5-28-08 Morristown Coronation

Hi all,

Another update from the coronation road! Was in Morristown, Minnesota on Wednesday night with Princess Jenna and had a great time as usual. Morristown, if you're not familiar with it, is about 75 miles south of the Twin Cities on Highway 60 (in between Faribault and Mankato). Population is right around 1000 and their celebration is called "Dam Days".

After arriving, Jenna and I mingled with the candidates who were up for title of "Miss Morristown". There were three candidates, all high school juniors. There was also a "Little Miss Morristown" contest (and by contest, I mean picking names out of a fishbowl!) and they were adorable. They sang a couple of songs and did their candidate walk on stage complete with a twirl....kind of.

Jenna and Me Walking Onstage

We gave out a couple of Aquatennial Commodores Awards to Randy Meschke and Mike O'Rourke. Both were recognized for outstanding service to the community and volunteer-ism. Both very deserving of the honor and its a terrific thing the Aquatennial does to let these people know that their efforts do not go unnoticed.

Giving Out The Commodore Awards

A "Miss Morristown" was chosen, Stephanie Meschke . First Princess was April Meschke and Second Princess was Renae Krause. Yes, there were a lot of Meschke's....small towns are not just places where you know everybody, its where you're named after everybody. I know, I'm from one of those towns. My sister ended up with one of the Orrocks from our hometown. One of the MANY Orrocks! It's not a bad thing, its just a thing. Probably speaks well of a community and family when you can point to them staying close and enjoying the company of brothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, etc.

The New Miss Morristown, Little Miss Morristown and Princesses

Now, off to another rant....completely separate from all of the festivities. I had a good amount of time to think about this during my hour and a half drive from the Twin Cities to Morristown. I took I35 to Highway 60 into town and then took Highway 13 back through New Prague and Prior Lake on the way home. The reason I'm telling you this is because its a part of the state I haven't seen much of, at least in a long time.

With all the traveling I'll be doing this summer, gas prices are a real concern. It's not fun to fill up for $70 a pop. I remember when we were in high school, we'd just decide on a Friday or Saturday just to get in the car and drive. Maybe head up to Mille Lacs, maybe up to the North Shore and camp at Temperance...one time we just decided to drive to Texas! No big deal. You could fill up for $15 and you were off. Obviously, that has changed.

Anyway, I started thinking about how I NEVER drive anywhere unless I need to be there for a reason. I miss getting in the car, taking off not really knowing why or where and just enjoying being out of the city, getting away for a bit, listening to the radio and enjoying nothing and everything at the same time. There's something kind of magical about pulling over in a town you've never been to, pulling out a map and figuring out where to go next. Turn on the radio (WCCO, cough, cough, wink, wink) and drive. I guess those days are gone. Why waste the money now?

The area around Morristown is a wonderful part of the state and one of the many areas of the state that is kind of overlooked for its natural beauty. Yes, the North Shore is great. The Brainerd Lakes area has tons of stuff to do. There's a million golf courses up north that shouldn't be missed. I'm as guilty as anyone of just going "up north", whatever that means. I've forgotten what's south and west of the Twin Cities. My bad.

In the last couple months, I've driven more through that part of Minnesota than I have in my whole life. I'm sure I'm not alone. Most people just think of that area as "farm country", right? What could possibly be out there? I've seen cows. Big deal. Wrong.

There were two of the most picturesque lakes I'd ever run across near Morristown and Waterville. The scenery even off I35 was as nice as anything you'll see north of Brainerd. The quaint little ballfields in New Prague, Gaylord, Arlington and Gibbon are, as I've said in earlier posts, unbelievable. The people are still "old fashioned" in a good way. They're helpful, always willing to chat with you and damn glad to meet ya. The smell of freshly mowed grass and freshly tilled fields is all over the place. Everything, and I mean everything is bright green.

It's kind of cool and it's too bad we don't do that anymore.

Anyway, that's it for now. Grande Ole Days Parade is next...more on that this week.

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Captain
Minneapolis Aquatennial

May 18th, 2008 West St. Paul

Greetings from Aquatennial world....a quick update on what's been happening.

This past weekend was the West St. Paul parade and coronation. Rob and Tzvet did the parade on Saturday, Jenna and I did the coronation Sunday. Sounds like all went well with the parade. Pretty nice day for it (considering the beautiful spring we've had so far....cough, cough, cough).

