Jeff Branch, right, shows off the contents of Don Duso’s briefcase as he hands the leadership of the Winter Carnival committee to Rob Russell while committee Secretary Nancy LaBombard looks on. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

SARANAC LAKE — Rob Russell took off his shoe. Jeff Branch off his. Russell compared their sneakers sitting side-by-side and said he’s got big shoes to fill, literally.

Russell was unanimously voted in as the new chairman of the Winter Carnival Committee on Tuesday, taking the reins from Branch.

The assembled members gave Branch a standing ovation for his seven years of service at the helm of the committee, which organizes the annual 10-day festival, all while balancing work and a family. Branch thanked the committee and all the volunteers who make Carnival happen. He said he couldn’t say much more without getting emotional.

It was an emotional night for Branch, who was visibly choked up as he handed the mantle to Russell and addressed the committee. Winter Carnival means a lot to him. He said some of his favorite childhood memories are from Carnival. For people who grew up here and moved away, he said Winter Carnival is one of the things that always brings them back to their hometown.

Branch said that Russell “gets” Carnival. Both said they are “true believers” in Carnival — what it stands for, what it means, what it does and what it represents. They spoke of Carnival in metaphysical terms — its spirit and its soul.

Russell repeatedly said it would “take a village” to put Carnival on. He looked around the room and said he saw long-time volunteers and fresh faces. He was glad, saying they would bring a mix of tradition and new ideas.

“In many respects I’m like a little kid and I hope to really never totally grow up,” Russell said. “That’s what Winter Carnival’s all about.”

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Triumphs, regrets and a briefcase

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The transition happened with a symbolic handing off of a black leather briefcase. This was the briefcase from longtime Carnival committee Chair Don Duso.

Branch said Duso and Katee Fobare ran the committee as equals for 23 years and played large parts in the Carnival tradition. When Duso died in 2010, Jeff Dickson came into possession of the briefcase for three years. He then handed it off to Eric Foster for another three years. When Branch was elected the chair in 2016 he was given the briefcase, and now he was handing it off to Russell.

People never carried much in it, Branch said. It was mostly Duso’s belongings. But these weren’t just nostalgic Carnival ephemera. It was his “baggage” Branch said — the things that troubled Duso about Carnival, issues he grappled with, regrets.

In the 1990s, Branch said there was a lot of discussion about excessive drinking, especially during the Gala Parade. This weighed on Duso’s mind, Branch said. One year, a person was hit by a car in front of the Ice Palace and died.

Branch himself has experienced his share of hard times in organizing Carnival — from the “Fiesta” fiasco, to the COVID Carnival — as global and national politics and pandemics threatened to tear apart what Carnival means.

Fiesta was set to be the theme for the 2018 Winter Carnival until opposition from community members concerned about its cultural implications got the name changed to “Adirondack Festival.” The theme and the change were highly controversial that year and remain controversial to this day.

Branch said someone even complained about it to him at his mother’s funeral. It was a difficult time for Carnival.

“This committee voted for (the theme). I changed it. I regret doing that,” Branch said as the theme was discussed again on Tuesday at the theme vote meeting.

He said he changed it himself because a sponsor was uncomfortable with it, but he said this was his “biggest mistake” as chair and he’s regretted it ever since.

During the coronavirus pandemic years, Branch said they worked hard to keep Carnival going in some way, even when it was severely reduced. If it stopped, he said it could lose momentum and run out of steam entirely.

Branch modified the briefcase he handed off to Russell for if emergencies rise again — he opened it up to reveal a can of Guinness, a pint glass and a small bottle of whiskey he blended himself while visiting Dublin, Ireland.

Branch said he really relies on getting through the hard times by dwelling on the good times — and there are lots of them. The high watermark for him was “Logan’s Day.”

Logan Baugh was a 14-year-old Make-A-Wish recipient from Phoenix, New York whose wish was to stay in an Adirondack cabin and have a pizza party at the Ice Palace.

On Feb. 24, 2022, that wish was granted in spades. Baugh rode atop the Winter Carnival Royalty float with members of the Royal family as Gala Parade staple acts led the float down the street with fire trucks and police cars escorting the parade.

It was the middle of a weekday but the town stopped what they were doing and came out to make Baugh’s day.

Branch said seeing hundreds of people turning out for one kid to line the parade route on sidewalks, hanging out windows and dancing in the street will be his “enduring memory” of Carnival. Even though it wasn’t even during Carnival, he said it showed how they can keep the Carnival spirit alive all year round.

“That meant a lot to me, that was a big deal for me,” Branch said. “That’s what Winter Carnival is, that’s what Saranac Lake is.”

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“New blood”

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Branch’s first time attending a Carnival meeting was when he was a member of the village board. He had been involved in Carnival — the palace, the parade — but not in a “substantial role.”

It was former Mayor Clyde Rabideau’s first year in office and Jeff Dickson, the Carnival chair at the time, asked the village to attend a meeting and get more involved in the event.

Rabideau told Branch to join him at the meeting and Branch never stopped going. He left the village board but worked his way up to the head of the Carnival committee.

Branch said he thinks he got tricked into becoming the committee chair by Eric Foster.

On Tuesday, he said stepping back is one of the hardest things he’s done now, but he believes it’s the right thing to do.

“I’m a big proponent of term limits,” he said. “I think to keep things fresh we’ve got to have new blood.”

Now, his job is to keep his mouth shut and let Russell do his thing, he said.

He’ll still stay on the committee in an advisory role as a “past president” for three years to assist with the transition to Russell. And he’ll still be around, working on the Ice Palace and participating in the Carnival parade.