Sandy LaRouche greets the New Year with cold, frank innocence and mirth as part of St. Louis's First Night
New Year’s Eve 2007 was my last appearance as The Snow Queen. I reigned or "snowed' as it were, over the St. Louis’s First Night nonalcoholic festival of the arts festival from its inception until Midnight December 31,1999. At that time I had decided that I was too old to be the Snow Queen, so I abdicated in favor of my daughter, Holly.
My assumed name as Snow Queen is Polera, Her Seldom Serene and Most Frigid Majesty, Empress of the North Star, The Snow Queen. Holly elected to be Aurora, for the dawn of a new century.
Unfortunately, (in my opinion) Holly, is not as big a ham as her mother. She appeared only one New Year's Eve with me. It is harder work than one might imagine--being queen. Seven hours outside in a wedding gown gets pretty chilling. But, as I tell all the people who ask me if I am cold (like, duh, of course, I'm cold) "beauty knows no pain."
I decided to make this one last appearance because my littlest grandchildren have never seen me in this role, only photographs...hundreds and hundreds of photographs. I married a St. Louis Post Dispatch photographer, Bob LaRouche, in 1977. He is now retired. We met when I was a newspaper editor for a weekly newspaper and was writing part-time for the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Having been one of the plainest girls ever to walk the hallowed halls of Wellston High School, I was never destined to be elected queen of anything. However, in my 11 year career as Assistant Public Relations Director and Special Events Coordinator for all Famous-Barr Company stores, (The May Department Stores Co. now Macy’s) opportunity FINALLY knocked. I had to ride on a parade float with a costume character called Famous Bear.
Helen Weiss, my beloved boss who in 2007 retired at age 82, said, "Wear your nice little camel's hair coat and a matching hat and gloves. Go ride with the bear and don't fall off the float."
I ran out and rented a Good Witch of the West costume and a giant snowflake headpiece left over from The Fox Tellerettes days. Boy, was she surprised. The Fox Theatre Tellerettes were the forerunners (or fore dancers) of The Rockettes.
The night of the Christmas in St. Louis Parade the bear and I trundled down Olive Street, just the two of us on a huge Veiled Prophet parade float meant to hold 20 occupants.
As the wind got caught my big snowflake headpiece I was fighting flight and doing my best to avoid falling off the float, when I looked at the crowd smiling up at us. All those sweet and happy faces looking up at us. I began to wave, not that phony "queen's wave" thing but big sweeping "I love you" waves. I didn't fall off the float because I wrapped my leg around a steady pole on the float put there for just that reason.
A whole new phase of my life began as I realized that I was, at that very moment living a life long dream. It WAS an MGM musical and I was the star!
At the corner of 7th and Olive Street, a little girl looked up and said, "Oh, Mama! Look! Look! It's the really Snow Queen! For the first time in my life I KNEW who I really was.
That same week a gay organization, The Mandrake Society, invited me to be The Empress of the North for their Mardi Gras costume ball at the Chase Hotel, a role I filled for three years.
When the First Night event came to be the following Christmas, I was invited to appear. The New York Times ran a photo of me in a travel section article about First Night celebrations in America a year or so later. I levitated from my head swelling so fast. I didn't touch ground for two days.
It has been wonderful to dress up and go out to play with children on New Year's Eve. I sprinkled sparkling snow on everyone and the children and I made 'blizzards" with acrylic snow. I was uncertain about my 2007 return, wondering if I’d have the stamina to do it and keep smiling. I am 68 and half years old now.
It has been a strange and wonderful phenomenon that adults also come to the Snow Queen and ask for a blessing, a hug, a sprinkling of sparkles and a reassurance that the year to come will be good. I try to hold up a positive mirror to all who present themselves for a Snow Queen "blessing", knowing how a kind word can mean so much to an awkward young girl, a little kid, a homeless person, the woman coming out of Powell Symphony Hall, alone and lonely. It's what I do and I love it. The rest of the time when I schlep about in jeans and sweatshirts doing what all grandmothers do, I am actually in disguise. The real me is just waiting for New Year's Eve.
The blessing part comes pretty easily because in everyday life for the past 14 years I have been a non-denominational minister. I specialize in marriages and christenings for all who need me. My web page is http://everafterweddings.org. As of 2007, I had married 652 couples. I have been transported to five states and Italy to perform ceremonies.
My 30 year marriage to Bob LaRouche has been as close to perfect as a marriage can be. Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful, we discovered. We were two little hobbit-like people working together to raise our combined family of 7 children, take care of former spouses and offer temporary shelter to many sofa surfers.
We aren't rich but we are happy. We know that home is not just the number on the mailbox but the life that you share with the person that you love. Recently our life moved from a very large historic Shaw Neighborhood home, called EverAfter, to a 105 year old house in St. Louis’s Benton Park. We call this house Alegria, Spanish for joy, but I wish now that I had named it Small Change. Always a team, we sold our big house on Craig's list just before the big real estate crisis, using Bob's photos and my copy.
I have been a publishing writer since about 1969 but no longer am inspired to do much writing. I correspond with many people around the world.
I take great pleasure in our ten grandchildren. Some of them are hams like me and some are not. Lilliana, Drummond, Annabella, Avery, Layla and Tori will rode and froze with me in the carriage on New Year's Eve 2007 as I gave them what I am best equipped to give, memories.
May God bless you our beautiful frail Earth and as as our world warms, think snow, think snow.