History-making Queen of the Snows: 'I love St. Paul, this is my home'

This year, 10 candidates vied for the position of Queen of the Snows and the princesses of the North, South, East and West Winds. Together, these four women — along with King Boreas Rex, the princes and the rest of the royal entourage — will serve as goodwill ambassadors for the city of St. Paul and the winter festival.

Igbo-Ogbonna impressed the judges early on in the process, which begins in November.

“She exemplifies all the qualities that we look for in the Queen of the Snows,” said Colleen Duffy, lead judge of the selection committee. “She’s accomplished, gracious, intelligent, articulate and poised; her commitment to volunteerism.”

Noting that race was never brought up among the judges, Duffy also acknowledged: “It is a historic year. This is the first time the St. Paul Winter Carnival has crowned an African-American Queen of the Snows.”

It’s not the first time a person of color has served, though: Through the years, there have been African-Americans represented in the royal family, including Megan Reed Quiggle, who was crowned West Wind Princess in 1994. Quiggle remains active in the carnival, supporting the royal candidates through both the Ambassadors of the St. Paul Winter Carnival and the Past Princesses Association. In 1995, Kim Jung Ja, then 23 and an aide to the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, was crowned Queen of the Snows. Kim Jung Ja was born in South Korea and adopted as an infant by Americans. Also, in 2006, Igbo-Ogbonna’s younger sister, Courtney Igbo-Ogbonna, now 21 and a senior at Minnesota State University, Mankato, was a seventh-grade princess in the Winter Carnival’s Junior Royalty. This year’s carnival prime minister, Carolyn Blakey, is African-American.

Through the years, the general demographic of Queen of the Snows candidates has shifted, too. Although the first queen, crowned in 1886, was a married woman, in more recent times, the title was limited to young, unmarried women. In 1991, though, the carnival tossed out its no-marriage policy for Queen of the Snows. In 1992, it went further, stating that no woman would be denied the crown because of age, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, race, religion or physical disability.

In 1996, Maureen Damman, then a 37-year-old wife and mother of two from Arden Hills, made Winter Carnival history by becoming the first married Queen of the Snows since the carnival’s inception. Since then, even grandmothers have worn the (princess) crown. Although ingenues still run, there also are a growing number of post- college, professional women in careers ranging from marketing to medicine to law.

MEET THE QUEEN

Igbo-Ogbonna, whose candidacy is sponsored by Dar’s Double Scoop, was born at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis in 1988, just eight years after her parents arrived in this country to pursue the American dream.

“I grew up in the (former) Rondo neighborhood and I still live there now,” Igbo-Ogbonna said. “I love St. Paul, this is my home. When my mom immigrated to the United States from Nigeria, this is where she settled. She came here to go to the U of M to study nursing and she still lives and works here. This is a great place to work, with all the different organizations, nonprofits and corporations. There are just a lot of opportunities here.”

Igbo-Ogbonna, the daughter of Gladys Igbo and the late George Ogbonna, attended EXPO Elementary School and Ramsey Junior High (now Ramsey Middle School) before graduating from Central High School in 2007.

She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in communication studies and theater arts at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. While at the U, Igbo-Ogbonna was a Multicultural Excellence Scholar and a member of the dean’s list, and was the student keynote speaker at the 2011 Multicultural Graduation Ceremony. After graduating, she spent two years serving as an AmeriCorps volunteer with College Possible.

Igbo-Ogbonna is pursuing her master’s degree in educational leadership with a focus on student affairs in higher education at the University of St. Thomas. She works at Century College as a TRIO Upward Bound program adviser, where she helps traditionally underrepresented high school students in the St. Paul district gain access to higher education. She volunteers with the Minnesota TRIO Association, Young Artists Initiative and the Rondo Days and Rice Street festivals. She loves the theater, kickboxing and reading.

Unlike her younger sister, who was a 2006 junior princess with the carnival as well as the 2014 National American Miss Minnesota, Igbo-Ogbonna’s pageant path began with the Rice Street Festival.

“At that time, I was living on Blair Avenue, so that was my area,” she said. “I had gone to the parade the year before and saw that they had royalty. I thought, ‘Oh, OK, I’d like to try for that sometime.”

She was crowned one of the princesses of the 2010 Rice Street Festival.

“I really enjoyed my Rice Street experience,” Igbo-Ogbonna said.

During her reign, she also got to see the Winter Carnival royal family in action during the carnival, as well as at local events and parades throughout the year.

“I went into Rice Street having no concept of Winter Carnival royalty, not really knowing there was more to the Winter Carnival than the ice sculptures, those things you see publicly,” Igbo-Ogbonna said. “And that year really opened my eyes to all the opportunities.”

Really, her preparation for this role began in preschool.

“I had both my daughters start studying classical ballet with Ballet Minnesota when they were just three,” Gladys Igbo said. “I coupled that with music — they studied keyboard at Schmitt Music in Roseville. So that’s where the grace comes from.”

Igbo was not surprised by her daughter’s most recent preparation.

“She bought a book about the Winter Carnival,” Igbo said. “She said, ‘Mom, if I’m going to do this, I need to know about the legend so I can answer questions about it.’ People attending the Winter Carnival events (for the candidates) told me she was often the one answering those kinds of questions. Now, she’ll have to answer mine: I am African, I don’t know anything about this. She was born here, I came as an immigrant. She knows it all. She is ready. This is a strong woman.”

Copyright 2015 Pioneer Press.