Captain's Blog 8/23/08....State Fair!

Hello again....we're in the middle of the "great Minnesota get-together". Otherwise known as the State Fair. Saturday, our Aquatennial gang gathered for the State Fair parade and here's the story!

First, this was our inaugural trip on the Aquatennial float with all of our Ambassadors, including the seniors. It was great to finally get everyone together. We met at the warehouse where the float is kept and shuttled ourselves over to the fairgrounds.

Emily, Tara and Jaclyn, very happy to be reunited again!

Now, it was a PERFECT day. 80 degrees, no humidity, sunny skies....the makings of a nightmare on the fairgrounds. I think the whole state attended that day. Looking down some of the streets on the fairgrounds was frightening. That's a lot of cheese curds.

We had some time to kill so while the senior Ambassadors took the float over to the lineup, the rest of us headed into the fair to do some mingling and, of course, get some food.

The world's greatest Turkey Sandwiches! Not to be
missed at the fair. Trust me.

Commodore Mary, Queen Tara, Princesses Jaclyn and Emily and Captain Rob and I made our first stop the WCCO Radio booth. If you have been reading this for a while, you know that Mary and I both work for WCCO (and Rob's wife does also) so we made this home base. We dropped our stuff there, said hello to a few people that were on the air and took a few photos. And, naturally, they made fun of me. When a guy who works for you comes up and slaps you on the butt and says "nice uniform Captain" you know you've made it. Dare to dream, right?

Our Ambassador Group on the WCCO
Radio Porch...sorry for the intrusion Denny Long!

We then headed over to the "Big Slide" (you know...the giant yellow slide you ride down in a potato sack) and the girls went for a ride. Luckily, we lost no crowns and maybe more importantly, the skirts stayed down! Phew.

Big Crowns in front of a Big Slide

By this point, I was suffering. I have the curse of hayfever and this time of year (late August through September) is pure torture. The fair does not help. Birthing barns do not help. Straw bails (not hay...they're straw....thank you Jenna) do not help. If you are a fellow allergy sufferer, you feel my pain. It's really hard to enjoy yourself when you eyes itch.

OK, enough of my problems but I feel better. Because I'm in an air-conditioned room right now.

It was now time to head over to the parade lineup....we helped set up the rest of the float (although the seniors did the majority of it already which was nice of them) and talked to a few people also in the parade. Atwater's Royalty was there who we see a lot over the summer. Yeah, they're the ones that ask me eight million questions about my personal life when I see them. At least someone is interested.

The Crew on the Float with Atwater

Anyway.....the parade was nice. A lot of people as I mentioned earlier. It's also very difficult to clear a parade route through the fair. When a man wants a Pork Chop on a stick, no parade will get in his way. I guarantee you that. Plus, every Mini-Donut stand you go by makes you almost pass out. They're so horribly delicious. I feel fat just typing this.

Speaking of food, the new thing this year is called a Pig-Licker (an unfortunate name if you ask me...but no one asked me). It's bacon, dipped in chocolate. Only the Minnesota State Fair can come up with this stuff.

I've actually tried it....we get to sample a lot of this stuff at the radio station. It tastes like bacon. You can hardly taste the chocolate. Bacon is overwhelming. So why not add chocolate to it? This is why people have diabetes. I think I'll have carrots for lunch.

Following the parade, it was back to the radio booth to change into civilian clothes....shorts, t-shirts, comfortable shoes, etc. We went across the street to Schumacher's where both Jaclyn and Tara's parents were. Yes, they found the place that does Wine Flights. Nice.

And you've been mentioned in the blog Tony....congratulations. Of course it was in conjunction with Wine Flights. Who's your Daddy!

Thanks for taking the picture Dad! From L-R:
Amy, Rob, Jaclyn, Tara, Emily, Me and Anne

We wandered the fair for a little while longer and I should mention that we were joined by Anne Sumangil who, again, if you've been reading this, you know who she is. She's on the Aquatennial board as a Vice-President and is the Director of the Aquatennial Candidate Program.

Anne has become a fast friend of Rob and I and we love it when she hangs out with us! Plus, the girls get to know her so well during their candidate week and it's fun for them to reunite.

After we all inhaled a bucket of French Fries (how on earth do they make those the greatest tasting fries of all time? They're unbelievable!), we parted ways and headed home. But the night was not done.

Saturday was also Tzvet's (our former Aquatennial Princess who crowned Jaclyn in July) 21st Birthday Party. Rob, Amy, Anne and I were meeting Tzvet and a group of her friends at Chino Latino in Uptown to toast her big day!

We enjoyed an always interesting Chino dinner (fish tacos with the HOTTEST Habenero sauce known to man, Jerk Chicken, etc....my mouth is still burning. But it was good!) then headed over to another Uptown hotspot for beverages.

The Crew at Chino Latino

It was so great to see Tzvet again....I've been able to catch up to our other former Princess Jenna a couple of times but had yet to see Tzvet. I've mentioned before what good friends Rob and I became with them and this reminded me how special the two of them really are. They are just awesome. We love you girls!

From L-R: Former Anoka Ambassador and
Aqua Princess Nichelle, Tzvet and Former Anoka Ambassador Christina

Another weekend under our belt and we are now preparing for a few more big events. Here's what's on tap (I should get a beer sponsor for this):

Saturday, August 30th: Rob and Emily are in Dassel for a parade and coronation

Friday, September 5th: Mary, Tara, Jaclyn and I will be in Oak Grove for their coronation

Saturday, September 6th: All six of us (Mary, Tara, Jaclyn, Emily, Rob and I) are in Gibbon for their coronation and Rob and I will be staying for the Fireman's Dance that night. Because sometimes, you just need to dance. Right. I wouldn't believe a word I write after that last statement.

