Whitefish crowns carnival royalty for 2006

The Daily Inter Lake

Whitefish crowned its Winter Carnival royalty on Saturday night, naming Joe Basirico as King Ullr XLVII and Allison Deaver as Queen of the Snows.

Basirico has sold real estate for RE/MAX of Whitefish for the past 20 years and is an active community leader.

His community involvement began with the Big Mountain Doug Betters Winter Classic, which he was involved in for its first 10 years.

He was president of the Whitefish Youth Soccer Association for eight years and chairman of Project Whitefish Kids, the organization that built the Smith Sports Park. He currently serves on the boards of Whitefish Youth Opportunity Corp., Whitefish Community Foundation and is president-elect of Rotary of Whitefish.

Basirico grew up in Detroit and stayed in "Motown" until he graduated from Wayne State University. After college and a few years of teaching, he moved to the Rocky Mountains, visiting Whitefish in 1976. That summer he opened Rocky Mountain Rafting in Glacier National Park, guiding whitewater raft and fishing trips on the tributaries of the Flathead River. After a few more years of traveling, he came back to Whitefish permanently in 1982.

He and his wife, LuAnn, have two children, Joe and Grace.

Deaver has worked at Wilson Chiropractic Clinic for the past five years. She also has been active in the community, serving as a Whitefish Ambassador since 2000 and volunteering at Chamber of Commerce events.

She was born in Boston, grew up in New York City and graduated with a degree in English literature from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., in 1992.

Deaver moved to Whitefish in 1995.

She has been a supporter of the local arts community, as a volunteer and actor for the Whitefish Theatre Company.

She has volunteered for Winter Carnival since 1998, and has appeared in many forms, from Viking diva to dancing snowflake to board member.