Agent Success Story: Steve Casalenda
Get Involved – With the Saint Paul Winter Carnival getting underway today, Steve Casalenda, with RE/MAX Results in Highland Park, St. Paul, is fired up about the next 10 days’ upcoming events. You see… Steve is a Vulcan. For those of you not familiar with the term, Vulcans are ambassadors to St. Paul, are widely known for their red capes, appearances at local events, and are a major part of the St. Paul Winter Carnival. And therefore, Steve’s fired up!
Steve grew up in St. Paul and always put the Vulcans on a pedestal of sorts; he says he was always intrigued by their mystic. “As a kid I’d go to the Winter Carnival and the Vulcans brought their own feeling to the festival. It seemed without them it’d just be another carnival, nothing special. And growing up in St. Paul they’d visit our schools and hospitals and I saw how much people loved them. It made me want to be one.”
Luckily for Steve he had some friends and family with connections to the Imperial Order of Fire and Brimstone (the Vulcan’s parent organization). So, in 2005 when time and finances allowed, he applied to be a Vulcan. “I was one of 14 who were interviewed and was only one of seven who were accepted. The volunteering started almost immediately and hasn’t slowed down much since.”
The Vulcans aren’t just an acting troupe that makes appearances at the Winter Carnival. They are a charitable organization and each Krewe (each year’s new troupe), along with their 120-250 theatrical appearances a year, also choose a charitable organization to become involved in, focus on and fundraise for. As a whole, Fire and Brimstone supports the Wounded Warrior Project, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul (also a CMN hospital) and West Side Boys & Girls Club, just to name a few. Steve says it’s what made his 5-year commitment become a life-long goal. “The first night with my Krewe, my Fire King kept saying ‘It’s all about the kids, it’s all about the kids.’ That made an impression on me. I realized I could have fun with this Krewe, appear in parades and travel but at the same time I could help. I joined to do my five-year commitment and now I want to stay, to do more. I will probably stay until the day I die.”
Steve says from a market stand point it’s great to be out and about in the community. “Any real estate business I get from doing this comes to me. It’s not and has never been the primary intent of being involved. It just happens. As I meet people I may discover they’re agents with other real estate companies, that they’re mortgage brokers, and business relationships just form. We end up helping ourselves as well.” While doing well in business is always nice, Steve says the near-brotherhood of being a Vulcan is what makes it such a powerful part of his life. “It’s just such a tight-knit group that has the same goal of doing good.”
To learn more about Steve’s involvement with the Vulcans contact him at 651.251.4800 or at scasalenda@remax.net. His website is www.results.net/steve.casalenda.
To learn more about the Vulcans and the Imperial Order of Fire and Brimstone visit www.stpaulvulcans.org.
To discover what the Coolest Celebration on Earth is all about visit www.winter-carnival.com.
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