Outgoing Royalty with Jenna

Coronation was Sunday afternoon and Jenna and I arrived about a half hour before hand so we could spend a few minutes with the candidates. We had a chance to meet many of them at the kick-off dinner (it's in an earlier post) so this was a little different. Knowing them ahead of time gives you a little different perspective and, to be honest, you kind of know who's going to at least finish in the top three.

Jenna, as usual, nailed it picking all three. I'm still not as good at it. Kind of an interesting way to see if maybe someday we'd be good judges. I don't think I'm ready!

Your New Royal Family

Well, it's been kind of uneventful, but that's about to change. This weekend (Memorial Day weekend) is probably the last totally event free weekend I have all summer...especially if I include my WCCO Radio duties. I'll have plenty to tell you about, I'm sure.

Next up is the Morristown Coronation on the 28th followed by the Grand Old Day Parade in St. Paul June 1st. The whole Aquatennial crew will be at the Grand Old Day Parade so come down and see us!

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Aquatennial Captain

Fiesta San Antonio- April 23-27, 2008

Fiesta San Antonio is a 10 day festival that takes place every April and celebrates the heroes that died defending the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto where Texas won independence from Mexico in April of 1836. It is one of the largest festivals in the country, drawing over 2 million during the 10 days not to mention millions in economic impact and charity donations. As they say, everything is bigger in Texas!

This is our visiting dignitary group (without Queens who were off doing their thing!)

Aquatennial and Fiesta have had a long-standing relationship....the folks from San Antonio attend Aquatennial every year and we return the favor. I was fortunate to be able to represent Minneapolis this year along with our Queen of the Lakes, Charissa Pederson. We spent Wednesday through Sunday at Fiesta along with representatives from Macon, Georgia’s Cherry Blossom Festival, The Tournament of Roses in Pasadena (I believe you’ve heard of that one!) plus St. Paul Winter Carnival and a few other visiting festivals from Texas. We did a LOT during the five days so this will be a long one!

After arriving Wednesday and getting checked into the hotel, it was time to get ready to attend coronation. They have several types of coronations....there’s Miss Fiesta, the Queen of Soul, Fiesta Queen, etc. To be honest, I couldn’t really keep track. One of the things about Fiesta is it incorporates everyone in the community. They have over 100 organizations involved in some aspect and they all have their individual events. Fiesta is massive.

Anyway, the coronation we attended was the Coronation of the Order of the Alamo and it was quite the spectacle. First, the gowns are like nothing you’ve ever seen. They are elaborate and all based on a theme which is different every year. This year, they were based on the famous courts of Europe and Asia (think Peter the Great in Russia or King Ferdinand’s Court in Spain). They include a train...and not just any train, the longest, heaviest, most expensive train I’ve ever heard of. They take the entire year to design and then craft, cost tens of thousands (I was told they start at $40,000 but I’m not sure how accurate that is....they look like they cost a ton so that’s as good a number as any. We were fortunate to be able to see them laid out on tables before the coronation.

Charissa and Lindsey with our favorite "Aquatennial Style" train...yes, those are ALL jewels

In addition to the gowns, the set design, the escorts, and the girls that assist with the trains....all of it is over the top and made to resemble the excesses of Renaissance-era Europe. And it succeeds.

Here's a couple different shots...the Queen's is the longest with the fur-like lining
The girl in the front on the first photo is doing a curtsy that takes them all the way to the floor. Ouch.

Thursday, Charissa and I were split up as the visiting Queens have a separate itinerary from us on this trip which is different from other festivals. The Queen’s spend Thursday visiting schools, hospitals and nursing homes with King Antonio. King Antonio, one of the longest-standing Fiesta traditions, is a member of the royalty who reign over the merriment of Fiesta. King Antonio is selected each year from the ranks of the Texas Cavaliers, a patriotic and civic organization, and his public investiture takes place at sunset in front of the Alamo Saturday evening.

As for the rest of us, spend the day with our hosts (each visiting festival is assigned a host, usually a couple, which has been involved in the festival for a significant time and can show us the ropes. Aquatennial was assigned to Bill and Virginia Van Cleave. Bill is a lawyer in San Antonio and Virginia an American History Professor at the University of Texas-San Antonio. Bill and Virginia were a wealth of knowledge and we were fortunate to spend the week with them.

