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The
Coronation of Carnival Royalty marked the official start of the 113th
annual Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Friday night.
This
year’s Carnival King and Queen are Frank Camelo and Carol Reyell –
in line with tradition, last year’s royal couple – Roger Steinbrueck
and Vera Finegan – made the announcement, which is kept secret until
Coronation night.
A
special guest was in the audience for Friday’s proceedings.
Congressman Bill Owens called Saranac Lake a special place, and said
if he could reroute weather patterns from Washington, he would.
“Understand that Washington, D.C. is getting two feet of snow
tonight – I want to bring it here,” Owens said. “Because we need it,
because we can do something with it – they can’t.”
The
grand marshal this year is Don Duso, who passed away in early
January. Duso was chairman of the Winter Carnival Committee for
nearly a quarter century, and was a dedicated volunteer.
New
Chairman Jeff Dickson noted that last year’s carnival was hailed as
the best ever – a direct credit to Duso’s involvement.
“It
was fitting that 2009 was the best carnival anyone could remember,”
he said.
On
Saturday, Camelo suffered a badly injured ankle while performing his
duties. The accident happened near Riverside Park during the Ladies
Fry Pan Toss and the Gold Rush Treasure Hunt.
The
Winter Carnival website reported the injury over the weekend,
stating – quote – “committee members wish our beloved King a speedy
and complete recovery.”
In other carnival news, James Richard
Owens – also known as Mr. DJ – will be teaming up with some friends
to televise the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Gala Parade starting at
1 p.m. Saturday.
The crews will film from the Berkeley
Green and it will be broadcast on local cable Channel 2.
Rick Knapton from Time Warner Cable,
as well as Colin Farrington and Diane Trummer will film. Susan and
J.R. Owens will announce. The parade will be rebroadcast at later
dates and no copies will be for sale.
For a full list of Saranac Lake Winter
Carnival activities, visit online at
saranaclakewintercarnival.com
-Chris
Morris, 2-8-10
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