Sunday, September 7th: Mary, Tara and all of the Senior Ambassadors will be in Northfield for the Defeat of Jesse James Days Parade which I've heard is a blast...get there and check it out if you can.

And again, the end of the month we are all in LaCrosse for Oktoberfest...we are all really looking forward to that and hope to see many of you there. By the way, if you don't have a hotel room, you're out of luck...couple friends of mine tried to get a room couple of weeks ago and the hotels they called laughed at them. No kidding. Booked a year in advance. This will be interesting.

Talk to all of you soon!

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Captain
Minneapolis Aquatennial

Captain's Log 8/16-8/19

Greetings again Aquatennial-ites! One more busy weekend in the books and here's what went down.

This past Saturday, Princess Emily and I were off to the east side, a rare trip towards St. Paul for me. We were in the St. Paul Park Heritage Days Parade, the first time (according to the folks in St. Paul Park) that Aquatennial had ever been in their parade!

The Royalty gathers in St. Paul Park

We arrived in downtown St. Paul Park around 9am. St. Paul Park is on the South East side of St. Paul towards the Cottage Grove/Inver Grove Heights area. You know that big oil refinery that's on hwy 10. by the Mississippi River as you head towards Red Wing? That's the place. Great golf course down there...Mississippi Dunes. Quick plug. Oh yeah...I don't get paid for this. Nevermind.

We met one of the coordinators, Jim, and he drove us over to Heritage Park where there was a Queen's Tea. By Queen's Tea, I mean donuts and orange juice. Emily was afraid they'd have tea. She doesn't like tea. It was too hot for tea anyway! OJ is just fine. Mmmmmm....donuts.

Yeah...this is what I'm starting to look like. D'oh!

After the tea (so to speak), we had some time to take photos. One thing I LOVE about taking photos at these (yes, I'm in full sarcasm mode), is facing the sun for about 20 minutes and trying to keep your eyes open. Oh, and I have hayfever this time of year. It's like torture trying to keep your eyes open! Our life is so glamorous.

It's so difficult, Emily can't even look anymore!

For the parade, we were lined up 9th (yeah, sometimes it's good to be Aquatennial...we always get the good parade spot and don't think we don't know that!) and right next to the Woodbury float. Kind of the first time we've hung out with them and they were very nice. Thanks for the water by the way!

Emily Checks out the Woodbury Float

Parade was great...wound through a neighborhood before running through the "downtown" area. By downtown, I mean bars. They have a good time in St. Paul Park!

They also do something unique....mud volleyball! Yes, mud. They dig out a court, the fireman fill it with water, and they play volleyball in it. Looked like fun. It also looked like a long shower. And beer. Good times!

We wrapped up the day with a quick lunch at the legion...and for the first time ALL YEAR, I spilled on myself. Ketchup and mustard. I can't believe it took this long. Stains came out so you can all stop worrying. Thank goodness it was at the end of the day. My "Lake Whites" don't look that good with a red and yellow blotch in the middle of the shirt. Well, usually.

Sunday was a day long trip to Montrose, Minnesota. Have you seen the movie "Drop Dead Gorgeous with Kirsten Dunst, Denise Richards and Kirsty Alley? It's about a pageant in a made up Minnesota town called Mount Rose. We (by we, I mean a couple of knuckleheads I know) have always thought it's based off of the real town of Montrose. Sounds right to me!

As a side note, I've always thought "Drop Dead Gorgeous" was hilarious. This past year makes it one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. If you've missed it, check it out. Obviously it's over the top but some of it really hits home!

Princess Emily and I met in the morning and were off to the Community Center for a brunch. We were seated at the head table with the Montrose Royalty which is always a great honor for us but I can't help but feel weird. I'm in a place I've really never been to, meeting a lot of people for the first time, and they sit us right at the head table so everyone can watch us eat. It is absolutely a sign of respect for Aquatennial and we're happy to carry on with that but I'm just saying, I don't think of myself as that important. So it feels weird.

The good news is, best brunch so far. What's better than cheesy potatoes? I mean really....name something. I'll wait. Anything? Didn't think so. (Do Captain Rob and I talk too much about food? I think we do. That's why I am starting to look like Homer. D'oh! By the way, this will be my pop-culture reference entry I guess.)

Now, a quick story about the parade. We were driven by a volunteer and her daughter in a convertible....nothing unusual yet. However, when we arrived at lineup and I was putting our signs on the car, she asked if she could put a sign on the car also. It was a magnetic photo of a man named Jim Kelly. It read, "Jim Kelly- In Loving Memory".

The tribute to Jim Kelly

Turns out the car we were in was Jim's and he had passed away this year. Jim Kelly had been the driver for the Aquatennial Ambassadors for years, according to our driver. He was a great volunteer in town and was someone they greatly missed. It was our honor to be in his car and for it to be a tribute to someone who had done so much for the community.

I also want to say something about the visiting royalty. At each of these festivals, we hear the outgoing royalty say something at coronation about the "Sparkle Section" and how they're going to "Miss those girls!", etc.

The "Sparkle Section"...oh, and
some dude in the middle who doesn't sparkle

Every one of these festivals invites numerous other community festivals to they're parade, coronation, dinner...whatever they're doing. Most of the time, a few show up, sometimes a TON of them show up. In Montrose, a TON of them showed up.

Here's where I finally say hi to my hometown of Big Lake as I finally got to meet the girls from Spud Fest (yes, Spud Fest....we like potatoes). We weren't at Spud Fest which is in June....not sure if we don't get invited or why that is but either way, it was nice to see them. They have Mashed Potato Wrestling at Spud Fest. Awesome.

