It’s an eclectic reading day, with an 18th-century murder in an outhouse and nonfiction about art, community organizing and the environment.

(Courtesy of Wagonbridge Publishing)

“A Necessary Death”: by Terri Karsten (Wagonbridge Publishing, $15)

If you’re already tired of cold and snow, let Terri Karsten take you back to the spring of 1763. In her new mystery, Karsten introduces us to unhappy widow Penelope Corbitt. Her sailor husband is dead and all her possessions and her house were sold to pay his debts. Penelope is traveling from Philadelphia to Boston, where she and her teenage daughter and 10-year-old son will live with her sister. They are escorted by Penelope’s sister’s husband, an ill-tempered, haughty man who never lets the widow forget she will be living on his charity.

When their coach breaks down near a barely-functioning inn, they are rescued by owner Miles, who has let his business fall in disrepair since his wife’s death. Miles and Penelope have a testy relationship but are also drawn to one another. Until another coach arrives, Penelope agrees to use her cooking skills at the inn so her brother-in-law doesn’t have to whine about paying for her and her children’s keep.

Heading to the “necessary” (outhouse), Priscilla finds the dead body of the town’s parson. Who would murder a man of God, even if he didn’t always live up to his calling? And how can Penelope help Mercy, his young, thin, frightened and pregnant widow? What part does a young slave girl have to do with the death? Who is Sam, the Native American who insists on seeing Mercy?  And what does the old man who sleeps by the fire know about the dead parson? Why doesn’t Miles listen to her suspicions?

And then, in the middle of the story, a new character appears who has a profound effect on everyone.

Karsten, who lives in Winona, is a writer, editor, educator and writing teacher. Her specialty is bringing history alive with a focus on women and girls of the past, seemingly powerless but with courage and strength to manage their futures.

All these qualities are in “A Necessary Death.” Penelope is a master baker who makes “dead cakes” for a funeral, mixes up porridge in no time, delights in baking pies and works tirelessly sweeping and washing dishes.  As in all 18th-century inns, men sleep by the hearth although Penelope and her children have a room upstairs. We learn the norms of the era, including Penelope’s sadness at knowing her children will become indentured servants and how widows must  be careful about how they conduct themselves because their reputations are easily questioned. It is taken for granted that husbands can beat their wives and children. The personal stories play out against a background of wider issues such as the French and Indian War being waged between France and England, and mutual distrust between white settlers and local Native Americans.

This is the first in a series and includes some of Penelope’s recipes, such as mincemeat pie. Can’t wait for her second adventure.

NONFICTION

“Place-Keepers: Latina/x Art, Performance, and Organizing in the Twin Cities”: by Jessica Lopez Lyman (University of Minnesota Press, $24.95)

This is an in-depth look at how Latina/x artists (a gender neutral term referring to people with Latin American cultural or ethnic identity) transform art into activism and reclaim space in the Twin Cities, written by an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota department of Chicano and Latino Studies. She examines how these artists navigate and challenge the region’s racial injustices, responding to systemic oppression through public performances and behind-the-scenes negotiations with the state, nonprofits and other institutions. Illustrated with drawings and other interesting artwork.

“A Heathy Agitation”: by Judy and Ralph Brown; illustrated by Richard Schletty (Lamprey Lake Press, no price listed).

Subtitled “West Side Community Organization and the building of democracy in Saint Paul, Minnesota,” this is a thorough look at community-building in the area of St. Paul that is cut off from the rest of the city by the river. As former St. Paul mayor Jim Scheibel writes in a foreword: “From the beginning WSCO was the voice of West Side residents. Early  on WSCO led the effort to save the Riverview Library, members supported the creation of Douglas School park and advocated for increasing the quality of education at Humboldt High School.”

The organization began in 1987 as West Side Citizens Organization and was renamed in 2011. Chapters include history of the organization and the influence of the West Side Voice community newspaper, fighting for Humboldt High School, transportation, services, housing, safety, environment, development and parkland.