First order of business Thursday was a visit to El Mercado which is the Hispanic market in San Antonio. San Antonio is about half Hispanic and it is a culture celebrated here as much as Texas itself. El Mercado is full of shops with handmade Mexican crafts and gifts plus lots of restaurants and booths with the street foods of Mexico. And nothing beats a taco stand!

After spending some time shopping (gotta bring back gifts, right?) and learning more about their Hispanic culture, it was off the Mission San Jose, one of five Spanish colonial missions in the San Antonio area. San Antonio was a significant stop on the Spanish held area of what is now the U.S. The San Antonio river springs from just north of town and runs about 200 miles (give or take) to the Gulf of Mexico near Corpus Christie. The five Missions sprung up about 3 miles apart along the river going south of what is now downtown. One of the things the Spanish brought to the New World was irrigation and that was the idea behind their placement. The Alamo was initially one of those Missions although it became famous as a military base in later years (it initially went by the name San Antonio de Valero Mission).

We then went over to the Fiesta Commission Offices to meet up with King Antonio and the Queens. We were able to meet a handful of volunteers who were working on Fiesta. It should be said that there are approximately 75,000 volunteers who work on Fiesta each year and it’s wonderful to see so many people willing to help an organization that has charitable work at the top of the list. They do a lot of work for the community.

NIOSA (Night in Old San Antonio) was our next stop. It’s an outside festival held in La Villita National Historic District - the 18th century Spanish neighborhood set on the banks of the San Antonio River in the heart of downtown San Antonio. It is a celebration of San Antonio’s diverse ethnic culture and while there is certainly a Hispanic section, San Antonio is populated by many cultures including a huge German contingent and it made us Minnesotan’s feel right at home! It was like the Minnesota State Fair and Taste of Minnesota rolled into one. And check out a treat called Anticuchos...a marinated, kind of spicy, beef on a stick. It's maybe the tastiest thing south of the border.

Grilling Anticuchos....this is at NIOSA

and horseshoe sausage....can't beat that

At this point, we were off to dinner. One of our hosts, Evangelina Flores, is a longtime volunteer for Fiesta and is carrying on the work of her deceased husband Roger. She was a wonderful host and treated us to a terrific dinner. She owns a restaurant along the Rivewalk called “Paloma”. Above her restaurant, she has a penthouse that has a beautiful deck and a view of the Riverwalk. She brought in some dinner (mmmm....oysters) and invited many of the Fiesta volunteers and it was a great way to spend an evening.

What a view...from Evangelina's penthouse deck in the heart of downtown San Antonio

After what was becoming a marathon day, most would be ready to turn in but not this group! It was off to Fiesta Gartenfest, a German style beer garden with a huge band playing polka music and why not top off the day with beer and brats. Yeah, we ate a lot. It’s Fiesta, you’re supposed to!

Looks like Oktoberfest in any town in Minnesota...not Fiesta in San Antonio!

Friday was our trip to see the Alamo. The Alamo was and is a sign of Texan independence....after serving as a Spanish mission, it became a military base during the Texas Revolution and where Texans and Tejanos fought and died together before falling to Santa Anna’s Mexican forces in March of 1836. The battle cry “Remember the Alamo” rang throughout Texas before they defeated Santa Anna at the battle of San Jacinto in April of 1836 and Texas won its independence.

The Alamo went through the next several decades it served as a military warehouse, a store and who knows what else before becoming the Texas Shrine that it is today. It is a place of reverence and great history and is worth a trip. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas now maintain the Alamo and are a great resource in their own right.

This is the long barracks of the Alamo...this is where the Tennessee Volunteers fought and Davey Crockett fell

As an aside, the Daughters are a sororal group of women who are dedicated to perpetuating the memory of Texas and to be a member, you have to prove your lineage traces back to Texas prior to U.S. annexation in 1846! That includes Stephen Austin’s original 300 settlers, to Spanish, Mexican or Texan military groups of that time or through land grants authorized by the Republic of Texas. You get the feeling sometimes that Texas is still its own country!

After our Alamo visit, we sat down in bleachers along the street in front of the mission for the “Battle of Flowers” parade. The Battle of Flowers Parade is the oldest event of Fiesta San Antonio attracting crowds of more than 350,000. It is the only parade in the United States produced entirely by women, all of whom are volunteers. These ladies, dressed on Parade day in yellow and wearing yellow hats, direct operations with the assistance of the Texas Army National Guard. When a float goes by the Alamo, a flower wreath is removed from the float and carried to the front of the Alamo as a tribute to its fallen heroes.