Cokato Royalty in black, Big Lake in yellow
and Emily and I in front....that's a big potato

Anoka had a large presence in Montrose as well. In addition to their Royal Ambassadors Alyssa, Janelle and Taryn (who we love...they're really fun!), the three judges were from Anoka. Sharolyn Carlson, who is the Anoka Royalty Coordinator, and her sister were there along with the former Anoka Royal Ambassador and 2007 Aquatennial Princess, Nichelle Hackert (notice I introduced her properly....yeah, I'm that good. I'm a total dork and I realize that so save your breath).

Me, Alyssa, Taryn, Janelle and Emily...Hi Anoka!

Coronation went really well....it was a fun program with great girls. They both (they only crowned two this year) were very emotional when they were crowned and it's nice to see that it means so much to them.

Princess Emily and Me with New Montrose Royalty

That's it for now....we have a slow down finally as we head into the last 2 weeks of August and school is starting up soon. There's still a scattered few events to tell you about and a couple of really big festivals for us. Here's what's coming up!

Saturday, August 23rd- We are at the State Fair Parade (State Fair starts Thursday!!!!!!!What happened to summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and for the first time since Aquatennial, we will all appear as a group in a parade. Love to see you on Saturday afternoon in your pickle hats and "I Love Don Shelby" T-shirts while eating a Pronto Pup and Fudge Puppy at the Fair! Yes, you people look like that. Sorry. Mmmmmmm.....Pronto Pups. I have to stop now.

Why would you do this on purpose?
I think this may be Rob. I'm not sure but it could be.

Sunday, August 24th and Monday, August 25th- Woodbury Days....Commodore Mary and Queen of the Lakes Tara will be there both days in the town Mary calls home!

Saturday, August 30th- That is Dassel Red Rooster Days where Princess Emily and Captain Rob will be (we still may add a couple of us to that one...TBD)

Saturday, September 6th- A big day for us....all six Ambassadors will be in Gibbon for their coronation. Gibbon, of course, being the home of former Aquatennial Princess and the one and only Jenna Forstner We are thrilled to be going there to see her and everyone else who have become our friends over the last year.

Sunday, September 7th- the Defeat of Jesse James Days Parade in Northfield. Commodore Mary, Queen Tara and the Senior Ambassadors will be there.

Also, we have Oktoberfest in LaCrosse the end of September and Anoka Halloween coming up in October (our other former Aquatennial Princess Tzvetelina Pramatarov's hometown and we can't wait to see her either!). We are all really looking forward to those. Cambridge's Snowflake Parade and the Hollidazzle follow that.

And, finally, we are getting our travel plans in place for the end of the year as we will celebrate the coming of 2009 in Pasadena and the Tournament of Roses! I'm really fired up for this because I MAY be the world's biggest college football fan (the Rose Bowl!!!!!! Hello!!!!!!!!!!) plus it never hurts to go to sunny California in December/January. Just sayin.

Wow....I'm talking about our last few events. Not sure I'm ready to hang up the Captain's hat. Never thought I'd say that. What a trip.

Captain's Blog 8/15/08....Guest Blog

I'm such an inspiration to others that they keep sending me entries....Captain Rob is back with another entry. And if you don't understand the Elwyn Tinklenberg part, you won't be alone. You had to be there! And know that it tortured Rob. Good times.

OK, enough of my commentary....here's Captain Mauzy:

Well, another weekend under our belt, and what a weekend it was. Princess Jaclyn and I were in Gaylord and Rockford over the weekend.

Saturday we were up and at ‘em early. I got Amy to come and spend the day with us. We picked up Jaclyn around 9 am and were off on the trek to Gaylord. Lots of talking and laughing along the way. It is no longer an interrogation anymore, as we have figured out a lot about each other. I think Lindsey may have touched on this, but I will reiterate it. You are thrown together with a young woman, whom you know nothing about, other than she was one of the 3 (out of 50 amazing young women) to be chosen to represent the Minneapolis Aquatennial. So, fast forward 3 weeks and Jaclyn and I have done 5 events and spent a total of about 48 hours together (not counting the last couple of days of Aquatennial) and you feel like you have known them for 3 months, yet at the same time their crowning seems to be just yesterday, it is a really bizarre feeling.

Sorry, I digress, so we wind up in Gaylord around 11:30 and the Festival coordinator, Kathy Jensen, meets us, lays out the plan for the day, gives us $15, and introduces us to our parade driver, Avery. A little bit about Avery. Avery knows everybody! Everyone screams “Hello” to Avery. Now I don’t know if they are screaming because they like him, or because in fear because of the candy he throws out of his vehicle at 60 MPH....Cripes, that man has an arm. Get some Twins scouts down to Gaylord to check him out (I am not sure he has the best accuracy, but...) Local Gaylord hometown celebrity and WCCO Radio and TV sports guy, Mike Max, hunts on Avery’s land. BTW, I did say earlier that Kathy gave us $15. She explained that its for us to get some food at the festival after the Parade. How sweet is that!

The parade was great and Amy and Avery certainly had a ton of fun in the front of the vehicle. I don’t think they ever stopped talking. Ton of fun. After the Parade we were off to the park, for some food, entertainment and buffalo petting. That’s right, there was a huge Buffalo in the middle of the park, and just let everyone come up and pet him.

Who’s hungry for some buffalo?

