Steven Fischer, Vulcanus Rex for the 2015 St. Paul Winter Carnival, raved about his 12-year-old granddaughter between bites of a stir-fry chicken salad at Wild Tymes Restaurant in St. Paul.
She knows the Legend of the Winter Carnival better than anybody, Fischer said.
When Fischer was chosen as General Flameous in 2010, his granddaughter Brianna asked her mom to read the legend to her every night before bed. By the end of two weeks, she had it memorized, Fischer said.
“You can eat whenever the food comes,” Fischer told his seven-member Krewe during the lunch stop last week during their Winter Carnival appearances. Vulcan code dictates that Vulcanus Rex begins eating before his Krewe.
But Fischer isn’t an arrogant king.
The 51-year-old St. Paul native jokes with his Krewe and talks about the bond growing between the group of men, who met just before the Winter Carnival.
“I’ve got a great bunch of guys ranging from 31 to 61 on my Krewe this year,” Fischer boasted.
Fischer was chosen, as all Rexes are, by a group of former Vulcanus Rexes who interviewed him.
Fischer’s drive to help others is what stood out, said former Vulcanus Rex LX, Jacques Peulen, chair of the Fire King and 2015 Vulcan Krewe Advisory.
“He grew up wanting to do this, and we can see how he wants to grow in his involvement. He’ll be doing the charity things, and that’s the kind of leadership we need in this organization,” Peulen said.
Fischer has been coaching and refereeing high school and college sports for 35 years.
“If you teach kids sportsmanship, it’ll transfer to when they grow up,” he said. “Then you’ll have a better world.”
His first memories of the Winter Carnival are as a 4-year-old, going to the parades with his grandfather.
“The Vulcans were guns blazing, sirens sounding. I was scared, to be honest, but I loved it after I got to know it,” Fischer said.
His desire to be a Vulcan started when he was 8 years old. A few years later he met a friend at Humboldt Junior High, whose dad was a Grand Duke Fertilious.
That’s when he first learned the Vulcans were involved in charity, Fischer said, and that sparked his interest even more.
He’s always been drawn to charity work, such as cutting grass for elderly neighbors as a child, he said.
Fischer and his Krewe will make appearances at schools and nursing homes and do other charity work throughout the year.
Fischer grew up on West Seventh Street, across from the old Schmidt Brewery.
“I’m very proud of St. Paul. It truly is a great old city,” he said before donning his black cape and heading to an elementary school to light the Vulcan spark in a new generation.
The 2015 Vulcan Krewe
Steven Fischer — Vulcanus Rex
Trever Harwell — Grand Duke Fertilious
Matt Fleming — Count of Ashes
Neal Frantzen — Count Embrious.
Kurt Robinson — Baron Hot Sparkus
Tom Stevens — General Flameous
Arlen Wente — Prince of Soot
Leigh Halvorsen — Duke of Klinker.
Katie Kather can be reached at 651-228-5006. Follow her at twitter.com/ktkather.
Copyright 2015 Pioneer Press.