TPT Members Celebrate Winter and Minnesota History

Ice palaces, made-up royalty and Boreas cocktails: Inside a members-only screening event for ‘The Legendary Saint Paul Winter Carnival’

Some things never change. In Minnesota, we assume the official duty of repeatedly proving the rest of the world wrong when it comes to our often-arctic winters. Instead of hiding under a mile-high stack of quilts until the first hint of balmier days, we relish our winter landscape as a playground fit for a hardier species.

Once upon a time, a New York reporter quipped in an 1885 newspaper that Saint Paul was “another Siberia, unfit for human habitation” during the winter months.

Alright. Challenge accepted.

A collective of Minnesota luminaries, including James J. Hill, set out to prove said reporter wrong – and the first Saint Paul Winter Carnival was born in 1886.

As the longest winter festival in the nation, the Carnival’s history is an extraordinary blend of lore, legend and delightfully quirky detail that could only be imagined by the denizens of a snowy, sometimes freezing paradise called Saint Paul. That history was recently chronicled in a TPT-produced documentary called The Legendary Saint Paul Winter Carnival, complete with archival film and images that capture Saint Paul throughout the Carnival’s 130 years.

Last month, members of TPT’s President’s, Studio, and Visionary Societies gathered at Dove Hill Mansion, the historic home of Nancy and Dick Nicholson, to celebrate the new documentary. Built by James J. Hill in 1903 as a wedding gift to his son, Louis, Dove Hill was the perfect setting for a celebration of the illustrious Carnival. After all, Louis W. Hill played an integral part in reviving the Carnival in 1916 after a 20-year lull in all the glorious wintertime action.

In addition to reviving the splendor of the mansion, the Nicholsons also have on display an impressive collection of Carnival memorabilia and music from the Louis Hill era. The main program was held in the Nicholson’s ballroom where attendees watched clips from the documentary and heard from Producer and Writer, Ashleigh Rowe, and Winter Carnival and Ice Palace historian, Bob Olsen, about their involvement with the documentary and the history of the Winter Carnival. The conversation was moderated by Almanac’s David Gillette, who also narrated the documentary.

The winding tale of the Winter Carnival is rich with impossibly strange-but-true details that prove fact is often more wonderful than fiction. For example, the first ice palace in 1886 required a crew of 200 men that spent three weeks stacking 25,000 blocks of ice carved out of the frozen Mississippi. In the end, the ice palace towered over the Carnival festivities, just a few stories shorter than the tallest building in North America at that time.

In addition to a storied past, the Carnival also inspired a rip-roaring legend about the almighty King Boreas, who, while flying through the wintery skies, spotted Saint Paul and fell in love. After summoning his entourage, King Boreas set out to create 10 unrivaled days of wintertime splendor. But he had a problem: The Vulcan King and his gang of bandits aimed to stop the winter madness in favor of more summery pursuits. Every year, the two sides duke it out – and every year, King Boreas and his fellow royals admit temporary defeat, vowing to win again the following year.

So naturally the highlight of the evening at Dove Hill was a surprise visit from members of the Vulcan Krew. The Vulcans “crashed” the event and had some fun “knighting” our hosts, Board Chair, and others with such titles as, “Siren of St. Paul!”

In the end, it was a magical evening thanks to our hosts, Nancy and Dick Nicholson, and to our generous members of the Studio, President’s and Visionary societies who came out to celebrate with TPT.

To learn more about TPT’s giving societies, and how you can attend events like this and others featuring PBS talent, please visit tpt.org/philanthropy.

Also, you can view additional photos from the event at Dove Hill Mansion in our Flickr album highlighting the event. View pictures now.

Go here to find out when you can watch the TPT-produced documentary The Legendary Saint Paul Winter Carnival. Or watch it now with TPT Passport

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