The outgoing Gaylord royalty

Now this buffalo is related to the buffalo that was in Dances With Wolves. We sat and talked to the owner for a little bit and he had some interesting stories to tell. I won’t bore you with them, but you can rest assured I will hit my wife and Lindsey with them when they least expect it. We met up with the current Gaylord Royalty and chatted with them also. Then it was off to find some food. They have something in Gaylord called a Chamburger, it is hamburger that has had some spices added to the meat. DELICIOUS. I heard that Chamburgers just recently returned to the town of Gaylord, something about the recipe getting lost, or the original place closed up. Something like that, you know me, if I got nothing I just make it up as I go. Hopefully someone will set me straight about the Chamburgers.

Oh, I almost forgot, right when the three of us arrived in the park, some guy called out my name. Now get this, it was my 12th grade teacher from Chapel Hill Academy, Greg Peterson. OK, now I had figured that with all the parades and appearances and stuff, that I would run into someone from my past that I hadn’t seen in years, but you could have knocked me over with a feather. This is a guy that probably saw me at my absolute worst! I think both of us were equally stunned to see each other. But, it was very cool to catch up with what each of us had been up to the past 25 years! WOW.

After the park, we were off to the church for a little rest and light dinner prior to the coronation. We were invited to chill out with the Current royalty, candidates, and coordinators. It was getting quite hot in the park, so we were quite thankful for the A/C.

Then off to coronation. It was held at the Middle School auditorium. Now, this was Jaclyn’s first appearance where she had to speak. I kept reassuring her that she was going to do great, and gave her a couple of pointers, and what not. Now, I had all this stuff in my head that I had planned to say, and when we got up to the stage, I started talking and everything I said had nothing to do with what I had planned. Enough about me. Jaclyn, on the other hand, hit it out of the park. She was excellent! That young woman has nothing to worry about going forward. So, when we got back to the seats, we looked at each other, gave a fist bump, and we both said to each other, good job, I was horrible...it was very funny. I could not remember if I had said her name, let alone correctly. She also, could not remember anything she said. We giggled a bit. They crowned the new girls and we were on our way back to the cities.

The new Gaylord Royalty

So, on the way back to the cities, my brother Randy’s soon to be brother and sister-in-law, were in town and Randy’s finance’s place is on the way back from Gaylord. I had to stop and say a quick hello. So we stopped, and had a fun time telling them of what we do and how we spent our day. Randy even made Jaclyn and I say our speeches from Gaylord. He is still stunned I am doing this. Then we were off, back to Minneapolis, to drop Jaclyn off. Now, it is at this point that Jaclyn looked over to me and said, “Rob, I think this is a little early in our relationship for me to be meeting your family.” I nearly drove off the road.

Sunday came a little early for us...I picked up Jaclyn around 9:30 and we were off to Rockford for Rockford River Days. We met up with the visiting royalty at the elementary school and had a nice breakfast and were able to spend some time with the outgoing royalty. Holly had joined us at Aquatennial as a Candidate and I had gotten to know her over the past 7 months. She is a sweetheart. We took some pictures, then off to the line-up and waiting there for us was a nice looking Corvette. I need to thank Doug White and Brian Samuelson for taking care of the vehicle on short notice. Now they had us in the 8th position, and I have to tell you, when you are up in the front of the parade, The kids are waiting for candy, not jacked up on sugar yet, and are sitting patiently with their parents. You still have everyone’s attention. SO that was really fun.

The outgoing Rockford royalty

Oh, I forgot to mention Elwyn Tinklenberg (now I am not getting into any political discussion here....i just like the name). So, I am not sure if Lindsey has mentioned Elwyn Tinklenberg here in the blog yet, but sometime in June, he and Tzvet were going to an appearance and started seeing these signs. So they just started having fun with it. Eventually they started taunting me with this inside joke about Elwyn Tinklenberg. Now, if you know me, you know that is something that will drive me crazy. If there is something funny that happened, and someone keeps going on about it....I want to know!! So, those 2 guys kept it from me until Aquatennial coronation night. Anyways, Guess who was at the Parade? Elwyn Tinklenberg, in the flesh. Maybe this is one of those stories that I should have bailed on before it began. Oh well, at least Jaclyn and I laughed and laughed.

Rob, Elwyn and Jaclyn

Then it was off to the Park for more visiting and merriment. I was hungry...Taco in a bag...yum! Talked with the visiting Royalty. And eventually we off to the coronation under the big top. Thank goodness there was a breeze. Poor Jaclyn got a bit of a burn on her back from being outside the past 2 days. Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen. This had to be the shortest coronation I have ever been to. If it was more than 35 minutes, I would be surprised. But the did it up right. Oh and this is the first time I have ever seen this: there were 3 candidates, and they became the 3 ambassadors for Rockford. As you all know, when you go to a coronation and there is 1 more candidate than there is crowns, it is a little sad to see. So we were thinking the same thing here, but when we saw the three crowns, Jaclyn and I were both like, “That’s cool!” Now, there actually was an envelope that contained one of the three candidates names. And that envelope, was the representative that is going to Aquatennial next year. Jaclyn and I really liked their coronation in Rockford. Oh, I forgot to tell you, Jaclyn had to present a queens charm again, and again she was great! What was cool about his time is afterward, she looks at me and says, “That was good”. Our princess is going to be just fine!

The new Rockford royalty

Wow, what a weekend. And I know Lindsey already told you about Cokato. So Jaclyn’s and my next event is Saturday August 16 at the Lino Lakes Parade. Hope to see you there!

Captain's Blog 8/10-8/12 (With VERY special guest blog!)

Hello again Aquatennial-ites. A couple of big days this past weekend....here's the rundown and make sure you check out a guest blog from former Aquatennial Princess Anne Sumangil who is now miss "Do Everything" for Aquatennial. She pinch hit for us this past weekend in New Brighton as our other three groups were tied up! Her "report" is below. Enjoy!

