Saranac Lake Winter Carnival King John Wamsganz and Queen Anita Meserole share a smile on their thrones in front of a large bear cutout at Friday night’s Coronation. Beside them are Saranac Lake High School seniors Joseph Viscardo and Alivia Sapone, the Winter Carnival Court's attendants to the queen and king. (Enterprise photos — Antonio Olivero)

SARANAC LAKE — Within the opening minute of hosting the Winter Carnival Coronation, Chamberlain Josh Dann introduced the packed house at the Harrietstown Town Hall to a common fun-loving theme to keep the night light.

“I’m sure most of you have heard of comedian Jeff Foxworthy,” Dann, who is principal of Saranac Lake High School, said as he took the podium. “He is know for ‘You might be a redneck if’ jokes, and has taken a stab at upstate New Yorkers.

“So I thought I would dub this idea into, ‘You might love the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival If.’

“… you designed a themed carnival costume to fit over your snowsuit.”

“… you have worked out and trained for the frying pan toss.”

“… you dance more with your lawn chair than you do with your spouse.”

A moment later, Dann wished everyone in attendance to have a “silly, fantastic, wild, joyous, happy, festive, safe, wonderful and howling good time at Carnival this year.”

Carnival opened with a silly and festive howl for sure at Friday night’s annual Coronation, hosted by the Women’s Civic Chamber. Whether it was the raucous standing ovation Saranac Lake High School senior Will Gray received for his rendition of Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good” or the deafening applause when 2017 King John Wamsganz and Queen Anita Meserole were led the center aisle, the year of “Adirondack Wildlife” commenced with nostalgic celebration.

The Saranac Lake lifer Wamsganz and Queens transplant Meserole were hailed as the darlings of Winter Carnival. They were seated at thrones in front of a huge cutout of a bear, to go with this year’s wildlife theme, flanked by the rest of the Court made up of high school seniors.

Seated to the left of Meserole was this year’s princess, Desiree Stumpf, a Chateaugay native and wildlife management student at Paul Smith’s College.

And seated to the right of Wamsganz was this year’s prince, Marcus Johnson, a Camden native and wilderness leadership and environmental science dual major at North Country Community College.

Along with three numbers by the SLHS jazz ensemble, Coronation featured two dances that provided a taste of the kind of wildlife-themed choreography that will be on full display at next Friday night’s annual Rotary Club Variety Show, also at the Harrietstown Town Hall at 7:30 p.m.

The six pages danced to a mashup of the Troggs’ 1966 No. 1 hit “Wild Thing” and the Monty Python comedy troupe’s “The Lumberjack Song.”

The 2017 Winter Carnival Court wore sunglasses and flipped to the funky 2015 song “The Wild Life” by Outasight. It was a brisk and jubilant three-and-a-half minute pop tune that sent the hundreds in attendance at the town hall home primed for the ensuing 10 days and nights of mid-winter festivities.

“All right, all night,” the song concluded, “get ready for the wild life.”

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Meet the king: http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/02/meet-the-king/

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Meet the queen: http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/02/meet-the-queen/

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Coronation slideshow: http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/02/coronation-slideshow/

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Coronation photo gallery on CU: http://cu.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/2017-Winter-Carniva-389.html

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Ice Palace slideshow: http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/02/ice-palace-slideshow/

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Ice lean-to built next to Palace: http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/02/ice-lean-to-built-next-to-palace/