SnowFest has been an important part of Tahoe life for decades. It began as an effort to bring folks to Tahoe in March, when the ski season started to slow down even though there was still plenty of snow. SnowFest still attracts the tourists, but now locals love it because it’s a time to play together while putting a little badly needed cash into the coffers of our small businesses and nonprofits. It’s a time for us all to get together to be the small community that we are.
Sixteen years ago my wife and I quickly dropped our two-year old daughter Sarah off with friends so she could watch the fireworks and torchlight parade at the SnowFest opening night ceremony at Squaw Valley. We couldn’t make it, we had something more pressing: Sandy’s contractions were six minutes apart and it was time to go to the hospital to deliver our SnowFest baby, Hannah.
Like every Tahoe kid, SnowFest was a big part of Hannah’s life. She joined her sister and dozens of other Girl Scouts and dressed up in funny costumes and marched in the Tahoe City parade. Often there were more people in the parade than on the sidewalks …but it wasn’t because of a shortage of people watching, it was just that every group in town dug up every dog and kid they could find to march along. There were Old Western imitators shooting guns into the air (scaring the dogs and kids), while women quickly hid when they saw the Vulcans approaching. These guys come out every year from St. Paul, Minnesota, and give the women grease paint kisses. There were floats and fire trucks with Kiwanis synchronized shovel brigades and Search and Rescue synchronized walking skier formations. And there was a SnowFest Queen smiling and waving at the crowd like she really was the Queen.
SnowFest also meant dog pulls, ice cream eating contests, and of course The Great Ski Race. For my kids, the Great Ski Race was the day I left early, and then returned in the afternoon moaning and groaning while I gingerly walked up the stairs, then collapsed onto the couch. Then my daughters would be victimized by my tales of the race. I am sure they think I was lying when I told the true story of the blue grouse who attacked skiers during a race several years ago.
There were Patrollers Races and Taco Feeds, Luaus, and Ice sculptures, but mostly there was the parade. Every year you were in it, or watching it.
When she reached high school Hannah watched her older friends run for SnowFest Queen and this year, her Junior year, she decided it was her turn to run. This is where she and her father really learned the meaning of community. SnowFest Queen contestants compete based on an essay, an interview, grades and activities in school and most importantly doing your best to sell lots and lots of SnowFest Raffle Tickets. Fifty percent of the ticket sales proceeds go to SnowFest and the other 50 percent goes to the charity of the contestant’s choosing. Hannah chose the Tahoe Cross-Country Ski Education Association. The TCCSEA provides the Strider-Glider kids cross-country ski program, The Winter Discovery Center and Kids Ski Free (which brings hundreds of school kids to Tahoe Cross-Country every year to ski). She chose it even though she doesn’t ski because she knew it is an awesome program for Tahoe, and because I told her the community of cross-country skiers would come through for her. Once she put up her posters and began to sell tickets, Hannah discovered the benefits of living your whole life in a small town. Strider-Glider’s 35 instructors chipped in and bought tickets, as did the parents of the 180 kids who attend Strider-Gliders, and lots of Tahoe Cross-Country season pass holders. They plunked down $10, $20 or $40 for tickets and even though they were buying tickets that gave them the opportunity to win a prize, they told her, ‘I hope you win.’ In tough economic times, dozens of people chipped in to support a program that helps kids and to lend a hand to a girl trying to reach a dream. Now that is what this town is all about.
Finally, the ticket sales were completed, it was opening night of SnowFest, and the five SnowFest Queen Contestants all lined up nervously, waiting to hear who would be SnowFest Queen. When Hannah was announced as the winner, we cheered with joy like we had just one the lottery. They put a tiara on her wild black hair and a royal purple cape and she looked like Snow White, except thankfully this wasn’t the movie version (she didn’t sing in that high-pitched voice that reminds you of a fingernail on a chalk board). Hannah could barely walk with the cape on, but the smile on her face that never quit let everyone know that this was one of the happiest moments of her life. She kept smiling even when the drunken revilers put their arms around her and pleaded for a picture with the Queen.
The highlight of the evening was the little girls. They approached sheepishly, tugging on their Mom’s coat strings. Then Mom would gently ask Hannah, ‘She wants to see the Queen. Can she have her picture taken with you?’ For a brief moment, she was a real Queen, not some Tahoe kid who forgot to do her homework and still had to go to school next week. Through the generous help of people throughout our wonderful community, a SnowFest baby had a very brief moment of glory. And hopefully today one of those little girls is looking at her picture with the Queen and saying, ‘Mommy, when I grow up I want to be SnowFest Queen.’ You go girl, we’re counting on you.
~ Tim Hauserman thinks cross-country skiers rock. Discuss this article with Tim. Email timh@moonshineink.com.