The Flowers laid out in front of the Alamo

Our Friday ended with the “Queen’s Garden Party”. This celebrates the girls who were involved in the Coronation of the Order of the Alamo and again, those amazing trains from their gowns were on full display!

Our final day of festivities began with the King William Festival and Parade which is held in one of the older neighborhoods in the city. It’s a bit of an “off the wall” type of parade...it’s much more neighborhood focused as opposed to the pomp of the Battle of the Flowers and Fiesta Lambeau (which you’ll hear about and see in a minute). The best part about the King William Parade was the dogs and I’m a sucker for a pooch!

After the King William Festival, it was off to a San Antonio favorite, lunch on the river! Many of the restaurants along the Riverwalk offer lunch or dinner on a small barge type of craft that takes you through the horseshoe shaped San Antonio River and the man-made canal that runs through downtown. We loaded up two barges and had a terrific Italian lunch courtesy of Luciano’s. The scenery along the Riverwalk was unbelievable. Definitely a highlight of the trip.

The visiting Queen's by the Riverwalk...L to R: Emily Alston of the Macon Cherry Blossom Festival, Ashley Moreno, the 2005 Rose Queen and Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes Charissa Pederson

After lunch, a couple of us went to the Menger Hotel, which was built in 1859 and went into the bar. This is the bar where soon-to-be President Theodore Roosevelt recruited the famous "Rough Riders" who went on to fame in Cuba at the battle of San Juan Hill.

The Bar at the Menger...you see the photo of President Roosevelt in the middle

Saturday night was the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. The Flambeau is a nighttime parade where everything in the parade must be lit....every float, every horse and every band member. If you’re on the street, you are lighted. It was a massive crowd. I heard they draw over (sometimes well over) 600,000 people on a 2.6 mile parade route. It was huge.

We had probably the best seats in the house as we were stationed right in front of the Alamo and as the parade went by, the Alamo stood like a beacon behind it, lit up and almost glowing. It was an amazing sight.

The University of Texas Band

Following the parade, we went back to the hotel and the host committee and visiting festivals gathered in one of the rooms for a gift exchange. This leads me to a story I have to share because its one of the most memorable nights I’ve had in a while.

Traditionally, when we do this sort of thing (by thing I mean visiting festivals such as Winter Carnival, Festival Du Voyaguer, Cherry Blossom Festival, Fiesta, etc), we do a gift exchange at some point. Aquatennial gives a gift to Fiesta; Fiesta gives a gift to Aquatennial. We also usually give gifts to our specific hosts as thanks for showing us around and putting up with us!

Aquatennial’s hosts, Bill and Virginia Van Cleave (who I mentioned earlier) are both very knowledgeable about local history. Virginia is an American History teacher after all! She also is one of the “Daughters of the Republic of Texas” and was an Alamo tour guide at one point. I also mentioned earlier the Battle of San Jacinto and Texas winning its independence from Mexico in 1836. Well, it was April 21^st, 1836 to be exact. My birthday is April 25^th and someone (no, not me!) had spilled the beans to our hosts that I was celebrating my birthday at Fiesta. Fine...I’m not the Birthday kind of guy but it’s the first time I’ve had Happy Birthday sung to me in Spanish!

Anyway, after we exchanged gifts, Virginia says she has something special for my birthday. She tells the group about my interest in history (which I’m sure you can tell by reading this) and how I was already reading a book about the Alamo and quizzing her all week about things. Basically, just being interested.

Back to April 21^st...they raise a Texas state flag over the Capitol in Austin and over the Alamo every April 21^st commemorating the Battle of San Jacinto and winning Independence. Virginia gave me the flag that was raised over the Alamo along with a certificate from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas stating “This Flag was Proudly Raised over the Alamo, April 21^st, 2008”.

Here you see the Flag in the Upper Left...that's what she gave me.

I was speechless. Still kind of speechless. They gave a proud (and I do mean proud) Texas memento to me, a Yankee from Minnesota who had been there for 4 days? Really? Possibly the most meaningful gift I’ve ever received. Certainly the most unique and irreplaceable. It was folded military style (the triangle looking shape you see at military funerals) and I’m now looking into a way to get that framed with the certificate (unfolded it’s wall size in case you’re wondering). Of course someone said “How long till we see that on Ebay?” Not a chance!