“A National Legacy: Fifty Years of Nongame Wildlife Conservation in Minnesota”: by Carrol L. Henderson (University of Minnesota Press, $49.95)

Minnesota became a national leader for a new era of conservation in 1977 when the state’s Department of Natural Resources hired Carrol L. Henderson as supervisor of the Nongame Wildlife program, a position he held for more than 40 years. Now Henderson is an internationally renowned leader in wildlife conservation. He explains in this oversized paperback how the statewide goal to preserve biological diversity became a reality as the program began to prioritize the management and restoration of nonhunted wildlife, from butterflies, frogs, snakes to bats to bald eagles and other birds. It is filed with color photos of turtles, birds and other creatures who are our neighbors.

Henderson has written more than a dozen books and won multiple awards, including the Frances K. Hutchinson Medal from the Garden Club of America for his distinguished service to conservation.

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What a great way to start a new literary year. Six poets laureate from across Minnesota will participate Thursday in the inaugural A Gathering of Poets Laureate: Poets Building Community, the culminating public program of Minneapolis poet laureate Junauda Petrus’s 2025-26 laureate year. It is designed to celebrate the power of poetry to build connection, spark change and imagine a new future together.

Petrus will be joined by Gwen Westerman, Minnesota State poet laureate; Jean Prokott, Rochester poet laureate; Donte Collins, former St. Paul Youth poet laureate; Heid E. Erdrich, inaugural Minneapolis poet laureate; and Joyce Sutphen, former Minnesota State poet laureate.

Guided by Petrus’s question — “What does community look like for you?” — the Laureates will share original poems and reflect on the civic and cultural work they carry into their communities. Moderator will be Cristeta Boarini, partnerships manager at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.

Here’s a look at these talented poets provided by program presenters Minneapolis Arts & Cultural Affairs Department, Loft Literary Center and Minnesota Humanities Center.

Junauda Petrus (Courtesy of the author)

PETRUS: Minneapolis-born writer, playwright and performance artist of Black Trinidadian and Crucian (Virgin Islands) descent. Her poetry celebrates Black wildness, futurism and ancestral healing, weaving poetics and storytelling with histories remembered through dreaming and research. Inspired by her parents and ancestors who immigrated from the Caribbean, her art reflects the magic, resilience and trauma caried across generations, resonating with themes of the Middle Passage, the African diaspora, and the lives of Black communities in Minneapolis. She is author of “The Stars and the Blackness Between Them,” winner of the American Library Association’s Coretta Scott King award.

Heid Erdrich (Courtesy of Angie Erdrich)

ERDRICH: During her term as inaugural Minneapolis poet laureate in 2024, Erdrich produced more than 30 public activities and worked with hundreds of poets, writers and enthusiasts. Author of nine books of poetry and prose, she is editor of the anthology “New Poets of Native Nations” and co-editor of the newly published “Boundless: Abundance in Native American Art and Literature.” Her on-going project is Poetry Service Announcement, which connects the peoples of Minneapolis/Bde Ota Othujwe and promotes poetry as public art. Winner of two Minnesota Book Awards, she serves her communities through formal and informal mentorship, poetry interventions and facilitating responses between communities. A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe, she was among 22 poets in the U.S. to receive a $50,000 grant from the Academy of American Poets.

Gwen Westerman (Courtesy of the author)

WESTERMAN: The first Native American to be a poet laureate (in 2021), she is also a visual artist and scholar with roots deep in the landscape of the tallgrass prairie that reveal themselves in her art and writing. An enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, she understands from experience the important ways language and the way land shapes who we are.

Joyce Sutphen (Courtesy of the author)

SUTPHEN: Minnesota’s second poet laureate grew up on a farm near St. Joseph, Minn. Among her books are “Straight Out of View,” “Naming the Stars” (Minnesota Book Award), and “To Sing Along the Way: Minnesota Women Poets from Pre-Territorial Days to the Present,” which she co-edited. Her poems have appeared in national publications and journals and she has been a guest on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.”

