I left my residence at 7:05, figuring I'd be an early arriver, but no. Plenty of people seated already for this grades 5-8 concert. I might offer the term "junior high." That's from my background from when our school had a true junior high, which was grades 7-9. Those kids were in the old building which has now been retired to our memories. Nothing stands in that spot now.
The community went through an ordeal getting a new high school built. We're talking failed referendums and yes, some hard feelings. The new building finally went up and it housed grades 10-12. The new gym for varsity sports seemed like quite the upgrade. It seemed historic when the first games were played there. Let's see, 1968?
Today we have a still-newer gymnasium. The new place has so much breathing room. I notice that, because the 1968 gym seemed not quite big enough, I mean for fans to come and go from their seats while the action was on. That was actually prohibited. At game's end a couple guys (like Truman Carlson) would hold a rope to keep people from walking on the playing court. I wondered why the place couldn't have been built a few feet wider, just a few feet.
So, look at the luxury of space we have now. At the time I left the newspaper, varsity wrestling was still being held at the 1968 gym. It has been 16 years since I left the paper. I like to stay attuned to school stuff. So I enjoyed being present for the Thursday night grades 5-8 concert which I'd describe as "junior high." The very large audience had so much to appreciate.
Only a week ago was I made aware that music faculty member Andrea Denardo was the daughter of former State Representative Jay McNamar. I feel tempted to call Andrea the "junior high" director, as I fumble with the terminology. But then I realize that the eighth graders are directed by Wanda Dagen who is the "chief" in the program. Dagen and Denardo were in charge of the Thrusday night performance at the concert hall.
I arrived expecting a basic junior high concert which might be expected to be less exciting than a high school concert (up through grade 12). But I was wrong, in that I felt the excitement generated from the stage was the equal of a "high school" concert. I was particularly struck by the "full" sound of the eighth grade group which was limited in numbers. This tight little ensemble did the "1812 Overture" in a striking way! Are you familiar with PDQ Bach's "1712 Overture?" OK that's for humorous purposes.
The night concluded with the seventh and eighth grade combined band. It was quite the full sound as Dagen showed great physical prowess in her directing.
I do wish that the music program had submitted review material on their Texas trip to the newspaper. Man, if I were at the paper I'd be champing at the bit to collect this and to publish it. If sports was slow, I'd have extra space to run it. Maybe even a full page or page and a half! We published twice a week in those days. Our pages were bigger. It was before the retrenchment process set in with newspapers.
But today we have the world-wide web with its infinite possibilities. Everything continues to evolve.
I started at the paper when our school used the term "middle school." "Junior high" had been retired. Years later I was informed by a school board friend that legally speaking, we never had a middle school. I guess it was a term just used for convenience. My friend had been a teacher. She also told me that in formal, legal terms, the school district was never "Morris-Donnelly." So I guess that was more of a gentlemen's agreement?
"Morris-Donnelly" appeared on the side of school buses. Which brings to mind an anecdote I found amusing. One of our orange school buses had "Donnelly" spelled wrong. I should emphasize that it was the newspaper editor who alerted me to this and suggested I photograph the bus. I got the job done without announcing my intentions. I believe this was at the parking lot next to the old auditorium. I confess I "pushed" the photo to be run on the front page. And that happened. Yes, I did it with my little hatchet, to quote the Father of our Country.
The superintendent got riled up and addressed the matter in a memo to the school board, which I was shown. Our editor was amused. The superintendent said he "had some theories" on how the photo ended up on the front page.
Today everything is so serious. Back then things were looser, we could laugh about things. Back then you could misbehave according to the standards of #MeToo and it would not be a career-ender. In fact, you could drive with too much alcohol and the consequences would not be devastating. A different world. I marvel how today, it's like everyone has their cheeks sucked in - it's tight.
The landscape was changing when I left the paper in 2006. Newspapers were coming under special pressure at the time, pressure caused by the Internet. Today the Morris paper is a mere weekly. I am disappointed in their website. Aren't you? I mean, it really has no value. It's just a "contact point" for the business. And the paper did not appear to show any initiative for collecting info and photos on the very fun and exciting band/choir trip to Texas.
I personally acquired a terrific photo that someone forwarded me from a Facebook page. Facebook is public domain. I was happy to run the photo with a post on my "Morris of Course" blog. That's my companion blog which I started in order to have an alternate place to put stuff when sports got hectic.
The paper certainly had no trouble showering attention on the Hancock and MACA basketball teams. It is so tempting or knee-jerk for a paper to fall all over themselves covering sports. Isn't that something? I was aware of this even while I was guilty of it.
Again, kudos to the grades 5-8 musicians of Morris Area School, what I might call "junior high," on the wonderful Thursday night performance. The audience was wowed. We are blessed having such a dynamic band program. The late Willie Martin would say "super dynamic" of course. Our grocery store is named for him.
I am hearing that the UMM band may not play for graduation. What's going on out there?
Addendum: Jay McNamar sat behind me at the concert. I had not seen him in a long time. IMHO he was a much more classy state representative than the person who defeated him and who we have now. It is tough sledding for Democrats in outstate Minnesota today.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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