An executive with a financial-services firm and a marketing director were crowned Friday night as king and queen of the 2007 St. Paul Winter Carnival.

Don Schoeller, 67, of Hugo, began his reign as Boreas Rex LXXI at a coronation ceremony in downtown’s Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Schoeller is a senior vice president of Minneapolis-based North Star Resource Group.

The St. Paul native was a founding organizer of the Order of the Royal Guard and has contributed to the festival through parade committees, button sales and talent shows.

Cassie Genz, 23, was named Queen of the Snows. Genz is a recent graduate of Winona State University and works as a marketing director for Midwest Guaranty Title Co. She’s also a winter enthusiast who enjoys hockey and recalls attending the Winter Carnival as a child.

Members of the carnival’s royal family typically make hundreds of appearances each year as St. Paul’s goodwill ambassadors. The 2006 court traveled to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and frequently visited kids at Gillette Children’s Hospital over the past year.

– Laura Yuen

2007 Winter Carnival Royalty

• Boreas Rex: Don Schoeller, of Hugo

• Queen of the Snows: Cassie Genz, of Mendota Heights

• Prince of the North Wind: Bradley Schmitt, of Woodbury

• Princess of the North Wind: Chelsea Will

• Prince of the East Wind: Bryant Hardy, of St. Paul

• Princess of the East Wind: Amy Stutzriem

• Prince of the West Wind: Greg Holewa, of St. Anthony

• Princess of the West Wind: Ellen Edwards

• Prince of the South Wind: Doug Kuchera, of Inver Grove Heights

• Princess of the South Wind: Carlene Johnson

• Prime Minister: Maureen Damman, of St. Paul

• Captain of the King’s Guard: Tracy Leach, of Woodbury

• Royal Guard Sergeant: Mike Shaeffer, of Inver Grove Heights

• Members of the Royal Guard: Dave Griep, of Inver Grove Heights; Andy Paul, of West St. Paul; Stacy Lynn Powers, of St. Paul; Rex King, of Hastings

• Klondike Kate: Darice Koepke, of St. Paul

• Royal Coordinator: Carolyn Carroll-Blakey, of St. Paul

Junior Royalty

• King Frost LX: Jesse Zenda, ninth-grader at Highland Park Senior High School

• Queen of the Snowflakes: Azureya Blair, seventh-grader at St. Bernard’s School.

• Prime Minister: Tyler Hamblin, eighth-grader at Ramsey Junior High

• Lady-in-Waiting: Javon Jackson, eighth-grader at Ramsey Junior High

• Prince of the Four Winds: Sim Franco Jr., eighth-grader at Hazel Park Junior High

• Princess of the Four Winds: Jessica Velasquez, ninth-grader at St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists

Copyright 2007 Pioneer Press.