Anne (in the middle) with former Princesses Tzvet
and Jenna during Aquatennial Week!

On Sunday, Princess Emily and I were off to Winsted for the Summer Festival. Winsted is in McLoed Country, about an hour west of the Twin Cities. It's famous for Winstock, a summer music festival that draws thousands of people from around the region. They share a school with Howard Lake and Waverly in addition to a private school, Holy Trinity. It rests on the shores of beautiful Winsted Lake. Why do I feel like I'm writing for the tourism board? Maybe I should be!

Emily and I with outgoing Winsted Ambassadors

Anyway, our first stop was the Fire Hall for a pancake breakfast put on by the Winsted Fire Department. MMMMMM.....pancakes. They had blueberry syrup! Sometimes it's the little things that get me fired up.

They had a ton of visiting royalty....a great turnout considering that Sunday there were events in Shakopee, Rockford and New Brighton. It's always fun to see all of them. Except the one who asks me a million questions about why I'm not married. I don't know! How do you answer that? I was floored by that one. Let's just move on.

That's a lot of crowns....

Following the breakfast was the parade. And for the third time this year, we were driven in a 1969 Mustang. It is officially the year of the '69 'Stang. Our driver, Kenny, has had it for 25 years and just recently had it repainted. Gorgeous car. Only one problem....for some reason, our magnetic car signs would not stick to it. I have no idea why. The car is made of steel...it's not fiberglass (like a Corvette). Weird.

We had to tape the signs on. I was a little nervous putting plastic tape on someone's car. He seemed fine with it. OK. We'll give it a shot. After the parade I was pulling the signs off and praying the tape didn't leave behind any, ummmm......residue? It was OK. Not much. That'll buff right out!

Nice...hope it doesn't stick

The parade was fun. Great crowd, unbelievable weather. It was officially the windiest parade route I've been on. After the parade we had to work our way back to where we were supposed to sit. And I could not find it. I was so turned around. By the time we got there, parade was over. Oh well. We did manage to find a couple of Tootsie Rolls though. And that's the important part.

Emily with her former Cokato Princesses, Nicole and Anji

We then spent a couple of hours in the park where they had some live music, food and all that usual Minnesota summer festival stuff. You know, picnic benches, beer tents and cheese curds? What else does a person need?

With Dassel Ambassadors

We had a chance to visit with the Dassel, Cokato, Richfield and several other royalty groups. They were all still so excited for Emily. She keeps getting the question "has it sank in yet?" and "I'll bet you've been REALLY busy!". It's fun to see everyone is that excited for her.

With Richfield Royalty

Coronation went really well. We had a chance to do something kind of different. The two Winsted Ambassadors don't know which one is attending Aquatennial after their reign. After they were judged last year, the judges sealed an envelope with the girl who will be going. They had Emily and I bring the envelope on stage with us so we could open it and announce who's going. Kind of cool. Usually we know in advance and this was a different way of doing it.

Emily and I with new Winsted Ambassadors

This past Tuesday night was a huge night for us. This was the night of the Cokato Corn Carnival coronation. Cokato is the hometown of Princess Emily. She, actually, never finished her reign as Miss Cokato. She ran for Aquatennial while still holding her hometown crown which a few of them do. Not many. And I think it's happened a few times where they actual become an Aqua Ambassador while still holding their town's crown.

A very large contingent of satin and
sparkle in Cokato....oh, and two out of place Captains

Technically, she has to give up being Miss Cokato as soon as she becomes and Aquatennial Princess. As you hear us introduce our Aqua royalty, you'll always hear it like "the former Miss Cokato, Aquatennial Princess, Emily McConkey." The word "former" is important. You now represent Minneapolis and the Aquatennial. And that is nothing against where you are from or your town, it's just that the idea behind being an Ambassador for Aquatennial is that your focus is on that festival and the city of Minneapolis. It is no longer on your town.

This is what happens when you hand your
camera to people...and you trust them. Yeah.
Say hello to Emily's parents. Melody and Tracy. Welcome
to the blog kids.

So, as we went back to Cokato, Emily couldn't do what she normally would do as an outgoing Miss Cokato. Instead of sitting on stage with the Princesses, she sat with Captain Rob, Princess Jaclyn and me. She didn't do the on-stage program (announcements, farewell speech, dance routine) that the other girls had to do. She is now Aquatennial....and she has a new job.

Now, I don't want this to seem like I'm saying we just showed up and didn't let her enjoy her reign as Miss Cokato or anything like that. Not at all. What has happened is Emily returns to Cokato as a hero for being an Aquatennial Princess. It's not every day they put your name on the Dairy Queen sign after all! Everyone was THRILLED to see her.

When we were on stage during the coronation, before I introduced her, I said a few words about her and what has happened over the last few weeks. I mentioned that all the other Aquatennial Candidates were absolutely thrilled when she was selected and I can't think of a better compliment than that. How often do you see people you have kind of been competing against say to you, "You deserved it and we are SO happy for you!" That means a lot.

Aquatennial with current Cokato Royalty
and their seven candidates

I also mentioned that the City of Cokato (and Hutchinson and Maple Grove when it comes to Jaclyn and Tara) should be so proud of the way the three girls handled themselves not only during Aquatennial but in the weeks that have followed. They have done this the right way...have fun, make friends, show your true self and true personality and, most of all, carry yourself with pride and dignity. They've all done that.

That's what Aquatennial is about. That's what we try to bring to the party. It's fun and it should be....it's also our job to be role models and we see so many people come up to the girls and they all look at them that way.

