leah Wong helped set it all up and get us where we needed to be. A couple of TV stations, the Star Tribune and, of course, WCCO Radio were all there to cover the event.

Me, Commodore Mary and Captain Rob
while Mary entertains the masses

This year, we are celebrating the 150th Birthday for the city of Minneapolis plus the state's 150th as well so it should be a lot of fun. We also finally heard what bands are playing the Block Party which is always a blast....Blues Traveler is headlining with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and local musician Tim Mahoney! Of course there's also the Aquatennial Fireworks and the Beach Bash and Milk Carton Boat Races at Lake Calhoun just to name a couple.

(For a complete list of events...and it's a long one!.....check out the Aquatennial website here)

Our Explosion of Confetti...
Yes, it scared Rob

Following that, we were supposed to be off to Spring Lake Park High School (my Dad's Alma Mater!) to get ready for the Tower Days Parade. However, Mother Nature had something else in mind....like raining all afternoon and evening. When I left downtown, I didn't realize I'd be taking a shower in the middle of 2nd avenue. Our first canceled parade. I guess it happens! Princess Jenna called me from Gibbon and told me they had nickel size hail and 60 MPH winds. Not a good night to wear a gown. I'm guessing. I've never tried.

This week, I'm off to Princeton (home of my Sister!) on Thursday with Princess Jenna for the Rum River Festival Parade....as long as the weather cooperates. Looks awful right now. Rob, Queen Charissa, Princess Tzvet and I head to Cambridge for a coronation on Friday.

Saturday we are in St. Louis Park for the "Parktacular" parade....my current hometown so I'm looking forward to that. We'll all be in St. Louis Park so come see us Saturday!

Finally, Sunday Tzvet and I are in Fridley for a Coronation and in Paynsville on Monday night. Tuesday we sleep. Told you we're in crazy busy season!

Couple other events our Ambassador group is doing this week:

Fridley 49er Days on Thursday
Cottage Grove Strawberry Fest on Thursday and Saturday
St. Francis Pioneer Days Saturday
Buffalo Days Saturday and Sunday
JC Water Carnival in Hutchinson on Sunday
Albertville Friendly City Days on Sunday

As you can see, if you haven't run across us yet, you will soon!

See you on the road!

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Aquatennial Captain

6-1-08 Grand Old Days Parade

Finally, a nice day Sunday! Greetings from Aquatennial world. We just wrapped up the Grand Old Days parade in St. Paul and here's the rundown.

From L-R
Jenna, Lindsey, Tzvet, Mary, Rob, Charissa

Grand Old Days takes place in St. Paul on, believe it or not, Grand Avenue. What a concept? Anyway, Grand Old Day is always on the first Sunday in June and features street vendors with food, TONS of live music and plenty of pub crawls. They have a parade to kick off the festivities and Aquatennial brought the float.

Captains Lindsey and Rob

This has to be one of the longer parades we do all year....I heard it was about three miles long and it felt like it. Have you ever gotten sore from waving? Me either until Sunday. Tons of people showed up and that was great to see. It was a perfect day....80 and sunny.


Our Aquatennial float has just been updated thanks to the Senior Ambassador group. Some new lettering, couple of new features and, for the first time, music! Our Commodore, Mary Niemeyer has had our FM Radio station in town, JACK FM (104.1 FM if you're scoring at home) donate some equipment to provide music and put together a mix. A couple of our station engineers and I went out to the float last week and hooked it up. Sounds great! Stuck the playlist on my iPod and we were off and running with a great mix of summer songs.

After the parade, last year's Aquatennial Captain, Matt McDonough, had us over for food and refreshments. Matt owns Grand Spectacle, an eyeglass store on Grand Avenue. He was a terrific host and it was a perfect place to spend the afternoon taking in the festivities. Thanks Matt!

Our Princesses, Tzvet and Jenna, had never been to Grand Old Days before so Rob, his wife Amy and I showed them around for a bit. After a trip to the Grand Creamery (how on earth can you go to Grand Old Days and NOT get a waffle cone? Answer that!), we decided to head out. I think we were all a little over-sunned and that point.

We Finally Get to Dress Down! From L-R
Captain Rob, Senior Vice Commodore Patrick Bohmer, Princess Jenna, Princess Tzvet, Captain Lindsey

Tzvet, Rob, Jenna, Lindsey and Amy

A good day all around....showing off our recently updated float and a beautiful day on Grand Avenue! Next up is a busy Thursday (June 5th). First, a big schedule announcement coming Thursday at 11:30 AM in Peavey Plaza (11th and Nicollet, downtown Minneapolis). Mayor R.T. Rybak will be there along with other dignitaries and Commodore Mary, Captain Rob and myself. Should be fun. Then Thursday night, we'll be at the Spring Lake Park Tower Days parade.

See you there!

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Captain
Minneapolis Aquatennial