That was it....in case that wasn’t enough, we were only there for about half of the Fiesta. If you want to go for ten day, pack an extra liver. It’s worth it though!

A couple of thanks....first, to Bill and Virginia, the best hosts a person could hope for. Evangelina Flores, David Reta and their families for welcoming all of us into their home. And the other hosts that I didn’t mention earlier....Danny, Janice, Les and everyone else (I’m so sorry if I’m forgetting people....the names are escaping me we met so many wonderful people). We need to thank to the Fiesta President, John Steen and their Executive Director Chuck Blische who did a terrific job pulling all of this together. And finally to the 75,000 plus volunteers who give up their time to make Fiesta the community-wide success it is. A huge job and they do it magnificently.

We’ve been back a few days and already I’ve had several former Aquatennial Ambassadors ask me about Fiesta and tell me it was their favorite trip. I can see why!

(FYI...TONS of pictures on my Facebook profile if you're interested)

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Aquatennial Captain

4/22/08 West St. Paul and Preparing For San Antonio

Just a quick check in here.....

Spent Sunday night at the "West St. Paul Kickoff Dinner" with Commodore Mary, Captain Rob, Queen Charissa and Princesses Jenna and Tzvet. Got to know the candidates for West St. Paul and meet several people from that community. More coming from there as Rob and Tzvet are in their parade on May 17th and Jenna and I will be at coronation on the 18th!

Leaving in the morning for "Fiesta" in San Antonio, Texas with Charissa! This is supposed to be a blast so I'll be updating you on that hopefully a couple of times while I'm down there...IF I get time! Looks like they have us pretty busy with a couple of parades, the coronation, tours of the Alamo and much more.

That's it for now....Viva Fiesta and check back later this week.

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Aquatennial Captain

4-10-08 Coronation Season Getting Underway

Hello all,

It's been a while, I know. We've come through our down period and Aquatennial duties are again picking up and here's an update!

This past Saturday, we were in Sleepy Eye, MN for a coronation and last Thursday night we attended the Miss Winthrop Coronation which is part of what they call "Grackle Days". Now, if you're wondering what "Grackle" means, you're not alone. A Grackle is bird, dark in color with a long tail (find out more here). I guess it's a bird worth celebrating!

Winthrop is a small town in Sibley County, a little over an hour (as the Grackle flies!) from the Twin Cities. It has a population of about 1,300 and is primarily agricultural. The GFW High School (Gibbon, Fairfax, Winthrop) high school is located there and that was our destination for coronation. (The rhyme is unintended....let's just move on).

I'm somewhat familiar with the area....in fact, two of the people I work with at WCCO are from that area. Roger Erickson, he of the legendary Boone and Erickson radio show, is actually from Winthrop. Someone told me Saturday night that it's actually Roger that is responsible for the creation of Grackle Days. I have no idea if that's true or not (and I couldn't find anything online) so don't quote me. It's a good story, so let's just go with it for now.

Mike Max, from WCCO is also from the area (Gaylord, right up the road) and Mike is a champion of Town Ball, a legion-like baseball league that is EXTREMELY popular in that region of Minnesota and has produced some great baseball players including Terry Steinbach who played for the A's and the Twins and Dana Keicker who pitched briefly for the Boston Red Sox. (Check out an article by Jim Caple of ESPN that includes Minnesota Town Ball in his "101 Things a Sports Fan Must Experience Before They Die" and another article he wrote on a road trip... Great stuff!)

OK, back to the coronations. On Thursday, my fellow Captain, Rob Mauzy, and I left the Twin Cities and headed down to Winthrop where we met up with one of our Princesses, Jenna Forstner. Jenna is from Gibbon so this is kind of her hometown (she went to school at GFW). Typically, there would only be one Captain but Rob and I are still in learning mode and we decided to both go just so we could get our feet wet and get into the practice of handling ourselves at coronations. The Aquatennial has a certain protocol associated with it....part of what makes it special is the military-like protocol that we follow. We have our roles and we need to do them well. It takes a little practice!

L-R, Rob, Jenna and Lindsey

Coronations in these towns is really a celebration of the people who live there....they turn out to support the young women of the community and give something back to them. Besides the usual scholarship monies or whatever other gifts may be involved, it seems to me that it's an experience that helps them grow. Just in this short time, I've met several former Aquatennial Ambassadors and various other royalty from other festivals and there's no doubt that they have a step ahead of their peers in maturity and just the way then handle themselves. Certainly something to be said for that when you're off to college in the fall!

