Princess of Snowflakes

I was 16 years old when the local Women's Club approached me about the upcoming Snowflake Coronation.  You see, every year in January, Minnesota has a festival known as the St. Paul Winter Carnival.  It occurs during a two-week span with a host of events including ice fishing contests, parades, ice sculpture contests, sledding, and coronations, just to name a few.  During these two weeks, we Minnesotans show off all the fun we have even when the wind chill factor dips below zero.  Did I mention the coronations?  Yes, I thought I had.

The month before the Winter Carnival, all the neighborhood playground associations held their own Snowflake Coronations whose contestants included the tenth-grade teens who belonged to that particular neighborhood.  The idea was, which ever boy and girl became the Prince and Princess of Snowflakes, they would during the next month at Winter Carnival time, make up the contestants for the city-wide pageant and coronation.  Whoever emerged as the winners in the big city-wide coronation would reign as Prince and Princess of Snowflakes until the next coronation.  It was quite an honor and there always was keen competition.

As for myself, I had no intention whatsoever of entering any coronation.  I just was not the type to take part in such an event.  I was a straight A student and a true bookworm.  I had my small circle of friends who I associated with at school and outside of school, but I was a far cry from being popular.  I was just a face in the crowd.  I was no cheerleader, this much was certain.

But one day one of the ladies from the Women's Club came to our house to speak with me, of all people!

"Cindy, we would like you to enter the upcoming coronation," Mrs. Klause said as she looked at me, sitting across our kitchen table. 

My mother looked at me and nodded her head.

"I . . . well, I . . .,"  I stammered.

"Wouldn't you like to have the chance of becoming our next Princess of Snowflakes?  Just winning the coronation here in our neighborhood is quite an honor!  Then, you may even win at the city wide coronation next month!"

"Why do you want me to enter?  I am not the beauty pageant type.  I would much rather spend the evening at home reading a good book," I said, shaking my head.

"That is exactly why we want you to enter, Cindy.  You aren't the beauty pageant type!  Look, the teens around this neighborhood are beginning to think all that matters in life is the way they look, whether they have designer jeans, and how much they spent on a pair of tennis shoes.  We want to put a stop to this and help these kids realize there is more to life than good looks and the designer of their jeans."

"I don't know.  I just don't think I could do it."

"Please, please do consider it.  You are a very talented young lady.  You have straight A's, you sing like an angel, and you are even writing your own songs.  Please do this favor for us.  It really means a lot."

"What do you think, Mom?"

My mother had been unusually quiet, which was not typical for her personality.  She looked at me for a moment and then said, "I think you should do it."

"Really?"

"Yes, I really do think you should do it.  It will give you a new experience.  Besides, what have you got to lose?  You know we will be there to cheer you on."

"Really?" I asked again, hoping I would get a different answer.

My mom looked at me and nodded her head yes.

"Well . . .okay, I guess if you think I should."

"Oh thank you so much,"  Mrs. Klause gushed.  "Now the judges' interviews will be held on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at the Community Center.  Just come wearing your nicest dress and be ready to talk to the judges.  All you have to do is be yourself, all right?  Don't try to be anybody else except for yourself and you will do just fine."

"Thank you for coming," my mother said as she showed Mrs. Klause to the door. 

As soon as I heard the door close, I regretted my decision.  How had I ever let them talk me into this?  This just was not my thing.

"You'll be fine," my mother said, as if she had read my thoughts.  "Time to get ready for supper.  Just because you might become a Princess does not mean that you don't have to set the table," she laughed.

The rest of the week went along as usual until Friday after school when I was riding home on the bus.  For some reason that day my best friend, Laurie, was not on the bus with me.  She had been ill and home from school.  As a matter of fact, I was bringing some of her homework home to her.  Another odd thing happened.  Usually we sat at the front of the bus.  The so-called "cool" kids sat in the back of the bus.  If you were not part of their group, you just did not sit with them.  But on this particular day there were no seats anywhere except for at the back of the bus.  My arms were full of books; there was no way out -- I had to sit somewhere.  So I walked to the back of the bus and sat down in one of the long seats that faces the window.  I just kept my eyes down and minded my own business.  I did not want to have any trouble.

The topic of conversation was the upcoming Snowflake Pageant.  Almost everyone who sat in the back of the bus was entering the pageant.  One of the boys, who was one of the leaders of the group looked at me and said, "Hey, Devine!"  Yes, if you were not part of the cool group you were called by your last name.  I just kept my eyes down and tried to ignore him.

"Hey, Devine -- I'm talking to you!"

"Oh, Ronnie," his girlfriend said to him, "What do you want from her?  She's just a nerd!"

