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PHOTO: William Gannett, dressed as the “Ice King” to promote the 1923 Maine Winter Carnival. (Submitted photo)
AUGUSTA – Kennebec Historical Society will present a Facebook Live program celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Augusta Winter Carnival, at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15.
Author Glenn Parkinson will lead viewers on a journey through photos, program books and newspaper articles to learn the story of Maine’s biggest and most elaborate winter carnival. Parkinson is the author of “First Tracks, Stories From Maine’s Skiing Heritage.” He is also historian for the Maine Ski and Snowboard Museum.
A full page ad in Gannett’s three Maine newspapers 100 years ago declared, “I, William the Conqueror of Ice and Snow, the King of the Augusta Winter Carnival for 1923, defender of all Winter Sports, do proclaim, that the Keeper of the Snows and the Winds grant my subjects clement weather and fair skies for their holiday.
“In exercise of the power invested in me, that the nations of the world may know that Maine’s Kingdom of Ice and Snow can outdo Switzerland as a setting for Winter Sports – I make this proclamation.”
Gannett, who owned the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, had traveled to Switzerland to see how they celebrated winter. He came back with ideas and excitement and hosted a winter carnival that demonstrated to the world that Maine was the place for winter sports.
