CAST
John Rabe, host
Robert Byrnes, Mayor of Marshall MN
Dan Olson, play-by-play and reader
Cafe Accordion Orchestra, Dan Newton
Brandi Parisi, reader
Kevin Kling, playwrite
Lynn Warfel-Holt, reader
Vijit Ramchandani, Poet Laureate
Tony Carter, Asst. St. Paul Fire Chief or Tim Fuller, St. Paul Fire Chief
Listener Poets

TIME - DURATION - ELEMENT

10:00:00 - 1:00 - Produced Open

10:01:00 - 5:00 - Newsbreak

10:06:00 - 1:00 - POEM: Tom Kalbrener/The Cremation outcue: "burned up the snowman." (2x)

10:07:00 - 1:00 - MUSIC: Theme music up then under Rabe

RABE: Introduction to the SB

Welcome to the Third Annual Minnesota Public Radio Snowman Burning ... and the first day of spring. It's _____ and _____ degrees, and we're broadcasting live from the Saint Paul Fire Training Center, right next to the Saints Stadium. Behind me is a concrete hulk the fire department uses to train firefighters how to put out building fires; in front of us, the tower the trainees climb with ladders; there's a bleacher full of people to my right, and behind me a nine-foot snowman made of chickenwire and newspapers.

When we were kids, we'd ask my dad, "what did you do during the war?" And instead of telling us the truth -- that he was dropping propaganda leaflets on Soviet soldiers -- he told us about an old German tradition ... another in a long series of cultural traditions designed to coerce children into being good. These villagers would allegedly tell kids spring could only come if they burned a snowman, and they wouldn't burn the snowman if they didn't behave.

In the next half-hour, we'll hear more poetry and the music of the Cafe Accordion Orchestra. Later in the show, Minnesota's own Kevin Kling, poet laureate Vijit Ramchandani, and then, with the help of the Saint Paul Fire Department, we'll burn this snowman.

We asked listeners to send us poems about the changing of the seasons, and started the show with The Cremation by Tom Kalbrener (KAL-bren-er) of New Brighton, a poem he offered with apologies to Robert W. Service. Next ...

10:08:00 - 0:45 - POEM: Erik Knutson (kuh-NOOT-sun) / Spring Bugs

10:09:00 - 1:00 - POEM: Suranjan Roychowdhury / The Passing of Winter

10:10:00 - 1:00 - POEM: Patricia Davis-Muffett/Scent of Spring

10:11:00 - 1:00 - MUSIC: Up then under Rabe and Brandi

RABE: Believe it or not, not everybody burns a snowman on the first day of spring. We asked people to e-mail us the stuff they do themselves on the day, or know about other people doing. Here's Minnesota Public Radio's Brandi Parisi with a couple of responses.

BRANDI: At least two families in the Twin Cities balance eggs on the equinox.

(FADE OUT MUSIC HERE)

Carol Caouette writes: When we were a young family, a mom, a dad, and two young children, we made a point to balance eggs on the kitchen counter, come vernal equinox.

Our family aged, the kids are gone or leaving soon, and we are wiser. Eggs will balance on the kitchen counter any given day but favorite traditions aren't known for their logic or practicality.

And another Carol, Carol Surine, sent instructions:

Hold a raw egg, big side down, between your two palms. Let the yolk settle, and then let it go, slowly. The first time you get the balance right, you feel like a magician. I like to set about a dozen eggs on the counter, on the ledge around the kitchen, ad on the mantle, etc. It might be crazy, but ain't it great!

Well ... yes, on both counts.

10:12:00 - 2:00 - MUSIC: Something blizzardy

GUEST: Mayor of Marshall, Robert Byrnes; Rabe and Byrnes talk, Byrnes reads poem

RABE: This was a bad winter. It seemed like every time we turned around, there was a new blizzard coming our way, and no city suffered more than Marshall, which several times closed its roads to keep people out of the weather. So, on the first day of spring, we welcome the Mayor of Marshall Robert Byrnes.

10:14:00 - 1:00 - POEM: Candyce Stout/Snow-man or No-man

10:15:00 - 1:30 - MUSICAL INTERLUDE -- Newton's Choice with Cafe Accordion Orchestra

10:16:30 - 1:00 - POEM: Shawn Plank/An Ode to Farm Market Reports

10:17:30 - 1:30 - POEMS: Students of Charles King's class at Saint Francis Junior High read by Dan Olson and Brandi Parisi

BP:
Fire, fire burn real bright
Tell us who'll be burned tonight.
Snowmen everywhere will freak
To see a fellow snowman shriek.

DAN:
I dream of summer
Like eggs frying in a pan
But I'm still here
With ice, snow, and cursed snowman.

BP:
Shorts and Tee shirt are all you wear,
When you're running in the cool spring air.
Never any shoes, just bare feet,
Laying down and tanning on the beach.

DAN:
It's the death of winter
and the birth of spring.
I can finally get rid of this snow shovel
this ugly thing.

BP:
The snowman sits, waiting, innocent
As if winter will never end.
I look to my right,
The kerosene can in my hand tells its future.
As I douse his body I laugh a sick laugh
And I kiss his mouth.
I know it will be our last.

10:19:00 - 3:00 - SPECIAL GUEST: Kevin Kling presents part of "The Education of Walter Kaufmann,

10:22:00 - 1:00 - POEM: Richard Smyth/The Snowman Goes to Hell (Lynn Warfel-Holt reads)

10:23:00 - 2:00 - MUSIC up then under entire segment

BURNING THE SNOWMAN Rabe with Chief Fuller or Asst Chief Carter On command, firemen set fire to Snowman Dan Olson, play by play

10:25:00 - 2:00 - POEM: Poet Laureate Vijit Ramchandani - - - - 10:27:00 - 2:00 - MUSIC/AUDIENCE SINGS "FROSTY THE SNOWMAN"
Rabe reads credits over singing.

That's the Snowman Burning for another year. Thanks to Dan Newton's Cafe Accordion Orchestra; playwright Kevin Kling; Luna Lux, for printing the Snowman Burning posters; technical director Alan Stricklin; MPR's Marketing and Communications department; Janet Ray, Doug Fisher, and John Pearson on the MPR Web site; Herbert Khourey, for inspiration; John Forde, who helped build the snowman; and the Saint Paul Fire Department, for understanding that you need a good fire every now and then. Thanks, too, to the hundreds of people who sent us poems. Sorry we couldn't use more of them. The executive producer of the Snowman Burning is Mel Sommer. For Minnesota Public Radio, I'm John Rabe.

10:30:00 - - Return to studio.

Snowman Burning Netcast

Snowman Burning - So Long, Frosty (video) - The Snowman Cometh