PROKOTT: She is winner of the Howling Bird Press prize for her collection “The Second Longest Day of the Year,” recipient of the AWP Intro Journals Award and the John Calvin Rezmerski Memorial Grand Prize from the League of Minnesota Poets. She has taught at the high school, college and graduate levels for more than 15 years, designing original curriculum for more than 10 courses, ranging from philosophy to the history of film.

COLLINS: A neurodivergent Afro-surrealist blues poet, playwright and movement artist, recipient of awards from the McKnight Foundation, National Urban League, Dramatist Guild Foundation and Augsburg University. They believe poems allow us to wander back to ourselves to meet ourselves anew and that poems are deeply human gestures here to gather us, to propose new, critical and compassionate “floor plans” for the future, for the self. They are the author of the collection “Autopsy” and received a 2023 Jerome Hill Artist fellowship for theater, spoken word and performance.

The program will also recognize Andrea Jenkins for her contributions as a poet and her pivotal role in establishing the Minneapolis Poet Laureate position as a member of the City Council, of which she is now president. She is the first Black transgender woman to be elected to public office in the U.S.

The Gathering of Poet Laureates begins at 5 p.m. Thursday at Open Book, 1101 Washington Ave. S., Mpls. Free, but registration does not guarantee a seat in the main performance space, which will be on a first-come first-served basis. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. and attendees are advised to arrive early. Reservations: loft.org/events/poets-building-community-gathering-poets-laureate. (The program will be streamed in an overflow room.)

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A North Minneapolis woman taking in a sudden influx of stray animals in crisis needed help, especially after a rescued dog in her care unexpectedly gave birth to a litter of puppies.

A small rescue already at capacity referred the case to Jeanne Weigum of Pooches United with People (PUP), who called the woman to get more information.

“The first words out of her mouth were, ‘I’m Hispanic,’” said Weigum of the St. Paul-based nonprofit. “She basically indicated that she had taken in all these dogs and cats of people who were being ‘disappeared’ from the ICE activity. She said people are going away and they’re just putting their dogs and cats outdoors, hoping somebody will take care of them. She said she was working with a young man who was helping catch these dogs and cats and bringing them to her. She told me she’d already rehomed seven dogs.”

Even though Weigum was aware of the heavy presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the Twin Cities for Operation Metro Surge, it was still startling to hear about these particular ripple effects.

“Even though I work with dogs, this was brand new to me and I’m embarrassed to say I had never even thought of it,” Weigum said.

Snowball, front, and Cinnamon after coming into care in January 2026 at Pet Haven in St. Paul. The rescue says the dogs’ owners were detained as part of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Operation Metro Surge. (Kerry D’Amato / Pet Haven)

This crisis is different from past pet crises, Weigum says.

“Because of Katrina, when there was such a catastrophe with animals, the whole animal rescue community figured out how to deal with these big crises,” said Weigum of the 2005 hurricane. “So if it’s a hurricane or if there’s something like that, like floods, the big rescue organizations are set up now to deal with those issues, but this is a rolling crisis. It’s clearly a rolling crisis in our community.”

For pets and their people, it’s also a quieter kind of crisis, one that some organizations and rescuers are still realizing.

“The fact that nobody had talked to me about it, that I hadn’t thought about it, suggests to me that this is a crisis that we haven’t even defined yet as a crisis,” Weigum said recently. “Once you define something as a crisis, you start figuring out what to do about it. I’m not sure anybody’s even doing that yet.”

A dog in a car

In an interview with Michael Barbaro of “The Daily,” a New York Times podcast, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara was asked about how ICE operations were impacting policing in the city.

That impact included the story of a dog in a car.