Alyssa Neid was crowned Miss Winthrop on this night, replacing outgoing Queen Clarissa Schwartz. Rob, Jenna and I went onstage to say a few words, thank them for having us and give our congratulations. We'll be seeing Clarissa at Aquatennial this year, the first time Winthrop has ever sent a candidate to Aquatennial! Alyssa will be running for Midwest Queen and hopefully for Queen of the Lakes next year.

Lindsey, Jenna, Miss Winthrop Alyssa Neid and Rob

Now, Sleepy Eye is a different story when it comes to Aquatennial. They have long and successful track record when it comes to Aquatennial royalty. In addition to sending candidates most years, they win! They also can boast the only sisters to ever be Aquatennial Princesses, Laura (1999) and Amanda (2005) Spaeth. Laura and Amanda helped organize this year's coronation (and Laura MC'd it as well) along with Sandy Brinkman who was Aquatennial Queen in 1987. Shannon Zeig was another Aqua Princess from Sleepy Eye in 1996. I'd say they've done OK in Sleepy Eye!

Lindsey, Former Queen Sandy Brinkman, Jenna, Former Princess Laura Spaeth Fischer and Former Princess Amanda Spaeth Murphy

Sleepy Eye is in the same general area as Winthrop....it is in Brown County, slightly southwest of Winthrop and about two hours from the Twin Cities. It is also a bit larger than Winthrop (about 3,500 people). You may recognize Sleepy Eye from the "Little House on the Prairie" television series (and books). Sleepy Eye was referred to as the all-important trading post for the citizens of Walnut Grove, the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

This time, it was just Jenna and myself heading to Sleepy Eye. After arriving, we had dinner and met the outgoing Queen Alisa Marti and our hosts. Again, we said a few words to the audience and of course recognized the former Aquatennial Ambassadors that had come out of Sleepy Eye before giving way to the crowning of a new Queen.

There were about 16 girls, all seniors in high school, trying out for Miss Sleepy Eye and it was a very difficult decision. In the end, Amanda Schmitz came out on top and now carries the honor of being Miss Sleepy Eye for the next year. After that, if she chooses to, she'll be a candidate for Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes in 2009. We will see outgoing Queen Alisa Mari this summer.

I mentioned this in Sleepy Eye during my little speech and I'm finding it more true as we go along....what we find in these communities is a great group of people and the real heart and soul of our state and country. They're always welcoming and just glad we come to an event they work hard to organize and are proud to be a part of. Look for them in your communities and show them your support!

Next up, West St. Paul (no long driving...woo hoo!!!!! Have you seen what gas costs?) kicks off on April 20th. I'll be checking in after that.

Lindsey Peterson
2008 Captain, Minneapolis Aquatennial

2-18-08 Festival Du Voyageur, Winnipeg, Manitoba

We're finally back from Winnipeg....and I MEAN finally. If you've ever driven through southern Manitoba or northern North Dakota when it's snowy and windy, you know what I mean!

This past weekend, the Aquatennial was fortunate to be guests of the Festival Du Voyageur in Winnipeg. It's a primarily a French festival that celebrates historical and cultural experiences which reflect the Voyageur era. There is a neighborhood in Winnipeg called St. Boniface that is the largest French community west of Quebec. I had no idea. The French culture runs very deep it would seem in Winnipeg and this 10 day festival is a celebration of that.

Snow Sculptures like this are all over Winnipeg during festival...they're quite amazing and detailed.

We left Thursday afternoon....by we, I mean Commodore Mary Niemeyer, Queen Charissa Pederson, Princesses Jenna Forstner and Tzvetelina Pramatarov, Captain Rob Mauzy and myself. Our Senior Queen, Ann Hair and husband Doug arrived on Friday morning. We also were joined by John Brandt, a former Commodore, now a board member, Mary's husband Mike and son Matt and by Charissa's parents, sister and brother.

The Princesses and Queen with their finest Ribnick Furs....and they needed them!

We arrived late on Thursday (actually Friday...it was almost 2am!) after getting slowed down at the border. It's official....getting into Canada is now like traveling to any other country. Be prepared to be questioned!

