Minnesotans like to think of themselves as hardy people. We boast about ice palaces and suck it up when we can’t feel our toes.
Yet a forecast calling for below-zero temperatures this weekend rattled the St. Paul Winter Carnival, which prides itself as the “coolest celebration on Earth.”
Before noon Friday, carnival organizers canceled tonight’s Torchlight Parade, announcing instead a stationary event at Rice Park in which spectators would brave the cold to walk past festival royalty huddled in idling buses.
That idea didn’t fly. Mayor Chris Coleman threw his weight around and soon the parade was back on, though in a shortened version. On tap now is a three-block sojourn that at a regular walking pace takes about three minutes to complete.
One guy upset about the fuss was the festival’s newly crowned King Boreas, a carnival veteran who knows a thing or two about cold weather.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed, but I come from a different age,” said Don Schoeller, 67, of Hugo, before learning the parade had been saved. “When I was on the Royal Guard, it was 27 below for the Grande Day Parade, and we had a great parade. It’s a different time. People don’t tough it out like they used to.”
In today’s age of wind-chill readings and government-issued cold weather warnings, Coleman took care to urge parade-goers to bundle up. With a straight face, the mayor suggested that anyone coming downtown wear a hat or scarf and reminded us that mittens are warmer than gloves.
“Have we forgotten what it’s like to be cold and to be protected?” said carnival historian Bob Olsen. “If you go back to the original carnival of 1886, one of the things they purported was the ‘health-giving effects’ of cold weather, especially on young women who spent too much time in the home. This was an appropriate way to get people out in the cold and revel in the ozone-laden air of St. Paul because it was such an invigorating thing.”
We’ve buckled before, however. In 1977, organizers moved the entire Grande Day Parade indoors because of the arctic chill. Moira F. Harris, who wrote the definitive history on the 121-year-old festival, “Fire Ice,” said she couldn’t recall a time in which a carnival parade had been canceled.
“There have certainly been times where it rained or was bitterly cold, but people just went,” Harris said.
The initial response to this weekend cold snap was caution. Carnival officials decided to stage a stationary “parade” in which carnival royalty, Vulcans and other groups would sit aboard buses idling on the streets surrounding Rice Park. In that scenario, the public would do the walking while the actual parade participants remained still.
“To do a parade that’s not a parade seems odd to me,” said Ernie Schroeder, a former North Wind prince who was ready to break out the snow pants and hand-warmers for the Saturday procession. “Do they still call it a parade if people are just standing there and pointing at you?”
But by midday, Coleman’s staff, police and city parks and recreation officials met with carnival chief Kate Kelly to come up with a plan to put on a real parade. With the city’s “encouragement,” the group decided on a three-block long procession beginning at Fifth and Wabasha streets and concluding at Rice Park, said carnival spokeswoman Mary Huss.
“The mayor wants it to go on and be a mobile parade,” Huss said Friday afternoon.
Did Coleman order up a parade? Mayoral spokesman Bob Hume wouldn’t say. Either way, the mayor’s preference was clear.
“It’s very important to the mayor that we reflect the decades-long tradition of the Winter Carnival,” Hume said.
The parade will be followed by the Vulcan dethroning of Boreas Rex at 7 p.m. on the front steps of Landmark Center. Central Library, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and Landmark Center will serve as warming houses.
Fireworks over Raspberry Island will begin at 7:45 p.m. Carnival organizers encourage the public to cross the river after the parade for more activities at Harriet Island.
The arctic blast pummeling Minnesota is nothing to sneeze at. The National Weather Service warned of a wind chill capable producing “frostbite in a matter of minutes.” Experts advise wearing several layers of loose-fitting clothing along with a hat and gloves.
Many carnival regulars had questioned the idea of going ahead with a traditional one-hour procession. Organizers also canceled the softball-on-ice tournament and Winter Soul Celebration by Rondo Avenue Inc.
“We’ve gotten e-mails saying, ‘You’ve got be crazy to do this. Why would you put people at risk?’ ” Huss said, adding that fewer than 60 of the 102 registered units were expected to participate in the truncated parade.
On the other hand, some tried-and-true Minnesotans told officials that the parade must go on despite projected wind chill reports of 21 to 28 degrees below zero. The marching clubs provided the heart and soul for the earliest carnivals, with the toboggan clubs, local businesses and even canine corps marching down the streets in a display of civic pride.
“It’d be one thing if it was Oktoberfest and all of the sudden it was zero out,” Schroeder, the former North Wind prince. “But with Winter Carnival, isn’t that kind of the point? We’re tough. We embrace winter. Seems to me that’s the way it goes.”
Jason Hoppin contributed to this report. Laura Yuen can be reached at lyuen@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5498.
Copyright 2007 Pioneer Press.