“So we’ve just gotten a pretty dramatic increase in 911 calls from people in the community related to a lot of the street enforcement that’s happening,” O’Hara said in the interview that aired on Jan. 12. “And it’s things like: People are being arrested, and their cars are left — sometimes left in the roadway, sometimes blocking the street, and in one case left when it wasn’t even placed in park and was rolling down the road. We had another time where there was a dog in the car, and they left the dog in the car.”

But, in terms of the numbers of dogs and cats in the animal control system, it doesn’t appear to be a significant issue yet.

“MACC (Minneapolis Animal Care & Control) hasn’t seen a real uptick,” said a spokesperson for the city of Minneapolis. “Just a few animals.”

It’s the same in St. Paul.

“We have the same year-to-date number of impounded animals as we did this time last year,” said a spokesperson with the city of St. Paul.

The Animal Humane Society, the largest animal welfare organization in the Upper Midwest, concurs.

“We have had less than a handful of calls that we know of over the last couple of weeks related to ICE,” said a spokesperson last week. “We take about 1,000-plus calls a month, so three calls in two weeks isn’t huge. These folks were surrendering because they were either leaving the country or state, or in one instance the owner was deported and a co-worker had their dog and was surrendering to us.”

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But if this situation is impacting pets, some local rescue groups say, in addition to potential language barriers, people might not feel comfortable saying why they are surrendering their animals — and, anecdotally, they are turning for help within their own circle, if they have time to turn to anyone at all.

(At press time, the Pioneer Press was waiting to hear back from U.S. Department of Homeland Security representatives on how they handle pets if detaining people locally.)

But, across all rescues interviewed, it’s clear that pet owners currently in fear of being detained or deported are needing places or people to take their pets in an emergency and they need help now getting supplies like pet food and cat litter while they hunker down at home during this surge.

Feline Rescue

Across St. Paul at Feline Rescue, the kennels are full and the inquiries are incoming.

“We have seen an uptick of cats left at our door,” said Traia Thiel, cat support services manager of the St. Paul-based nonprofit. “I can’t say it’s ICE-related, but it feels correlated. They are usually in carriers. I commend them for leaving them in a place that all but guarantees cats end up safe, but it’s cold.”

Sometimes, the rescue does know more about the pets’ stories due to the inquiries they receive.

“One type is folks who are reaching out on behalf of their neighbors who have had to go into hiding, and so they’ve left their cats with their neighbors who are then trying to rehome the cats for them,” Thiel said.

Another recent call came in for help from people also in hiding while dealing with a deported family member’s two litters of kittens.

“They’re suddenly trying to feed all these kittens and they haven’t been able to leave the house to get food and supplies,” Thiel said.

Feline Rescue is doing what it can to help, despite a full house from taking in cats from an unrelated hoarding situation as well as the current atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.

“Our adoption rates have dropped over the last two weeks,” Thiel said. “It’s cold, people are scared to come in and maybe it feels like not a good time to make a permanent decision for your family … but we are trying to reserve intake slots for anyone directly affected by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

The nonprofit also partners with Keystone Community Services, bringing pet supplies to Keystone for its food programs, which include a mobile food shelf service.

For more info or to donate to Feline Rescue’s Community Outreach & Services, visit felinerescue.org/community-outreach-and-services/. The rescue is also in need of foster homes for senior cats and behavioral/under-socialized cats, apply at felinerescue.volunteerportal.org/?nd=opportunities.

Pet Haven

The staff at Pet Haven — a foster-based animal rescue with a facility on Minnehaha Avenue in St. Paul — are also seeing people and pets in crisis right now.

Cruise after he came into care in January 2026 at Pet Haven in St. Paul. Cruise was surrendered along with his sibling, Crash. The rescue says their owners were returning to Brazil over fears of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Operation Metro Surge, even though they have legal status to live and work in the United States. (Kerry D’Amato / Pet Haven)

“We’ve taken in about 18 animals that have been directly affected by ICE operations,” said Kerry D’Amato, executive director. “I cry more often these days than I ever have. Our facility is in the heart of one of Minnesota’s oldest historical immigrant neighborhoods, Frogtown. We are under attack. Our neighbors are scared. Fosters afraid to leave their house to come get supplies. We are all suffering.”

