Midmorning’s Paula Schroeder talks with MPR reporters Bill Catlin and Chris Roberts about people gathering in the cold weather to watch the 1991 World Series Champion Minnesota Twins celebratory parade, which starts in St. Paul, then moves to Minneapolis.
SPEAKER: Well, Paula, it's definitely filling up. I would say, for the first-- and this is just a completely rough guess-- somewhere between a 10th and 1/4 of a mile of the parade route, which, by the way, will probably be the coldest part of the parade route because there's absolutely no windbreak here.
Yes, there are people that are about 3, and 4, and 5 deep, along both sides of Fillmore Avenue. I asked a bunch of people why they came out to sit in the cold when they could have gotten seats in the dome, and many said that, well, they missed the parade in '87, and they really wanted to have a second chance at it and see to get the parade feeling of this whole thing instead of sitting in the dome, as one fan put it to me, we're not fair weather friends or fans.
PAULA: Well, plus all the seats in the dome are sold out. I guess, there were 60,000 tickets sold by 5:30 yesterday afternoon. So you couldn't sit inside anyway. Maybe a few spots left in the skyways downtown. Chris Roberts is in downtown Saint Paul. And, Chris, what does it look like down here?
CHRIS ROBERTS: Actually, Paula, I am standing in the park between Kellogg Boulevard and the Mississippi River. I was listening to your weather forecast a few moments ago. I can verify the fact that it is cold out here, and I'm kind of upset about the fact that I forgot my hat.
Looking down Kellogg Boulevard, the eastbound lanes are closed, and the westbound lanes are still open, but I would imagine they'll be closed in a few moments. Hundreds of people down here, maybe thousands, and they are gathering 2 and 3 deep on either side of the westbound lanes of Kellogg Boulevard. I'm looking across at the Saturn school. I noticed that the Saturn school has a sign up in the window. Saturn school congratulates the Minnesota Twins.
It's a youthful crowd down here on Kellogg Boulevard. A lot of the Saturn students have been let out for a few hours at least. And I would imagine a lot of the companies in the downtown area have allowed their employees to take a few hours off to watch the parade, maybe to venture over to Minneapolis for the dome celebration.
PAULA: I understand, yeah, that there are a lot of companies who are just closing down shop for today and say, go ahead and celebrate the victory. What's the mood of the people there? Is it festive or they're just at this point saying, boy, it's cold out here.
CHRIS ROBERTS: Well, Bill Catlin was talking about the Minnesota hunch. I've noticed what probably isn't a new phenomenon. I would call it the Minnesota hop. A lot of people are standing very stiffly, hopping up and down, trying to keep the blood flowing. But I would imagine that once the parade starts, the adrenaline will flow as their heroes pass them by in those pickup trucks.
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