I remember an Aquatennial candidate came up to now former Princess Jenna during Aqua week and said to her "I have looked up to you so much this past year". Jenna was stunned. She couldn't believe it. And trust me, the candidate who said this was just a wonderful young woman on her own...this was a HUGE compliment.

It's another one of those moments where you kind of see how much this means to the young people in these communities. And for that matter, to Captain Rob, Commodore Mary and myself.

Now, as I step down from my soapbox (I'm done preaching, you may now all go in peace), back to coronation.

When it came time to crown the new Miss Cokato, Miss Congeniality and the two Princesses, Emily was back on stage (of course she's Aqua now so I had to escort her....I felt REALLY out of place on stage during this but C'est La Vie, right?). It was actually kind of fun to see this up close...the three outgoing girls were so genuinely excited to see who won.

The New Cokato Corn Carnival Royalty

Afterwards, we made the rounds at the Corn Carnival...it was too late to get corn though. Sales end at 9pm. Bummer. Well, not for Emily. Here's irony for you...Emily, the former Miss Cokato who was crowned in the town that celebrates corn.....hates corn. Despises it. Won't eat it at all. I think it's kind of funny. Emily and I have appeared together at four different festivals since she was crowned and two of them have been festivals based around corn. And she hates it. You can't make this stuff up.

You know, I've spent a lot of this on Emily, and rightfully so...this was her hometown, but I have to mention Jaclyn (and Rob...fine!).

Jaclyn next to her Family/Friends who came to
the coronation from nearby Hutchinson

One night during Aquatennial, we went to visit the candidates really late after some events in their hotel. Mary, Rob and I all spoke to them briefly about what to expect if they did get crowned. One thing the three of us stressed, Mary especially, is that you better be able to laugh and have fun with this. That is a total understatement.

You ask anyone who sees us on a regular basis and they'll tell you this...nobody has more fun than our group. Nobody.

Jaclyn rode with Rob and I out to Cokato and all I heard the whole time was Jaclyn laughing in the backseat. Mostly at us but that's fine. We're weird. And we know it. The point was, she was having fun. And we have a great time with her. And Emily. And Tara. Just like we did with Charissa and Tzvet and Jenna.

Captain Rob, Princesses Jaclyn and Emily
with your friendly, neighborhood blogger!

Maybe every year is like this but I like to think we've just been lucky!

Now, on to our special guest blogger (welcome to the weird world of blogging!), Anne Sumangil, our favorite "has-been"!

Hello everyone! I’d like to thank Lindsey for letting a “non-Captain” write on the Captain’s Blog – what an honor! This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to be asked to represent the Aquatennial at the New Brighton Coronation. I have to admit, after being crown-less for the last seven years, it was fun to be back at a coronation representing my favorite festival! The coronation was held at Irondale High School. As I walked in, I ran into former ambassadors from other communities from years past to the present. There were a number of former Aquatennial Candidates there that just spent a week with me at the Aquatennial there with their respective community ambassadors. It was so good to see everyone!

L-R: Heather from East Bethel, Tiffany from Blaine, Mackenzie from New Brighton,
Katie from NE Minneapolis, Erin from Anoka and ME!

I was extremely impressed with the number of community ambassadors in attendance at the event. They filled the one side of the auditorium and part of the other side – wow! The coronation started with an opening number by the current New Brighton Ambassadors and 6 Candidates. After the ambassador introductions, I headed on stage to represent the Aquatennial. I’m usually pretty impromptu when I speak but since it has been a while since I have been at a coronation as the Aquatennial representative I threw together a short speech about the fact that I am a “has been”. And since there wasn’t a woman in a crown with me, I brought my own…it’s a bedazzled foam crown that says “Has Been Princess” on it (apparently, the local TV station used the crown as a part of their credits – it’s famous!). I talked about how being a has-been is not a negative thing, it’s actually positive because if you are a has-been, that means that you have had an experience to make you one. I also talked about focus on the value of experience during the Queen of the Lakes Scholarship Program. Speaking of which…I had a great opportunity to get to meet and get to know the outgoing Miss New Brighton Mackenzie Will at the Aquatennial this year and it was a pleasure to be able to present the Queen’s charm to her. I also had her stay on stage to help me present the Honorary Commodore’s awards. Little did she know that the first recipient was her dad! She was able to pin her father with the Honorary Commodore medal which was a special moment. We also presented the Honorary Commodore’s award to Marie Hansen, the 2004 Miss New Brighton and the 2005 Queen of the Lakes. What a great job we have! I ended my speech with one of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

The coronation ended with the crowning of the 2009 New Brighton ambassadors. After the crowning of the 2 Princesses, there was a twist in the program…they decided to crown 3 Princesses! Apparently the volunteer escorts weren’t in on the twist because before they crowned the queen, they started to walk the candidates off the stage. Fortunately, they stopped them and they crowned the 2009 Miss New Brighton. Congratulations to the new New Brighton Ambassadors! Maybe I’ll see you at another coronation or parade in the near future!

The New 2009 New Brighton Ambassadors

Thanks Anne!

And thank you for checking in....actually, big thanks. When I started writing this in January, I thought maybe a couple of people that we ran into would check it out from time to time. Now, It's all I hear about. Everywhere I go. I actually had people yell to me at parades over the last few weeks saying they "love the blog". I'm glad you're interested in what we're up to!

Up next, St. Paul Park's parade on Saturday, Montrose Parade and Coronation on Sunday and on Saturday the 23rd, our whole group gets together for the first time ever at the State Fair Parade. Hope to see you there!