In some cases, it’s not clear why the pets were separated from their owner — like Otto. The dog was found in an abandoned vehicle that was towed to an impound lot. It took a long time, possibly a month, before anyone discovered the dog and brought him to Pet Haven.

“We have him,” D’Amato said. “He somehow survived.”

There are other cases where the pets’ stories are definitely related to Operation Metro Surge.

“On Friday, we took in six dogs from three different families, all affected by ICE,” D’Amato said. “The immigrant community is very tight and they support each other. There is a community member, in the Latin community, this person became the drop-off point for people who were taken or fearing being taken or leaving, so this person took all these animals and contacted someone who knew us.

“Three days before, we also took in two cats from a mobile home park that belonged to a husband and wife taken by ICE,” she said.

People are coming to Pet Haven, D’Amato says, because they know it really is a haven.

“We have whistles at our front door, we have a sign that says ICE is not welcome; people know it’s a safe space,” she said.

That said, the costs are significant: In Otto’s case, for example, he is currently in foster care and his dental work alone could cost $3,000 or more.

The public can drop off pet food and supplies at Pet Haven, 505 W. Minnehaha Ave., from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, 3 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. More info/donate at pethavenmn.org.

The Bond Between

The ordinary tasks of going to the store to purchase food for your pet or taking them on a walk are not something everyone feels comfortable doing right now in the Twin Cities.

This is something that Rachel Mairose, executive director of the Bond Between, is learning.

“Somebody that I ran into yesterday was crying because she hadn’t walked her dog in a month because she was too scared to go outside,” Mairose said. “She said, ‘What kind of world is this where I can’t even walk my dog?’ That’s just heartbreaking to hear.”

The Bond Between wants to help.

“We’re hoping to be a resource for people who are potentially going to be displaced,” Mairose said.

The nonprofit encourages pet owners to have a plan in place for their pets as Operation Metro Surge continues.

“Everybody’s talking about the human side of it, but pets are also impacted by all of this,” Mairose said.

The nonprofit, which has locations in Minneapolis and Minnetonka, is letting the community know they are open to both surrenders and respite care for pets in this crisis. The organization also has a food shelf.

The help is needed.

“Right now, it’s friends or family members of people who have been detained or are deported and they have custody of the animal, so they’re the ones reaching out to us,” Mairose said.

This is how the organization came to know a Mastiff-Cane Corso mix named Chapo who is in need of a foster home.

“His dad was taken,” Mairose said. “A friend is taking care of him, but can’t long term, and this is not something he expected to happen — that’s his family member and it’s horrible to feel helpless after you have been detained.”

It’s not the organization’s only pet in crisis.

“We have another family where the father is getting deported to Venezuela and his wife and daughter are going to follow him because they want to stay together, but they have a little dog they can’t take,” she said. “These are the situations that are heartbreaking right now — the animal is confused and it’s just another layer of stress for that family that is already going through a hard time. And so, we’re just doing what we can to get resources to families.”

To learn about those resources as well as fostering/donating, go to thebondbetween.org.

Good Samaritans

The Minneapolis woman who is taking in displaced animals spoke to the Pioneer Press recently about the situation from her home in Minneapolis, on the phone and with a rescued cat sitting on her chest while she talked.

The Pioneer Press is not naming the woman at her request; she has security concerns.

While she lives in Minneapolis now, the displaced animals in her care come from a suburban mobile home community where she says she used to live; she still is in contact with some neighbors, including a young good Samaritan rescuing animals there as people scramble in the face of ICE’s presence.

“He was asking me to take this animal or that animal, and I asked, ‘What is going on?’” she said. “That’s when he said that people are just opening doors and letting pets out.”

