Transcripts

BILL: First cars in the police motorcade are driving by. It's quite an impressive sight. We've got about six police cars, lights flashing, heading down here, representing a variety of law enforcement organizations. It's quite a ways before we actually get to what looks to be the Twins team members. There's several groups of people, a WCCO Radio truck with a huge speaker system blaring something or other. And then--

PAULA: Oh, you can't tell what it is?

BILL: Oh, the speakers are not facing me. I'm not sure exactly what it is. And then the first pickup truck has, of course, manager Tom Kelly in the back looking-- no, I'm sorry, that's one of the organizers of the thing. From a distance, he looks a little bit like Tom Kelly. First truck with the Twins official is Carl Pohlad, it looks like. Pardon.

PAULA: They're bringing all the front office people out first before the players, a little anticipatory move, I would imagine, on the part of the organizers.

BILL: Absolutely, absolutely. Let's see. Now, let's see. All of the trucks are labeled. We have the family of the Pohlads, the owners of the Twins. And let's see who's next. We've got the Bells. I believe that's the president of the Twins, Jerry and Phyllis Bells. The Gephardt's. And then Saint Paul Mayor Jim Scheibel. And it's quite an impressive sight here. I'm looking down a street with police cars that-- I think there are at least two dozen police cars, all with their lights flashing. It's quite a visual spectacle.

PAULA: Have they been able so far to keep people off to the sides of the road so that there's no one charging the vehicles surrounding them?

BILL: I'm going to have to double check that. I'm a little bit in front of where the parade began, the official start of the parade. The crowd is a little ways down. But so far, I see a few vehicles moving. It's not progressing terribly quickly. I have no idea what the expected plan was. But it does look as if they will be able to make some progress at a reasonable pace. But things have stopped right now at the very beginning of the parade, at the intersections of Plato and Fillmore.

PAULA: People are keeping warm, though, and getting excited, I would imagine, Bill.

BILL: People were trying their best to keep warm. One gentleman told me, ironically, this is a summer game. Some people are complaining that they didn't bring enough to keep warm. But by and large, a fair amount of anticipation. People are quite into it. They really wanted to get the parade feel. And so those who came out, braved the winds, which are really quite gusting right now.

PAULA: Well, there must be some players coming along behind you, Bill, because I hear some screaming back there.

BILL: Yeah. Actually, the screams begin in-- a player hasn't reached the crowd yet, as far as I can tell. But nonetheless, I suppose, the screaming is a symbol of the level of excitement here, because I believe the Pohlads are the first. Carl and Eloise Pohlad are the first to actually reach the crowd. We have yet to have a Twins player get to the crowd.

PAULA: Well, OK, you stand by, Bill, and be sure to cheer for us too. OK. We have Chris Roberts standing by. Chris, are you there?

CHRIS ROBERTS: Yes, I am.

PAULA: OK. So you're awaiting the arrival yet? You're down at Kellogg Park.

CHRIS ROBERTS: That's right. Kellogg park. Near the corner, actually, of Robert Street and Kellogg. I'm looking at the bridge right now. Probably about a quarter of the way over the bridge, there's a solid wall of people gathering. The rest of the bridge, people aren't inhabiting it right now. It's obviously a really cold place to stand and wait for the Twins.

But a really impressive crowd is building here. Anticipation is building as well. I'm looking at buildings around the area. There are people out on balconies, people in windows. There's a parking structure across the street on the corner of Minnesota and Kellogg, a line of people on every level of that parking structure. It's about four or five deep on either side of the westbound lanes of Kellogg. People are really ready. They're ready for the Twins to come by.

PAULA: Has traffic been stopped downtown?

CHRIS ROBERTS: Traffic has completely stopped. The westbound lanes of Kellogg have been cordoned off with yellow ribbon. And every once in a while, you hear a yell, a welling up in the crowd. The anticipation is building, Paula.

PAULA: OK. Well, we'll check in with you later. Thanks a lot, Chris. And Kate Moose is in downtown Saint Paul, right in the heart of downtown.

KATE MOOSE: Hello, Paula.

PAULA: Hi. Are you in the midst of a big crowd, Kate?

KATE MOOSE: Well, I'm off to the side of a big crowd, frankly. But, in fact, the crowds are huge down here on the corner of 7th and Wabasha. I'm standing perched on the stairs right next to the World Trade Center. It's not a bad place to be at all, because there's a very warm doorway into the World Trade Center right next to me. And the snack shops are in there, too, as people have discovered. A very big crowd. All the sidewalks are filled. I don't know why. But for some reason, the Dayton side is more crowded than the Walgreens side. You'll figure it out.

PAULA: OK, well, I imagine the retailers are thrilled to death with this parade.

KATE MOOSE: I would think so too. A lot of people walking out of the doors here, carrying cups, and burgers, and that sort of thing. So business is probably brisk. Paula, in my endless search for controversy over on this end of things, I have been polling people to see if, in their opinion, it is, in fact, colder or warmer today than it was in 1987. And at this point, the results are mixed. I can tell you why I'm warmer, because I'm better-dressed, but a lot of people down here seem to be shivering in the wind.

PAULA: Yeah, it was pretty cold that day back in 1987 too, wasn't it?

KATE MOOSE: It sure was.

PAULA: Yeah, we can't count on the end of October being balmy in Minnesota.

KATE MOOSE: I don't think so.

PAULA: Well, Kate, you and all the other folks down there at the-- you're just on the corner of the World Trade Center, I guess. You've got a few more minutes to wait, probably. But have a great time.

KATE MOOSE: Thanks, Paula.