If anyone ever asked, Steve Cortinas usually said he was from San Angelo, Texas, because they probably never heard of his nearby birthplace of Eden, Texas, pop. 2,766.
But that might change now that Eden is the hometown of King Boreas Rex the 76th.
“How a series of events would land me in Minnesota being the first Hispanic King Boreas is unique. It’s America’s story,” Cortinas said.
The Eagan businessman was unveiled as the titular head of the 2012 St. Paul Winter Carnival during the royal coronation Friday night at RiverCentre in St. Paul. He and the rest of the carnival royal family will make hundreds of stops, appearances and proclamations over the next 12 months as they represent the festival in Minnesota and beyond.
It’s a role he’s happy to fill.
Cortinas, an executive at Dakota Premium Foods in South St. Paul, said moving to the state in 1992 meant leaving behind an extended family in Texas.
“When we got here, we were missing family so bad,” he said. “But when we found the Winter Carnival family, it provided that missing ingredient to us.”
That connection to the carnival started when Cortinas served on the South St. Paul Chamber of Commerce with Howie Register, Vulcanus Rex of 1996.
“I ran with the Vulcans for a while,” Cortinas said.
A few years later, his Realtor, Greg Kuntz, was named Boreas Rex and began encouraging Cortinas to become Prince of the South Wind.
“He approached me three times before I finally agreed to do it in 2003,” Cortinas said.
Skip forward a few years and folks with the St. Paul Festival & Heritage Foundation – the group that throws the carnival – started approaching him about the Boreas job.
Cortinas decided this year the timing was right to become Boreas. He had been approached a couple of times in the past about donning the royal frocks, he said, but family and business commitments made it impossible.
He also relented, he said, because a longtime friend was chosen to be his nemesis, Vulcanus Rex (the identity of the Vulcan Krewe leader traditionally isn’t revealed until after the carnival).
“We’re simpatico with each other. We understand each other really well,” Cortinas said. “We play well off of each other, especially for these 10 days (of carnival) in particular, so it should be fun.”
Cortinas said the royal family’s theme will be the “Spirits of 76,” and the court will pay tribute to 76 volunteers over the course of the next year.
“Those who invest their time over and above are those we want to honor,” he said.
He said he also wants to focus on “family, honor and respect” during the carnival.
“I’m Hispanic, so I put that on wrist bracelets: honor, respeto, familia,” he said.
He’ll also have stars representing Texas on the chevrons of his costume, he said, as a nod to his Southern roots.
And although his immediate family – wife, Joy, and three sons – is well-versed in carnival legend, his Texas relatives are less attuned.
“Nobody’s coming up from Eden. When I talk carnival to ’em, it’s like I’m talking a foreign language,” Cortinas said.
John Brewer can be reached at 651-228-2093.
Copyright 2012 Pioneer Press.