While she says she has not witnessed the situation herself, the young man paints a picture of a tense neighborhood: “He told me about one guy coming back from getting groceries on his bike and they arrested him,” she said.

Helping the pets of her former neighborhood feels natural; some of her first memories in Mexico involve trying to save chickens, she says.

“I was born that way,” she said. “I have been protecting animals all my life.”

That includes a young dog named Lafond and her six puppies.

Lafond’s spa day

Cassie Eiynck, a pet groomer at Pet Evolution St. Paul, holds the leash of Lafond, a rescue dog, as Sarah Watson, a volunteer with Pooches United with People (PUP), tells Lafond she’ll back after the dog’s haircut and bath on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

As some dogs around her got a bit feisty for their time in “The Groom Room” on Jan. 15, Lafond quietly enjoyed her comped grooming session at Pet Evolution St. Paul at 1074 Grand Ave.

“The whole spa day, she got it,” said Angie Reeves, owner of the St. Paul location.

The former stray, possibly a Shih Tzu mix, definitely needed tidying up after running loose and giving birth: She had some matted hair and other hygiene issues, but one thing was clear to groomer Cassie Eiynck: This dog was socialized, this dog was loved. A lap dog, probably. And now, after apparently losing her home for unknown reasons and in unknown circumstances, a dog with a fresh start.

“You did such a good job,” said PUP volunteer Sarah Watson when the grooming session was finished and dog treats were in hand.

Rescue dog Lafond after being groomed. (Brittney Pryce / Pet Evolution St. Paul)

“I loved helping her out,” Eiynck said.

The pet store does what it can, with the owner covering the cost of grooming and tip for Lafond’s session but also regularly hosting adoption events for PUP.

“We’re not taking political stances or anything,” Reeves said. “We’re just really wanting to support folks being impacted.”

After Lafond’s puppies are weaned, they will be available for adoption before their mom, who will be available later, after she is out of the postpartum period and has been spayed. Check/donate at pupmn.org.

Advice for pet owners

The Minneapolis woman with the dog and puppies had initially reached out to a different animal rescue organization in the metro. This small but established rescue asked PUP to help because they already had their hands full. They still do.

When contacted by the Pioneer Press earlier this month, the rescue had just taken in several dogs from someone who told them they had ICE knocking on their door. After initially giving an interview to the Pioneer Press, the organization’s president later asked not to be named as they are busy with current requests for help from the community, including helping those with cats in need.

She did share some advice for all of us, though, citizens as well as people without legal status.

“The biggest thing is to let people know: Don’t take animals in your car if you are going for an errand,” she said. “Because you don’t know if ICE is going to stop you, detain you and leave the animal in a running car. Only take the pets out if you are bringing them to a vet appointment.”

Also, she said, if you believe you are at risk of detainment, leave a piece of paper somewhere prominently in your home with emergency contacts for people or organizations who can help your pets.

“Because, like this mom with puppies,” she said, “it’s typically your neighbors watching out for you.”

Saying goodbye to Master Shifu

Master Shifu settles into his three-level kennel at Feline Rescue in St. Paul on Jan. 16, 2026. His owner surrendered him as she’s returning to her home country and can’t bring him along. (Traia Thiel / Feline Rescue)

The young woman arrived at Feline Rescue with red eyes, her cat in a carrier.

It was time to say goodbye to Master Shifu.

“I’m originally from Canada and I have the privilege of being white in this country right now, but I just feel sick that my tax dollars are going toward what they are right now … it’s just so scary,” said the woman, a dual citizen who asked not to be identified out of security concerns. “And so me and my family talked about it and we were like, ‘We have to go back.’”

Master Shifu, however, is staying here.

“My partner’s in Canada and they’re very allergic to cats,” she said.

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Because no one she knew here could take in her cat, she was surrendering Master Shifu to Feline Rescue, who will find a new home for the young tuxedo.

