He’s a hand-shaking, pep-talking hospitality entrepreneur. She’s a deer-hunting, snowboarding convention bureau sales manager. Ladies and gents, meet the king and queen of the 2008 St. Paul Winter Carnival.
Bill Foussard, 54, of Highland Park in St. Paul, began his reign as Boreas Rex LXXII at a coronation ceremony Thursday at downtown’s RiverCentre Grande Ballroom. Foussard owns the Best Western White Bear Country Inn in White Bear Lake and the Best Western Americana in St. Cloud, and operates the Super 8 motel in Golden Valley.
Brooke Stoeckel, 26, of Edina, was named Queen of the Snows. Stoeckel served as a Cambridge Ambassador in 1999-2000. An outdoor enthusiast, Stoeckel enjoys camping, hunting – she bagged her first deer at 15 – snowboarding and whitewater rafting. She works at the Visit Minneapolis North Convention Bureau.
Members of the carnival’s royal family usually make hundreds of appearances each year as St. Paul’s goodwill ambassadors.
2008 WINTER CARNIVAL ROYALTY
Boreas Rex: Bill Foussard
Queen of the Snows: Brooke Stoeckel
Prince of the North Wind: Mark Chapple
Princess of the North Wind: Nicole Paul
Prince of the East Wind: Marv Koppen
Princess of the East Wind: Natalie Patrick
Prince of the West Wind: Frank Caulfield
Princess of the West Wind: Erin DeVahl
Prince of the South Wind: Dave Gifford
Princess of the South Wind: Erin Smith
Prime Minister: Scott Mueller
Captain of the King’s Guard: Randy Gould
Sergeant of the Guard: Andy Shanley
Members of the Royal Guard: (North Wind) Susanna Tarnowski; (South Wind) Bryan Johnson; (West Wind) Adam Drees; (East Wind) Andy Shanley
Klondike Kate: Audra Weier
Royal Coordinator: Carol Swenson
2008 WINTER CARNIVAL JUNIOR ROYALTY
Queen of the Snowflakes: Ze Thao, eighth grade, Ramsey Junior High
Lady-in-Waiting: Julia Roberts, ninth grade, St. Bernard’s
Princess of the North Wind: Kaujah Iverson, ninth grade, St. Paul Conservatory of Performing Arts
Princess of the South Wind: Charlotte Edminster, eighth grade, Friends School of Minnesota
Princess of the East Wind: Nicole Kapaun, eighth grade, St. Bernard’s
Princess of the West Wind: Abbie Speller, seventh grade, Crosswinds
(According to Winter Carnival organizers, there were not enough male candidates to fill the prince roles.)
Alex Friedrich can be reached at afriedrich@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2109.
Copyright 2008 Pioneer Press.