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Minneapolis Aquatennial Captain

Captain's Blog 8/8/08 with Guest Blog

Hi Aquatannial-ites (I kind of like the title now...it may stick)! I was going to wait until next week but Rob decided to fill in some gaps and I might as well do the same.

First, here's Rob's update from what he was up to last weekend and then stay tuned because we had a very interesting evening in New Brighton!

Now, Heeeeeerrrrrrrrreeeeeee's Rob!


I'm back. Sorry for not posting anything else during Aqua week like I said I would. Lindsey seemed to capture the essence of it perfectly, so I figured anything I added would just be static. Well, as Lindsey said yesterday, Aquatennial week is over and honestly, everything has returned pretty much to normal. Looks like my marriage survived. Ha Ha. Before I go any further, I need to thank my wife Amy for being the greatest wife a guy could ask for. As you all know, June and July were very hectic months for us, and I was not home much. When you do not have any children, and you are always together, when one of you is not around, it can get pretty lonely. And as Amy says about me, "Your are my child!" So, THANK YOU dear for being so supportive!

Ok, back to queen and princess world. Wednesday, July 30 it was off to Red Wing! I picked up the new princess, Jaclyn, around 3:15 and we hit the road to Red Wing. As this was my first event with Jaclyn, it was time to find out more about her. So we talked and talked. Ok honestly, I asked question after question. She must have felt like she was being interrogated. It wasn't that bad, but I needed to get to know her. Honestly guys...she's awesome! She has a quick wit about her, LOVES Minneapolis, loves fashion, loves shoes (she has hundreds), went to Spain with a suitcase weighing 35 lbs and came back with it weighing 58 lbs (all shoes). I discovered she is going to the Macy's fashion show, Glamorama (so's my wife and sister-in-law) I told her to watch out for those 2. We laughed a lot. We pulled into Mississippi Dunes around 4:30 (yes, i drove the speed limit), where we met up with Commodore Mary and Queen Tara. We sat with one of the candidates, Samantha Beng's family. They were very nice. Wonderful dinner and small program by the reigning royalty and the candidates. Not sure if you all know this, but Miss Red Wing, Keyana Silverburg, had just come off a week of being a candidate for Queen of the Lakes. so it was good to see her again.

Jaclyn and Miss Red Wing Keyana Silverburg

So it was off to the Coronation, and who should we run into at the coronation? One of my favorite festival representatives! Cambridge! For those of you who don't know, Cambridge has a pretty amazing program. Their coordinator Laurie Solle, is an amazing woman, she has been involved with the Cambridge program for over 20 years, and you can feel just how passionate she is about it from the moment you meet her. She always has a camera, and is always getting great pictures. One thing I discovered about her that day was that she takes pictures of everyone, and creates flash cards and quizzes her ambassadors with them. Wow, how cool! And, of course, when you see Laurie, you know the 3 Cambridge Ambassadors will be near! And there they were, Renita, Nicole and Hanna. How did I know they were there? They yelled my name! Gotta love it! After a round of hugs, and questions about the new Queen and Princesses, it was off to my seat.

Captain Rob, the Cambridge Ambassadors, Nicole, Renita, and Hanna,
Queen Tara, Princess Jaclyn, and Commodore Mary

Ahhh, the coronation, great production, lots of music by Madonna! Which worked for me. oh, by the way, guess what? I finally picked a winner! Leah Wipperling was crowned Miss Red WIng! We took a picture with the new royalty, but it was blurry...so no pic.

Then it was off to the Elks club, (boy it was getting late) where we made the round and said hi to everyone. and then off to home.

Now the drive back to Minneapolis, was a lot of fun, because, along with Jaclyn, I had Queen Tara in the car. It was her turn to get the Star Chamber treatment. The verdict? AWESOME!!

Saturday came up pretty quickly, and it was off to the Pine County Fair Parade. Now I don't know what was in the air on Saturday, but there had to be something. I also had issues finding where I needed to go! I swear Jaclyn and I went up and down the main street in Pine City 6 times. Anyways, we found where we needed to go for the reception and headed in. This was Jaclyn and my first event going solo, so there was a little nervousness. Not to worry though, we walked in, and went to work mingling. You should have seen Jaclyn work the room! We met everyone and chit chatted until it was time for the parade. Great parade too, everyone was waving and hollering. I love that.

Oh, i forgot to tell you, when we were in Red Wing, Laurie from Cambridge invited Jaclyn and I to dinner after the Pine County Fair Parade. We accepted Then it was off to dinner with the Cambridge Coordinators, Laurie and Lynette, and the ambassadors, Nicole, Renita and Hanna. We had a great time getting to know everyone even more. Lots of laughs. Again a big thank you to Laurie for inviting us!

Sunday it was off to Silver Lake for Pola Czesky Days with Queen Tara. We met at my place and we were off to Silver Lake, via Glencoe. Seriously, when are they going to open up Highway 7. I am sure I asked Tara a ton of questions about herself again. I wonder what my record for consecutive questions asked was this past week? We pulled into Silver Lake and found the Community Center no problem (must have just been the air on Saturday). What a wonderful town. They had big tents and a trailer set up by the community center. I mentioned to Tara that I smelled a street dance. (yup...it started at 4). We found a parking spot on the street and were walking up to the community center, when i laid my eyes on the biggest porta potty I have ever seen. RIght in the middle of the street. I kid you not! It was huge!!! I was so stunned I had to take a picture of it

Sorry, but i still can't believe it!

Anyways, we walked in and ran right into the reigning Pola-Czesky Queen, Sara Mickolichek.

