For five decades, Hutchinson native Marv Witte was the guy behind the curtain. He set up the stage, and ran the lights and sound for the Hutchinson Jaycee Water Carnival pageant and queen coronation.
The Jaycees recognized Witte’s contributions to the long-running summer festival in 2017 when he was presented with the Honorary Commodore Award at the Saturday night banquet.
Witte was the fourth recipient of this honor, which was started in 2014 to recognize individuals who made outstanding contributions to the Water Carnival.
Past recipients were Hutchinson Police Sgt. Joe Nagel, longtime Water Carnival photographer Arlyn DeBruyckere and Water Carnival/Jaycee member Kyle Wendling.
In the spirit of the 75th anniversary of the Water Carnival, Commodore Adam Fink said, there was no one person more deserving than Witte.
“He made an impact on the Water Carnival festival by contributing countless hours of his time and talents,” Fink said.
Josh Gehlen was commodore in 2013, which marked Witte’s 50th Water Carnival celebration.
“Marv was extremely helpful to all of the candidates and provided great little tips and tricks to help them feel more at ease,” Gehlen said. “How to approach and use the microphone, how to enter and exit the stage and so on. They may seem like small things but they helped the girls tremendously because those were things they hadn’t necessarily thought about and Marv’s vast experience could guide them in feeling more relaxed and confident.”
Gehlen went on to say, Witte’s many years of experience also helped out the commodore and pageant committee.
“He was always there with a helping hand or suggestion to make things run smoother,” Gehlen said. “Marv did all of this for 50 years and not for recognition but because he loved to be a part of the festival and to help out. He was always behind the scenes making it run like a well-oiled machine and we couldn’t have done it without him.”
Jeremy Carter, who served as commodore in 2015, echoed Gehlen’s sentiments.
“He always had impeccable timing and an innate ability to help pageant chairs, queen candidates and (the) commodore/first mate take care of the small details behind the scenes that sometimes went unnoticed,” Carter said. “He always had a positive attitude and always had a calm presence while others around him not so much ... Because he had been a part of the pageant and coronation for so many years and could ‘get the job done,’ he was a trusted person by the Water Carnival committee and one person that was always extremely appreciated and respected by everyone.”
Chris Wilke, who was commodore in 2016, worked with Witte and the pageant and coronation for 15 years.
Wilke called Witte “a jack-of-all-trades” at the pageant and coronation.
“He would perform any job that was asked of him,” Wilke said. “Things such as arranging the pageant stage, ensuring the candidates’ microphones were working and bringing the fishbowl out for (the) Q&A. His most difficult job each year, though, was trying to teach us Jaycee escorts how to walk out on stage with the candidates so we weren’t upstaging them. Anyone that can master that skill like he did is a legend in their own right.”
HOW IT STARTED
Witte got involved with the Hutchinson Jaycee Water Carnival pageant and coronation in a roundabout way.
He was the custodian working for Hutchinson Schools when someone was needed to open the building for the bands that played during the Grande Day Parade. It was his job to take care of 17 to 18 bands, plus make two school rooms available for each band — one for girls and one for boys. Among his other duties were providing security and distributing lunches to band members.
“I couldn’t leave until all the bands were gone,” Witte said.
When Witte started with the Water Carnival, the pageant and coronation took place in the auditorium at Park Elementary. Due to smoke damage after the fire at the H.L. Merrill School in 1975, the festivities moved to Hutchinson High School.
“The sound system and stage was much better, so they kept it there,” he said.
LOOKING BACK
“It’s gotten better through the years,” Witte said, about the pageant and the coronation. “More people are involved now, more planning. It’s more efficient.”
During the first years, Witte said he worked all week to get set up on the elementary school stage. Now it’s same-day set up.
“When we started we had people in the balcony operating the spotlights,” he said. “The number of people depended on the number of spotlights. Early on, everything was separate and the (loud) speakers weren’t very good. Technology has changed for the better. Now it’s all together in one electronic board.”
Among his favorite memories was working with the late Bruce Bradley. He was 14 when he started playing the organ for the Water Carnival. He was too young to drive so someone would have to bring him. He also brought along the organ.
“It took four or five guys to get the organ into the school,” Witte remembered. “It was a big organ at that time. We had to lift it out of the trailer and wheel it in.”
During one pageant, the prong broke on Bradley’s organ. Fortunately, Witte carried plenty of tools with him and was able to fashion a new prong out of a finishing nail. It worked, and the show went on as planned.
Witte said the announcers talked about it on WCCO Radio, calling him the “King of Ingenuity” for saving the day.
“There were no big disasters,” he said. “There was always a fix to everything. We went through some storms. I remember once a policeman stood by the back door. He was to let us know if we needed to stop. Sometime during the 1960s a storm came through and the rides were in the river. S.R. Knutson, the superintendent, it took the roof off his house.”
Working the pageant and coronation brought Witte into contact with emcee celebrities including Mel Jass, emcee of “Mel’s Matinee Movie” on WTCN TV; popular WCCO Radio announcers Bill Diehl, and Charlie Boone and Roger Erickson; and Paul Geil, University of Minnesota athletic director.
During his last years, Witte said Val Elder, who handled audio visual for Hutchinson Schools and served as stage manager for school productions, helped with lights, stage and microphones.
“I thought about quitting through the years,” he said, “but then someone would say, ‘You better come back, we couldn’t get along without you.’ I always put it on the calendar for the next year. They’d call me up in April or May and ask, “Are you available?’ I’d tell them, I have it on the calendar.”
Looking back, Witte said he had good time and enjoyed it.
“I met a lot of nice people,” he said. “I was too old to be a Jaycee but I got to be part of it.”
