A wedding fit for a king and queen
Dorothy Arneberg Furlong and Charlie Hall will once again hold court over the St. Paul Winter Carnival — if only for a few hours.
Furlong, Queen of the Snows in 1955, and Hall, King Boreas Rex in 1983, will be wed in a public ceremony today in Rice Park.
Are they nervous about tying the knot in front of an expected 1,000 revelers?
No, we've done this before, the White Bear Lake couple said recently. Both have been married — Furlong for 47 years, Hall for nearly 60.
"It's just another day in the life of the carnival," said Hall, 80.
"Part of the pageantry," added Furlong, 75.
She should know. Furlong has been active in the carnival since her year as Queen of the Snows, including a stint as director of the carnival board.
Hall, former owner of the Mermaid in Mounds View, helped to build several ice castles, including the 1986 Lake Phalen castle and the 1992 castle at Harriet Island Regional Park.
"It was a labor of love," he said of the process.
While the two ran in separate social circles, they would see each other once a year at the King's Brunch — an invitation-only get-together for past Boreases and their friends and family. Furlong knew Hall's wife, Ceil, through volunteering for the carnival, and Furlong became a regular at the Halls' table for the annual meal.
When Ceil passed away in January 2010, Hall didn't make the brunch. While he was able to notify most of his guests of his absence ahead of time, he said,
