Storyteller Series: An Evolution of the Union’s Winter Carnival
The first of several parts in our Union Storyteller series!
“The Union is the place to be.” – Ted Crabb, Union Director 1968-2001.
It is as simple as that. For more than 90 years, the Union has been a cornerstone of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. It has served as not only a living room but a rec room, a family room, a study hall, a café, and most of all, a way for students to connect and grow as a community. The Union’s winter activities, and recently the Winter Carnival, are the first topic in what will be a series of discussions between former Union Director Ted Crabb, and current Director Mark Guthier, about the evolution of the Union throughout their combined years.
Ranging from “Winter Week,” a ten day, campus-wide festival involving ski jumping, ice carving, and the Snow Ball dance in the 1940’s, to the more recent Winter Carnival including horse-drawn carriage rides and broom hockey, the students at UW Madison, especially the Wisconsin Hoofers club, know how to bring recreation alive in the winter months. “Hoofers members are students, faculty, staff, Union and community members, and the fact that they sponsor something like the Winter Carnival is a great example of how the Union brings people together,” Guthier said.
Crabb and Guthier took the time to discuss what makes the 2016 Winter Carnival a revised rendition of its founding Winter Week activities and evolving Winter Carnivals. “The newest addition to Winter Carnival has been Rail Jam. We have really built the Winter Carnival around the Rail Jam which happens on Observatory Hill. Snowboarders do their tricks and their feats off the rails. [Winter Carnival is] a good way for students to get out and enjoy the cold weather,” Guthier said.
Growing the Winter Carnival in the future involves extra effort from student organizations and an evolution of the Union Idea. “Hoofers and the Winter Carnival are great examples of the mission of the Union. We are beyond a student center… We are a union of students, faculty, staff, members, and the community,” Guthier said.
Throughout years of new buildings, changes in the student body, and the loss of the University’s beloved ski jump, the Directors reflect on their favorite memories of students coming together to celebrate in winter. Crabb reminisced about planning the very first Hoofers ski trip up to Rib Mountain State Park in Wausau in 1954, “I’ll never forget hearing the roar of those busses awaiting the students to jump aboard and take off for Marathon County.”
While some students trekked up north for the first of many ski trips, Guthier remembers an event a little closer to home, “My fondest memory is actually the year that Hoofers held the Rail Jam on the Terrace. They wanted to do something new, something exciting, and of course we had no snow. So they trucked in all of this manufactured snow and bags of ice to create the slope and Rail Jam course right in the middle of the Terrace— the images and memories of that evening are still some of the best we have.”
Guthier and Crabb also discussed looking forward to what the Hoofers club, students, staff, and the Memorial Union renovations hold for the future, “With the addition of the new Alumni Park we can grow the Winter Carnival with other campus partners. We will have this green space that interfaces right with the lake, so I know there are ideas about working with major campus entities to push Winter Carnival into a larger event.” Guthier said.
Whether it be the old Winter Week parade or Winter Carnival’s current day snowshoe hike to Picnic Point, these exciting (and frosty) times at the University help to remind students, staff, and members of the Union’s importance in creating a community within Madison. A community that fosters dedication to relationships, education, and fun. Perhaps Mark Guthier said it best in speaking about his experience at the Union, “I don’t think that you can fully describe what the Union experience is. You have to actually be here, you have to engage in the Union, it has to become a part of you.”