“I looked into this rescue and I’m very hopeful because it seems like there are a lot of great people who work here,” she said.

Thiel is one of those people. On Friday, she walked the woman through the paperwork, handed her a box of tissues and gave her time to privately say goodbye to Master Shifu as he settled into the kennel where he would be temporarily housed.

“I’m sorry,” the woman said to her cat. “I love you.”

Master Shifu is now available for adoption. View his profile at felinerescue.org.

“Ready, Queen?” asked Erin Harrington, the Captain of the Guard.

“Yep,” said Erin Gustafson, the newly crowned Aurora, Queen of the Snows of the 2026 St. Paul Winter Carnival.

Regally, Gustafson’s accepted Harrington’s arm and they walked toward a sparkly ensemble of people dressed in crowns and costumes in the lobby of the St. Paul Winter Carnival early Saturday. The royal family was on their way to a breakfast engagement and then to many other events scheduled during the 10 days of fun and frivolity that is this city’s carnival that dates back 140 years and is produced by the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation (and presented this year by Dungarvin).

(The merriment happened before dawn on Saturday, before the fatal shooting of a man by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis. Later, around noon, the King Boreas Grande Day Parade was canceled less than two hours before it was to begin at 2 p.m., with the organizers not saying whether it was due to the extreme cold or because of the shooting.)

Although this royal group will have a year to get to know each other during their reign, Gustafson is already pretty familiar with one person — her dad, Tim Whitacre, is Notos, Prince of the South Wind (from the Royal House of City & County Credit Union).

The prince had a word with the Pioneer Press after his daughter had completed the queen’s traditional annual interview with the newspaper. He explained how the family got involved in Carnival to get back to his St. Paul roots — and their story could be aspirational for others who want to get to know more people and organizations on this side of the metro.

From Big Lake to Woodbury

Notos, Prince of the South Wind Tim Whitacre, rides to the stage on his Cantina float during the 2026 St. Paul Winter Carnival Royal Coronation at the RiverCentre in St. Paul on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

While the prince grew up in Highland Park and attended Nativity, his daughter the queen grew up out in Big Lake, a community about 50 miles northwest of St. Paul in Sherburne County. Later, the queen came to our side of the metro as an undergraduate at the University of St. Thomas before she and her husband settled down inn Woodbury. Her parents (Prince Tim and her mom, Lady Debbie) are back here now, too.

“We just sold our house in October and moved to Woodbury so we’re very new to Winter Carnival and it was our Realtor (Bernie Swafford) who was involved,” said the prince. “She said, ‘If you want to get to know St. Paul people and your neighbors, get involved in Winter Carnival.’”

They did, they sure did.

“After the interview process to be one of the Wind Princes, specifically the South Wind, after I was accepted, she said, ‘Well, if Dad’s in, I’m in,’” the prince recalls. “She always wanted to run for Aurora, Queen of the Snows.”

The queen, who is sponsored by Bernie Swafford at Edina Realty, concurs and explains how the dream began.

The queen dream

Erin Gustafson is crowned as Aurora, Queen of the Snows during the 2026 Winter Carnival Royal Coronation at the RiverCentre in St. Paul on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“I was an Ambassador up in Big Lake in 2010 and 2011,” Gustafson says of a previous royal role. “I got to ride around on Big Lake’s spud, the giant baked potato float. It’s literally a giant baked potato and we had these little square cushions that we’d sit on and they were our little butter pats and I really hope they let me go sit in my old seat when we see it next.”

While the baked potato float (part of the annual Big Lake Spud Fest) was a big deal, the magic of the Winter Carnival also stands out in her memories of this time.

“Back when I was an Ambassador in Big Lake, I came down to the Winter Carnival for a weekend as part of my duties back then and it was my favorite event all year,” she recalls. “I think just the magic of it was really beautiful and also just being around all of these other women who were really empowering and willing to have a good time even if it’s cold out — even if the weather’s not ideal, it’s a choice to just have fun and that’s what we did.”

