Fifty years of frivolity

Whitefish marks golden anniversary of legendary Winter Carnival

There was a lot of "brain racking" that went on in Whitefish during the late 1950s.

Town leaders needed a way to bring people to town during the long winters. In fact, well-known photographer Marion Lacy had been heard to say, "We've got so much winter around here we might as well sell some of it," according to the Whitefish history book, "Stump Town to Ski Town."

Then one night, the idea of a winter carnival was conjured up over a few beers. Norm Kurtz, who's credited with pushing the event off the cocktail napkin and into reality, was there.

"It was at the old Ptarmigan Room in the Chalet (on Big Mountain)," Kurtz, the carnival's first prime minister, recalled in a 2006 interview. "Whit Smith and Dr. John Simons were talking about what they could do to make winter more interesting in Whitefish. They were good friends and drinking buddies. I hung my ear on the whole thing and when I went home I made a bunch of notes."

That was 1959. The following year, a group of organizers who became known as the Dirty Dozen "worked their tails off" to create the first Whitefish Winter Carnival.

Fifty years later, the carnival remains a grand tradition in the resort town.

Many of the events remain unchanged from that first carnival in March 1960. Skijoring, crowning of the king and queen and a torchlight ski parade on Big Mountain were part of the first carnival and still are mainstays of the event. So is the downtown parade that's the centerpiece of the celebration.

But carnival events today are much more elaborate than in 1960, when the event unfolded on a tight budget. Low-cost activities such as broom hockey and children's dog-sled races rounded out the very first itinerary.

Money was hard to come by, Jackie Adams, one of the original Dirty Dozen, recalled about the economic times in 1960.

"Whitefish back then was a rather poor and somewhat frightened community, as the Great Northern, its financial backbone, was cutting back and moving some operations elsewhere," she said.

The $10 admission to the queen's dinner was considered top dollar, and many of Whitefish's then-blue collar crowd wondered who could afford such extravagance.

The idea of carnival royalty was part of the original scheme. Kurtz and Adams' husband Dick (the Adamses owned the Whitefish Pilot) wrote the Legend of Ullr, the mythical story on which the carnival was based.

Carnival lore revolves around the Norse god, Ullr, his Queen of the Snows and prime minister, who became disenchanted with their homeland, and "after centuries of brooding and searching the world for a place of rest," picked Whitefish.

The royal court's peace was short-lived as a fierce band of snowmen called Yetis attempted to drive them away through harassment and attempted kidnappings of the queen.

Yetis have been an important part of the carnival since the beginning. They still turn up at nearly all carnival events and have frightened their share of small children. Only the Viking Divas, a group of warrior women in fur costumes and metal breast plates, can save carnival-goers by marking them with a "V" and a lipstick-smeared kiss on the cheek. Without the mark, the Yetis are free to carry off unsuspecting spectators.

By the second carnival, more costume groups appeared. First came the popular penguins - inspired by group of fun-loving folks, including Ted Lund, 92, who was one of the original penguins. Then the Klumsy Klowns appeared, followed by the Great Northern goats, Raggedy Anns and Andys and others.

A highlight of the inaugural carnival was the arrival of the royal court from the St. Paul, Minn., Winter Carnival. They sent a telegram via Western Union, saying "Good news … we're coming … have fire-engine cutters and ski instructors standing by. Hope you are rested and ready … Satiated St. Paulites."

The Whitefish Pilot reported that the St. Paul royal party said "they had rarely seen such a welcome as Whitefish gave them - crowds at the depot and lining Central Avenue, torches flaring brilliantly against the deepening twilight, and a colorful parade led by the guests themselves in horsedrawn cutters."

After it was all over, organizers pondered whether the four-day event was worth it. It cost $2,385 to put on the first carnival, and it lost money, coming up $296 short.

Dave Hamilton, Kurtz's co-chairman for the 1960 carnival, mused about it in a letter to the Pilot editor: "Was it worth it? From the standpoint of financial benefit it wasn't. From the number of visitors it brought, it wasn't. But from the standpoint of a great community celebration, it was a rousing success. As an annual event, it will grow."

Hamilton's declaration was prophetic. By the 1970s crowds of up to 20,000 lined the streets.

The event still draws thousands of spectators.

This year's carnival celebrates the theme, "Fables, Frivolity & Fairytales," and culminates Feb. 7-8 with a weekend full of activities. For a complete list of events, go to www.whitefishwintercarnival.com

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com