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