Ericksons crowned carnival king, queen
Whitefish completed its royal court for the Winter Carnival on Saturday night with the crowning of King Ullr LII and Queen of the Snows — Bart and Carole Erickson.
They Ericksons, who are retired and live in Whitefish, enjoy many amenities of the Flathead, including boating, golfing, floating, hiking, some camping, skiing and fishing.
They have been active in many Winter Carnival activities.
Bart served as prime minister to King Ullr XXII in 1981. He and Carole were awarded the carnival’s high honor — the High Ullr — in 1991. Retirement has brought many opportunities for travel to Europe, Asia and an upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand.
Born and raised in Helena, Bart received a law degree from the University of Montana, where he met Carole. They married in 1967.
He practiced law in Helena until 1975 when they moved to Whitefish. Bart went into practice with Leo Fisher until 1985, when he was appointed a District Court judge in Flathead County.
In 1992 he was appointed a U.S. magistrate, which meant living in Missoula until his retirement in 2006 and a return to Whitefish.
They have two children, Kristin Tabor (Joe) and Trent (Aubrey) as well as two grandchildren, Sophie and Leah Tabor.
Bart has been active in various organizations, having served on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters, North Valley Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, UM Alumni Association and Hockaday Center for the Arts.
He currently is on the boards of The Wave, the Innocence Project, the Whitefish Community Foundation, the Ila B. Dousman Fund Inc., the UM Law School Board of Visitors. He also is on the Presidents Council for the Intermountain children’s home.
Carole was born and raised in the Missoula area and attended UM. She worked at Plum Creek’s fiberboard plant in various positions, including scheduler and computer programmer.
Winter Carnival has been a big part of their lives, as they chaired and worked on many carnival committees and were active in Congenials, the host group for the carnival.
Carole was on the board, and often an officer, for the Lion Mountain Homeowners, the docent program for North Valley Hospital Auxiliary, Flathead Valley Festival of the Arts, Big Bothers/BigSisters, P.E.O., Montana Reperatory Theater and Intermountain children’s home.
She was among a group of women who reactivated PTA in the Whitefish schools and served as their president in 1987. She was elected to the Whitefish school board in 1989, and was chairwoman her last year on the board.
Carole keeps busy as the executive director for the Ila B. Dousman Fund and helping the Whitefish Theatre Co.