"Well, well," he continued, "I don't know about that.  I heard she is competing in the pageant!"

Laughter broke out among the cool kids.  Just the thought of me, the bookworm, competing against one of the cool girls was simply ridiculous in their minds.

"Anyway," he continued.  "I just want you to know, Devine, that you just might win!"  Suddenly everyone stopped laughing and stared at him in disbelief.

I could not believe my ears.  I looked up at him.  I supposed he could read my mind as I thought, Really?

"Yeah -- you might just win -- if you wear a paper bag over your head!"  The laughter broke out, even louder this time. 

Luckily for me, the bus slowed down for my stop.  I was never so glad to get off the bus as I was then.  As I hurried to my room, I brushed away the hot tears of humiliation and wondered why I had ever agreed to do this in the first place.

The next morning arrived, and with it the time for the judges' interviews.  My mother had all she could do to persuade me to go to the judges' interview, but I went, begrudgingly.  I thought, I will do this for Mom -- that's all.  I don't care what anyone says!

When I arrived at the Community Center, I signed in and was given a name badge with a number on it.  I thought for sure I would be ridiculed once again by the same group of kids, but they did not say a word to me.  Then I realized this was probably because the ladies from the Women's Club were there, not to mention the judges.  Oh yes, they were on their best behaviors.

So I waited with them.  I was so glad when they finally called for me.  But believe me, I could feel every single eye in that hallway shooting arrows into my back as I walked away.

When I entered the room and closed the door, I noticed a table with three people sitting behind it whom I had never seen before.  They gestured for me to sit in the chair across from them and began the interview.  They asked me all sorts of questions; what subjects did I like best in school; what were my favorite books to read; what was my favorite music, etc.  They were pretty ordinary questions and before I knew it, the interview was finished.  I was glad to have it be over.

The next week seemed to go by in a whirl.  I was fortunate enough not to be ridiculed by those same kids again; everyone pretty much kept away from me.  Of course, it did help that my best friend was well again and back in school. 

The pageant was scheduled for Thursday night.  When I came home from school on that day, we had an early dinner so that Linda, the girl who lived across from us, could fix my hair.  As the time drew nearer, I had to admit to becoming a little bit excited.  After all, I never had my hair done or my makeup done; nor had I ever worn such a fancy gown.  Actually I wore the bridesmaid dress which my older sister owned. 

We arrived at the Community Center at 7:00 p.m. with the pageant scheduled for 7:30 p.m.  No one harassed me -- there were still judges around.  When the time came to walk into the Community Center, I had butterflies.  The Community Center was packed; not a chair was empty.  There were even people standing along the walls.

After the usual round of people giving speeches, introduction of the judges and other local celebrities, the time finally arrived for the actual crowning.  There would be two girls and two boys chosen first to be the men and ladies of the court. The last boy and girl to be chosen would be the Prince and Princess of Snowflakes.  It was quite nerve-wracking.  One of the Winter Carnival Royalty, dressed in a military type of uniform, would walk up and down the aisle between the contestants, boys on one side and girls on the other.  To show who was chosen for that particular round, he would take a step back, take off his cap, and bow to the winner.  He was very good at his job and very dramatic.  He never broke a smile.  He was dead serious the entire time.

He went through this process four times and now the time had come for him to choose the Prince of Snowflakes.  The room was hushed and everyone was holding their breaths.  Sure enough, what had been predicted came true -- Ronnie, the leader of the "cool" kids, was chosen as the Prince.  As he walked up the aisle to his throne, I remember him giving me a look -- no it was more of a smirk -- a self-satisfied smirk.  I expected no less from him.  I was just glad this event was almost over.

Now it was time for the Princess to be chosen -- the last of the Royal Court.  This time you could cut the suspense with a knife.  It had been rumored that the new Princess would be a close call between Ronnie's girlfriend and another one of the cheerleaders.  This time the officer of the court took his own sweet time, building up the suspense even more than before.  He would stop at each girl and stare her in the eye.  He did this three times. 

He was staring at me for the third time when all of a sudden, he stepped back, took off his hat, and bowed before me.  As a reflex, I stepped back and was covering my open mouth with both of my hands.  I could hear my sisters and brother screaming in the background and I knew my mother's eyes were upon me.  Then the officer of the court offered me his arm and escorted me to the throne.  As I approached the throne, I could feel all eyes turned on me, and even more miraculously, as far as I was concerned, there was applause from the entire Community Center.  I felt happy; I felt surprised; I felt -- amazing!

But I'm sure you know when was the sweetest moment of all?  Of course -- when I was smiling a gracious smile into Ronnie's face!

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