After a quick nights sleep, it was off to the festivities. Our first major event was Friday night. After a dinner with all the other attending festivals (Winter Carnival, Oktoberfest, Applefest, etc....too many to name them all....sorry!), we were ready for our walk up la Rivière-Rouge....or the Red River...for the Torchlight Walk.

Walking up the Rivière-Rouge

We assembled on the frozen river and we lit candles and proceeded to walk up the river, through the old church and up to the stage in St. Boniface where the opening ceremonies were taking place. Yes, it's as cold as you think it is. I think I was wearing every piece of clothing I packed. I'm not sure what the temp was but -20 seems like a good number. Plus the wind.

More walking on the Red River....that's Queen of the Lakes Charissa Pederson in the middle

It was very cool though. We symbolized the fur traders bringing their canoes full of goods into what was then Fort Gibraltar. We then enter the church which is exactly what the voyageurs would have done hundreds of years ago. The candles kept blowing out but you get the drift.

Some of the torchlight group trying to stay warm and keep those candles lit!

In some ways, it's interesting to think of how we, representing Minneapolis, traveled on much the same route those voyageurs would have. Following the rivers of Minnesota up through the north woods into Canada and eventually landing in Winnipeg (or Grand Portage and the other fur trading posts of the 17th and 18th centuries). It connects us to Winnipeg and is part of what makes it our sister city....well, that and it's really cold.

We then headed over to a cultural center for a little Irish/Celtic music (I have no idea....just go with it!) and dancing. No, I can't dance at all. I try not to make a complete fool of myself. That's the best I can do. If I see any photos, I'm burning them. It's for the good of humanity.

Saturday started with a trip to the Fort....well, for some of us. Let's just say the hospitality room and a special French-Canadian drink called Caribou got the best of a few people. I managed. Mostly. By the way, if you're wondering what, exactly, Caribou is, I don't think anyone can tell you. It seems that everyone up there has their own recipe. Generally speaking, it includes port wine, brandy, maple syrup, various spices and possibly (probably certainly) more liquor. It's made to warm you up, and it accomplishes that and more. And yes, it tastes better than it sounds. Trust me.

Anyway, back to the fort....we saw a few different buildings where there was blacksmithing, craft making, etc. The kind of stuff you expect to see at an old frontier fort. They also had a guitar that has come to represent Canada that we had our photo taken with (I don't have the photo yet....to be included later). It's a very special piece of Canadian patriotism and you can check that out here. It's very cool.

We also sampled some voyageur candy....it's hot maple syrup that's poured over snow, allowed to cool until it starts to harden, then rolled up over a Popsicle stick. Check it out....

And it's really good!

Saturday night we attended the Bal du Gouverneur or Governor's Ball if you feel like English. It's a very formal affair...check out the uniformed guards and cross swords. They announce you to the crowd as you enter the ball.



We all got in our formal best and enjoyed some wonderful entertainment from local Native Americans and the French community before, again, dancing the night away and trying not to embarrass myself too much. Here's a few photos:

The girls...Senior Queen Ann Hair, the "official Voyageur Family (Mom and three daughters...not sure where Dad was), Commodore Mary, Princess Tzvetelina, our host Melanie, Queen Charissa, Princess Jenna. What a group!

The Voyageur Family (at least the three girls) with Rob and I. You see the red sashes around our waists....those are symbolic of what the voyageurs would have worn.

A group of voyageur's bringing in a canoe as part of the ceremony

On Sunday we said goodbye to all of our new friends and headed out to the snowy hinterlands for the drive home. We had a wonderful time and I see now why people head back there year after year.

A couple of people I have to mention....the hosts for the weekend provided by the Festival were superb. Aquatennial's host, Joanna was terrific and her daughter Melanie helped as well.

Joanna and Melanie....

We had a ball with those two along with everyone else (Suzanne, George, Jacques, Paulette, Mario, Daniel, Coco, etc....I know I'm missing people and if you read this and don't see your name, it's because I'm a horrible person and I can't remember everyone!).

We love you Winnipeg.....see all of you in July at Aquatennial!

Lindsey Peterson
Captain, 2008 Minneapolis Aquatennial

1-26-08 Winter Carnival Grand Day Parade

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

Tzvetelina, Charissa and Jenna at the Vulcan Coming Out Party

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

The Vulcan's on their signature firetruck

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Tzvetelina, Jenna and Charissa

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