Remembering the Ice Carnival Queens of Yore

As told by photographer Laird Chaffee, Class of 1967

The woman in the photo is Andrea (Rubach) Copley ’67. She and I were Crane freshmen together way back in the last century in ’63. She was the first independent Ice Carnival Queen candidate. The theme was Grecian Grandeur and out of a hat she pulled Diana, Goddess of the Hunt. The car belonged to Bob Holiday, then a local lawyer, and the bow and arrow we borrowed from John Maxcy himself. She won much to the chagrin of the sorority candidates. I had a fire in 1980 when the original Isle of You burned thanks to the Potsdam arsonist, and I didn’t salvage a lot but I did salvage the negatives from that job. It is both of personal and historical, or at least of collegiately historical significance. So that’s the story and I’m sticking to it.

Chaffee is busy these days welcoming
twin granddaughters to the family.