Part of that fun is imprinted in her memory, specifically ice skating at the outdoor WinterSkate rink in downtown St. Paul with the lights of Rice Park twinkling in the background and set in the shadow of the gingerbread-like Landmark Center.

“It was just gorgeous,” she says.

There were other moments, too, like seeing how St. Paul showed up big at the King Boreas’ Grande Day Parade.

“And so ever since then, I’ve always thought about running for Queen of the Snows, but my job was really demanding right out of undergrad and the timing never really worked out,” she said.

A royal candidate

Gustafson, 31, studied communications at the University of St. Thomas, earning a bachelor’s degree before going on to get her MBA from the University of Minnesota. Now working independently as a strategy and business consultant, she realized she could finally schedule pursuing that longtime dream of hers.

“Working independently has been a lot more flexible,” she says. “So the timing was just right for me.”

Especially with her dad on board.

“It’s very much a family affair,” says the queen.

The queen’s husband, Brandon, hails from Superior, Wis., so she had to explain why she wanted to make room for pursuing this Winter Carnival role along with the other fun stuff in their life, including supporting the local arts community (especially the St. Paul Art Crawl), hosting game nights with friends, hunting for books at used bookstores (he recently added some built-in bookshelves for their growing home library) and continuing her pandemic-born hobby of knitting (she favors creating baby sweaters for her friends).

Of her quest for queenhood, which officially kicked off last fall as one of 12 candidates, her husband needed a minute:

“He said, ‘You want to do what?’” she says with a laugh.

He’s on board, though, especially after the pomp and circumstance of the Royal Coronation at RiverCentre on Friday night in downtown St. Paul.

“I was in awe,” the queen said of the moment the crown was placed on her head.

A royal year

The 2026 Winter Carnival Royal Family after the coronation at the RiverCentre in St. Paul on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

A queen does not serve alone. As part of the royal family, four other women were crowned on Friday as princesses: North Wind Princess Stacy Johnson from the Royal House of Party Time Liquor; East Wind Princess Natalka MacDonald from the Royal House of Quality Insurance Service; West Wind Princess Katelyn Bergstrom from the Royal House of River Hills Automotive and South Wind Princess Christine Hanley from the Royal House of Northern Prairie Financial.

What stood out about Gustafson?

“Erin had a positive, upbeat attitude from the beginning of candidacy!” said Kara Martin, Queen of the Snows candidate coordinator, in an email to the Pioneer Press. “Throughout the process, she began to stand out with her quiet leadership and ability to ask the right questions to make sure all of the candidates would be successful. We are beyond excited for Erin, Stacy, Natalka, Katelyn and Christine as they embark on this journey!”

Over the next year in their volunteer roles, the royal family’s duties include traveling, riding in parades and making appearances at various events, serving as goodwill ambassadors and boosters for the Winter Carnival and our community.

“‘Respect reigns and kindness rules’ is our motto,” she says. “This year, it’s all about positivity — being kind in the community and meeting people and having those little moments that are special and make their day, finding those meaningful moments.”

She’s already had moments like these, with another memory imprinted on her heart.

“We had a bus day where we went to three schools and two nursing homes,” she said of the candidacy process. “At one of the schools, we were in a classroom and I was asking one of the girls what she wanted to be when she grew up. We were in costume that day, so I asked her if she’d like to be a princess, or maybe an astronaut or a singer … well, she just lit up at ‘singer’ and said she wanted to sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ and the ‘ABCs.’ We sang them together and it just melted my heart.”

As the queen, dressed up in her crown and white attire, and the royal entourage drifted away on Saturday to their next engagement, the royal’s mom — Lady Debbie Whitacre — paused a moment to consider the year ahead.

“It’s going to be a wild, wild, wild year!” Lady Debbie said. “Lots of fun!”

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