After a meeting on Tuesday in which more than 50 theme ideas were pitched and discussed, the committee selected Music Legends/Jukebox Heroes, Buggin’ Out, Haunted/Spirited Carnival, Wizards and Dragons, British Invasion and Dance Party to be considered for next year’s Carnival theme.

Now it’s time for the public to weigh in, but the only vote that really matters is the one cast on April 18, when the committee reconvenes to take a final vote on the theme.

The Carnival theme selection process is open to the public. Anyone who attends the meetings can pitch an idea and have a vote, as well as participate in the deliberations. The April 18 meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at the Saranac Lake Elk’s Lodge.

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Steve Dehond shows off a photo of himself as a young boy he says he took this week while using his recently invented time machine. Dehond was pitching his 2024 Winter Carnival theme idea “The Greatest Invention in the World” to the Winter Carnival Committee on Tuesday. His theme did not make the final six. The six that did will be voted on by the public at an April 18 meeting. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Music Legends/Jukebox Heroes

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There were many music-related theme ideas at the meeting Tuesday.

Music Legends has been in the running for Carnival theme for several years now. Tuesday’s meeting brought new submissions, like Erin Walkow’s Jukebox Heroes or Cory Hoffman’s Disco Fever.

Music is always a big part of Carnival, from the fireworks shows, to the parade, the concerts and playlists all over town. These people want to set the record straight and turn Saranac Lake onto some good tunes.

Rob Russell boogies before the Winter Carnival Committee as he pitches his 2024 Winter Carnival theme idea “Dance Party” on Tuesday. His theme is one of six to be voted on by the public at an April 18 meeting. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

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Buggin’ Out

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Katrina Dearden collected theme ideas from the kids she works with at the local YMCA group, and one, the committee thought, had legs. Six legs, to be exact. Buggin’ Out was voted into the final group.

Carnival King Marty Rowley had also suggested “Adirondack Visitors,” which he had said could include things like invasive bugs.

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Haunted/Spirited Carnival

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Haunted Carnival has been pitched several years but always rejected because it could be too scary for kids.

IPW builder and designer Chris Grimone said on the night they knocked down the Ice Palace this year, a group stuck around and brainstormed theme ideas. He said the group talked about a “Spirited Carnival,” which would be less about frights, and more about fun.

One email submission was for A Paranormal Day in the Adirondacks. Kelly Whight, in an absentee nomination, pitched Spooky Carnival, with more of an Addams Family ooky and kooky vibe than a scary one.

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Wizards and Dragons

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Milt Adams has been pitching Wizards and Dragons for 16 years now, and while it hasn’t been selected yet, that has not stopped him from persisting.

Carnival Committee Chair Jeff Branch said that technically, since they started counting over at some point, it’s only been two years.

This fantastical theme has made the top picks several times, but never quite found that magic push to make it. In the picking for the 2022 theme, Wizards and Dragons made the top three, but Adams said he wanted to hold off for a year where the coronavirus pandemic wasn’t threatening to mar a full Carnival.

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British Invasion

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Saranac Lake High School Choral Director Drew Benware pitched British Invasion, a celebration of all things British — royalty, culture, Gilbert and Sullivan, the American Revolution and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Benware said he has “strong English heritage” in his family, so he’s always loved all things British. He thinks this could be an interesting theme because of “all the subsets that it could embody.”

The first thing most people think of when they hear “British Invasion” is the wave of bands like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Monkees in the 1960s. But he also said Americans have an “undue obsession with the royal family.” And though it wasn’t an invasion, per se, the Revolutionary War in an important part of history.

“We could do a Boston Tea Party or something like that,” Benware said.

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Dance Party

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Rob Russell, who is set to become the Carnival committee chair at the April 18 meeting, told his wife Karen to look away as he pitched his idea — he was about to dance.

The pitch was a whole production, complete with lights, music, dancing, an outfit change and a lengthy speech. The whole spiel took nearly 20 minutes from start to end, but after his “slick” moves and some technical difficulties, the committee figured he could have earned an Oscar.

There weren’t all rave reviews, though.

“Thank God we had that time change,” Meachele Manchester said when Russell was done, referencing the turning forward of clocks recently for daylight saving time.

Russell jokingly threatened the committee to vote for his theme or he’d come back next year with an even longer speech.

The theme for next year’s Carnival will be voted on by the public, anyone who attends the April 18 meeting.