Rob, Sara and Tara (Notice the little black dress on Tara)

She joined us a Aquatennial as a Midwest Queen. So we chatted about her experience at Aquatennial and how much fun she had. It is so wonderful meeting these young women right after they have attended Aquatennial, you can just sense what a great time they had, without them saying anything. I mentioned above to notice the Little Black Dress on Tara. If you were at Meet the Candidates during Aquatennial week, you know what I am talking about. Tara was dressed in a little black Dress and her speech was about Audrey Hepburn and the dress. But the real cool thing, is that after the Aqua Coronation and we took the new royalty back to the hotel, Chirstine Scherping (she does all the shopping for the royalty) had bought Tara the dress you see above. How ironic! Anyways, we had a wonderful lunch and a short program. Then it was off to the parade, where we met up with our driver Bob. Another great parade. tons of smiles and waves. We walked around the park afterwards, and then it was off to coronation. Again, it was a great coronation. Now those of you who have seen me speak at coronations know I like to go off of a script. Well, this time I had everything ready, but i free-styled it! Yay! But, enough about me. Tara knocked it out of the park! She was awesome, she had them laughing and cheering! I think she was born with a microphone in her hand!

Us with the new Pola-Czesky Royalty

On our way out we ran in to the new Hutchinson royalty, and chatted with them for a bit. Then it was time to head home. That's all I have for now, but I have to tell you, it was a great first week with the new Queen and Princess. Until next time

Thanks Rob!

Now, here's a quick update on what's happened since...Princess Jaclyn and I were off to New Brighton on Thursday night for the Stockyard Days Parade. Kind of a country theme so lots of cowboy hats, boots and country music. Except for us, of course, because we don't dress up like that in parades. You'll always see Aquatennial wearing the same uniform. Kind of our trademark.

Princess Jaclyn Auger and Me

Now, Thursday night is typically golf night for Captain Rob and I...at least it was up until this year! Rob was off golfing so I borrowed Amy, his wife, to drive us in the parade. Actually, I shouldn't say borrowed because I really appreciate her help. She is a great friend and I'm glad she came with. We always have fun and this was no exception!

Amy feeling the Cowboy Spirit!

We arrived early like we always do so we have time to walk the parade lineup and see old friends, meet new ones and basically, mingle. We were also joined by our brand new Aquatennial Senior Ambassadors Dave, Don, Gwendolyn and Lynn. It was nice to finally see them and get to know them.

Senior Queen Lyn Henderson and Senior Princess Gwendolyn Jefferson

First stop, find Cambridge.

Now, I've told you about them before (and Rob just did) so you know all about them and, of course, Laurie. They were wearing black cowboy hats, black western vests and black boots. They were all very cute, as always. Every time we run into them, they're so excited to see us. And the feeling is mutual. When we went by them later in the parade all three yelled "we love you Lindsey!" which would embarrass me under normal circumstances....but after this year, what the hell. Go with it.

This is what we'd look like if you were the backseat of a convertible

We also saw our friends from the Winter Carnival. Well, most of them. We went back to where they were lined up and it was like a West Wind reunion or something. And that means LOTS of guys with guns. My ears are still ringing.

Here comes trouble....from L-R, Brooke, Erin, Natalie, Erin and Nicole
The Winter Carnival Struts its stuff!

Princess Jaclyn got to shoot one of them, thanks to former West Wind Roger who basically finds anyone he can with a crown and lets them shoot the gun and take a photo. I have a feeling it is so he ends up in every single slide show and every single coronation in the state. And it works. Good for him (Roger and wife Joni Kruse, by the way, are on the Anoka Board and they do a ton of great work for that community as well as many around the state....they are really a lot of fun and we're looking forward to Halloween!).

It was the first time I've been around a lot of the Winter Carnival crew in a while...my appearances have been to the west so much this summer and they stick to the east and north much of the time. It was great to see them again. The four Wind Princesses are all really fun and they all looked terrific decked out in the old-west style dresses!

Bryan Johnson of the Winter Carnival Guards...I think I was first

We visited with other royalty including Columbia Heights, St. Paul Park and Oak Grove. Fun to see them...again, we haven't run into them much this summer so it's always good to meet new people. We did see the Anoka Royal Ambassadors as we were heading down the parade route....didn't get a chance to talk to them though which bums me out. Like Cambridge, we get to see them a lot and they have become terrific friends of ours.

Jaclyn and I with Oak Grove and Columbia Heights

Now, the parade in New Brighton is a good one...lots of people (including my Mom's cousin Jeff who had NO idea I was doing this....I think I spooked him) and a great turnout on a beautiful night. There was one stretch of the parade though, that I thought was interesting. We went by a large group of people and I commented to Jaclyn and Amy that it looked like a tailgate party. They were having a LOT of fun.

After the parade, we stopped on the side of the street to take off our car signs and get set to head back downtown to get some food and drop Jaclyn off on campus. Before that, we wanted to say goodbye to the senior ambassadors so Jaclyn and I walked over to their car. Trouble.

They had somehow managed to drain the battery. They couldn't get the top of the convertible up and the car wouldn't even turn over. Do you know how hard it is to find jumper cables on a parade route? Didn't think so. Well, it's hard.

Senior Vice-Commodore Don Lucas with a dead battery and
Me looking under a hood...that's never a good thing

Finally, the folks from Lino Lakes came through and they had some. We pulled our convertible up to theirs and after a couple of minutes, got their car going. Another adventure along the parade route.

Success! Just another day at the office!

So, that was it....off we went, half starving, to get food and take Jaclyn home. Another day, another parade!

Talk to you after we hit Winsted on Sunday and then Cokato on Tuesday.

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Aquatennial Captain