SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival queen and king were crowned at Coronation on Friday night at the Harrietstown Town Hall, honoring their years of volunteering in the community.

Patti Sauvie and Tim Burpoe have each spent their lives in Saranac Lake being part of groups guiding the community into the future, caring for its residents, giving growth and entertainment to their children and helping out their neighbors.

For both of them, seeing smiles on children’s faces, being part of exciting local efforts and spreading love are their motivations.

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King Burpoe

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Burpoe said he started volunteering in Saranac Lake because he knew he wanted kids and wanted to help craft the best community for them to grow up in.

Burpoe said it was “humbling” to be invited to be Carnival King. He thought about turning it down because he doesn’t believe he deserves it, but accepted it despite that.

“I was a little speechless there for a moment, and that never happens,” he said.

He’s a firm believer that you get out of life what you put into it.

Burpoe grew up in Yonkers and attended Paul Smith’s College back when it was a two-year college. He moved out West for work but returned to New York to attend the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, where he met his wife Sue.

But he always wanted to move back to the Adirondacks. That chance came in 1986 when his roommate, who was from Keene Valley, shared a job announcement for a state forest appraiser in the park. He loved this job, working at the center of New York’s forest product industry.

“I used to get paid to walk in the woods,” he said.

Burpoe has volunteered with Adirondack Hamlets to Huts, the Paul Smith’s College Land Advisory Committee, Society of American Foresters, Empire State Forest Products Association, Friends of Mount Pisgah, Saranac Lake Youth Baseball, Tri-Lakes Lacrosse, PAL football, the Ice Palace Workers 101 and the Harrietstown Zoning Board. He’s a former Franklin County legislator and currently the assessor for the town of St. Armand.

“We are sure there is much more,” according to a Carnival release announcing his crowning.

As a self-proclaimed “former jock,” he loves any sport with a ball. He wanted his kids to experience that, and he quickly realized “someone has to coach it.”

“That’s about as much fun as you can have as an adult,” he said of coaching youth sports.

On his refrigerator, he has an Enterprise group photo from 2006 of his son Mike’s lacrosse team, soaking wet, cold and exhausted after playing in the freezing rain.

“Every one of them has a smile on their face,” Burpoe said.

He passed his love for Carnival down to his Children. His son, Mike, always says “It’s like Christmas in February.”

Burpoe said it’s a time to see people for the first time in a long time, whether they’re coming from out-of-town or from out in the “hinterlands.”

Burpoe is looking forward to going to all the kids events of Carnival, especially the Kiddie Parade.

“To see all those faces, all that activity, all the parents hovering over their kids and probably being annoying to their children, but they’re doing the best they can,” he said.

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Queen Sauvie

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Sauvie said her drive to volunteer is all about doing her part, and being a part of something. She was “dumbfounded” when she got the call inviting her to be the Carnival Queen and she still is.

She’s always loved being involved and loves people and her community.

Sauvie is a Saranac Lake native, born in Saranac Lake General Hospital, where North Country Community’s College’s Hodson Hall is now. She attended St. Bernard’s and Petrova elementary schools, the high school and NCCC.

When she was younger, Sauvie always said she’d move to get away from the cold. But the community kept her here and now she loves the four seasons.

Sauvie started working as a nurse at the hospital. When she had children, home health care offered a better schedule. She’s currently a registered nurse and assistant director of patient services at North Country Home Services. She loves this work. She gets to meet elderly people in their environment and allow them to stay in their own homes. She gets to hear their stories. It’s a privilege, she said.

Sauvie has been a member of the Saranac Lake and Bloomingdale volunteer fire department auxiliaries and the VFW Auxiliary, a member of the Saranac Lake Moose Club, the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Committee, Women’s Civic Chamber and the Pius X Center for Religious Education Programming.

She volunteers with the Holiday Helpers during Christmas, rings the Salvation Army bell and volunteers with the Saranac Lake 3P race.

For years, her volunteering centered on supporting her kids’ activities — working with PAL Football Cheerleading, the school’s Above the Rim Club for basketball and the After-Prom Party Committee.

Sauvie is no stranger to Winter Carnival royalty. She was a Royal Court Page when she was in the third-grade. This is back when the Carnival king and queen were celebrities instead of locals. In her year, the queen was Mrs. New York State, Patricia Burmeister. She remembers the “thrill” of sharing a room with such a celebrity.

When Sauvie was a junior in high school, she was also selected to be on the Carnival Court.

Winter Carnival is Sauvie’s favorite time of year.

“It just thrills me that it can be below zero and there’s still just hundreds of people turning out to join each other in this celebration,” she said.

Sauvie said she’s looking forward to all aspects of Carnival this year.