To begin with, let me say that Anoka is a special place to me personally. That is where my parents and grandparents lived when I was born. That is where my Dad and Grandfather's Auction business was for many years, up until I was about 13 years old. That is where I went to school (St. Stephens...yes, I WAS a good Catholic boy. Was.) up until 4th grade (we moved to Elk River after that).
OK...I'll embarrass myself. My first day of school at
St. Stephens back in my Anoka Days. The cute one
is my sister. Gotta LOVE Catholic school uniforms and 1982 era belts!
St. Stephens back in my Anoka Days. The cute one
is my sister. Gotta LOVE Catholic school uniforms and 1982 era belts!
So, I have a bit of history in the Halloween Capitol of the World.Plus, we see their Ambassadors and Coordinators a ton throughout the year with our Aquatennial group. We get to know them well and they have had a large amount of success in producing Aquatennial Royalty (the much mentioned in this blog Tzvetelina Pramatarov to name one...and a very special one at that).
So, this past Friday, we were very excited to be attending their Orange Tie Ball! By we, I mean Queen of the Lakes Tara Litwinchuck, Princess Jaclyn Auger, Captain Rob and me. Our other two (Commodore Mary and Princess Emily) unfortunately couldn't make it. But, the four of us were glad to take the ball and run with it!
Rob, Anne and Me
We also were joined by former Aquatennial Captain, now a big-shot Vice-President, Skip Nelson (who is judging in Anoka this year....good luck) and 2001 Princess, now also a big-shot Vice-President, Anne Sumangil. They are the backbone of Aquatennial and I don't even hesitate in saying that. What they do behind the scenes cannot be underestimated. A HUGE thank you to them for all they do and the support they've given us all year long. It is inspiring to see them at work and I can't wait to be a part of what they do every year. Volunteerism at it's absolute finest.Anne and Skip looking their best!
Well, how could they look better?
Well, how could they look better?
I want to also mention that several members of our Senior Ambassador Group were there also. They are so good about attending all of these events and helping to support so many communities.OK....enough about us. Kind of. Back to Anoka.
Anoka is a gigantic program. Outside of Aquatennial, they have the biggest program in the state. I believe they have 40 young women running this year. 40! That's just incredible and a tribute to what they do. Number one, they have a blast with each other from what I've seen. Number two, they do a great job of showing everyone what a rewarding experience that being an Ambassador can be. Number three, who doesn't want to dress up and ride in parades all the time?
Now, on Friday, Captain Rob and I met up with Queen Tara and Princess Jaclyn and we went to Rob's to get changed and head up to Anoka. We happened to have some time to kill, so we decided to break out Rockband. Because what would this year be for our wonderful girls if they didn't get to see the absolute dork video-gamers that Rob and I are? Right? OK...don't answer that.
(By the way, if you don't know what Rockband is, it's a video game that had drums, a guitar, a bass guitar and microphone. And you follow along with the notes on the screen and you have yourselves a rock and roll band. Kind of. A Cyber-rock and roll band I guess.)
Anyway, it's Rob's game. He should be good at it, right? Well, Rob has the rhythm of a sleep-deprived crack addict (he's going to kill me when he reads this....speak well of me when I'm dead). Makes it tough to play drums. But, he tries. And really, he's not bad on guitar. We won't let him sing anymore. Starting to get too many cats coming to the door.
The World's Most Dangerous Rock Band
Tara sat down at the drums and immediately showed Rob how it is done. Banging out song after song like a true Queen of the drum-set. And Jaclyn stood there in her little black dress looking like a way-hipper version of the bassist for the Bangles (to make an obscure 80's reference). Nice job ladies!Yes, We Are Dorks
So, we wrapped up the gaming portion of the evening and it was off to Anoka.We arrived at Greenhaven Golf Course where I've managed to deposit many Titleists into the lake and went inside to mingle with so many of our friends and colleagues. The first thing we noticed was the parade of sashes on the Anoka Candidates. They just kept coming. Again, 40 of them. Wow. They all were really nice too. You could tell they were excited to be there which makes these really fun to be at.
Princess Jaclyn, talking to some of the Anoka
Candidates. Only 36 more to go!
Candidates. Only 36 more to go!
We had a chance to talk and mingle for a bit before we headed inside for dinner. We were joined, as I said earlier, by a few of our former Aquatennial Senior Ambassadors. We also enjoyed the company of our friends from the Winter Carnival (yes....we're still friends despite the Prime Minister's CONSTANT provoking of us. He actually said that St. Paul is all over the Bible but he couldn't find Minneapolis in there anywhere. What does that even mean?) and the Cambridge Ambassadors, Renita, Hanna and Nicole (and their wonderful coordinator Laurie!). We are always thrilled when we see them. We've had a great year in no small part due to the friendships we've struck up with them.Winter Carnival Doing Their Thing
Then there are the outgoing Anoka Ambassadors. Taryn, Alyssa and Janelle. All three beautiful young women who did a spectacular job representing Anoka throughout the year. Can't wait to see them next weekend AND see which one is coming to Aquatennial next July. Whoever it is, I know they will do a great job!Anoka (in the black) and Cambridge (in the red)
with their favorite Captains!
with their favorite Captains!
After dinner, Anoka Mayor Bjorn Skogquist (who by the way was the youngest EVER elected Mayor in the state of Minnesota in 2000 when he was 22 years old!) said a few words and then introduced the Aquatennial. We went up, did a few introductions and then I said a few words.I wanted to mention the Halloween tradition of Anoka. Legend has it, Anoka was the first community to put on a celebration that was intended to divert young people from Halloween pranks in 1920. Hence the parade, trick-or-treating, etc. I mentioned that in my young years in Anoka, it didn't really work. So, a public apology from me to anyone that lived near me in the early and mid 1980's. (OK....I wasn't THAT bad. But I thought it was funny anyway! It's not? Oh well.)
Me....trying to be funny while Tara, Jaclyn and Rob
wonder what I'm talking about
wonder what I'm talking about
After us, Winter Carnival came up to make fun of everything we said. They think we kiss up. Well, we do! And it works. So, yes, this is me sticking my tongue out at you! Luckily, I have this blog to do that in and if you had someone that could read or write, you could do the same! OK, OK...before you get offended or bent out of shape, I'm totally kidding! We have a great give and take relationship with them and besides, they said it first! We love the Carnival group and are thrilled to call them our friends!See! We LOVE Boreas!
Plus we even talk to them! That's (L-R) Me,Boreas, Rob and Brooke, the Queen of the Snows
After that, it was dancing time. Well, for some people. We've already talked about Rob's rythm and I'm not much better. So, we'll leave that to the professionals.So, we had a great time. Thanks for the hospitality Anoka (and all the volunteers who put it on....Roger and Joni Kruse leading the way. They do a great job!).
Tara, doing her thing...she talked about what
a great relationship Aqua has with Anoka which
is right on the money!
a great relationship Aqua has with Anoka which
is right on the money!
As I mentioned, next up is the parade next Saturday (the 25th) followed by the Anoka Coronation that night. We'll all be there for that and why not get dressed up and come to the parade? It's the Halloween Capitol of the World! If you can't do it there, where can you? Plus, then Rob and I will look normal for once in our Captain's Hats!There's nothing sadder than a "hatless" Captain.
Especially his hair!
Especially his hair!
Lindsey Peterson2008 Captain
Minneapolis Aquatennial
No comments:
Post a Comment