The fourth time was the charm for the new Queen of the Snows.
Gretchen Spier, a 33-year-old social worker from South St. Paul, was crowned Thursday night, capping a quest for the title that has spanned four attempts over 14 years — she first ran in 1996.
“I’m a little persistent,” Spier said. “I don’t give up on dreams.”
The timing, actually, was perfect.
“Maybe I’ll be known as ‘The Girl Who Ran Four Times,’ and that’s too bad, because when I reflect on this 14-year journey, this year really represents so much of who I am, more than ever before,” said Spier, who is sponsored by the Minnesota Music Cafe.
Perhaps Spier was more “real” this year than any other because of some painful perspective: Her brother, Michael Meents, 40, a North Wind guard, is fighting a relapse of leukemia, a cancer he’s been dealing with for more than six years. After seeing his sister crowned, Meents and his wife left immediately for Chicago to consult with doctors about additional treatment. Spier’s husband, Joseph Spier, drove the couple there.
“The Winter Carnival has been a tradition in my family since 1951, when our grandfather, Walter Blomquist, was Prince of the East Wind,” Spier said. “And so we have been going to Winter Carnival ever since we were little. It’s been on my brother’s ‘bucket list’ to be a part of it.”
It’s not the only family connection the new queen has to the carnival: She is the third Spier to serve as Aurora, Queen of the Snows.
“My husband is the big brother to Juliette, who was queen in 2000, and Jessica, who was queen in 2006,” Spier said.
The trio of queens from one family “is a first, from what I’ve been told,” the new queen said.
Her sisters-in-law have already given Spier some advice.
“They told me to savor every moment and to touch every life I can while promoting one of the oldest winter festivals in the world,” Spier said.
She also has learned quite a bit from herself.
“Some girls come through, looking to answer the questions the way the judges want them to answer, to wear the clothes the judges want them to wear, and I’ve done that in the past, I’ve been that girl,” she said. “But I’ve learned that when running for Winter Carnival, it’s really about allowing yourself to be vulnerable, to let the judges see what’s truly in your heart, and I’ve never done that until this year. And I think all my life experiences, and all my family has been through, has helped me prepare for this role.”
Her example is one she hopes will inspire others.
“There are a lot of times in our life when we strive for something, a goal that we have, and it doesn’t necessarily happen,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s just about timing and sometimes it’s about having more life experiences before you try again. And sometimes, it’s about the journey.”
Spier is only the third queen in the carnival’s history to be married: The first Queen of the Snows, in 1886, was “Mrs. Scheffer,” crowned in the carnival’s premiere year.
Maureen Damman, a 37-year-old wife, mother and business manager, was named queen in 1996, five years after the carnival tossed out its no-marriage policy for queen candidates. A good thing for Joseph Spier, who, befittingly for a husband to one queen and brother to two others, now has a royal title of his own.
“He’s ‘Lord of the Queen of the Snows,’ ” the new queen said.
The couple owes their relationship to the carnival as well.
“He was the older brother of the queen; I was a candidate. We met at an event,” she said. “We were married 6 1/2 years later.”
Family history aside, Spier impressed the judges as a woman of distinction: She has a master’s degree; she is a senior social worker for Hennepin County; she serves on the planning commission of the city of South St. Paul; she has completed 13 marathons, including the Boston Marathon; she has studied in Africa, has raised money for the fight against leukemia, is a Pandemic Emergency Response volunteer and … even writes poetry.
She also impressed the judges with her humility during the candidacy, a long process that begins in November.
“She didn’t tell her parents she was running until last Saturday,” head judge Tiffany Brynteson said. “She didn’t want to take the attention away from her brother. She didn’t want them to feel like they had to spread out their attention and support. She wanted her family to focus on her brother, 100 percent, and I give her tons of credit for that.”
The judges also credited Spier for understanding that the Queen of the Snows is a booster for the city of St. Paul and its Winter Carnival.
“The main focus of this isn’t to have a crown on your head,” Brynteson said. “It’s to spread smiles and cheers on other people’s faces, to provide them some happiness.”
Spier certainly understands happiness and how precious it is.
“After King Boreas and I swept across the stage, in the craziness afterward, my brother hugged me and I think he said he loved me,” she said. “For me, coronation night was all about being there with my brother, to see him experience what he’s always wanted to. Being selected as queen is like icing on the cake.”
Molly Guthrey Millett can be reached at 651-228-5505.
Copyright 2010 Pioneer Press.