We are inching further into May and finally getting the sense that we can spend quality time outdoors. The new pattern has been so grudging in coming around. But we knew it had to come sometime.
March and April were horrendous. The wind created a roaring sound for prolonged times. I live where we're a target for the northwest wind: on Northridge Drive, close to the soils lab.
This morning I notice that the lawn is taking on the rich green color that indicates mowing-time is near. Is that the quality outdoor time I alluded to? Is there now a sense of shock among us, by just being able to spend considerable time outside, maybe even with bare legs? I miss the days when I mowed the grass next to the old Morris Sun Tribune building, shirtless and with a bandana over my forehead.
At home I have been losing some lawn because trees have gotten so big, blocking the sunlight. I end up with vegetation other than the rich green grass. Trees: how necessary are they?
Well, inching into May means of course we can anticipate the UMM (UMN?) graduation. I hate to sound sour on this - I really do - but I'm discouraged about the direction of music out there. The big spring concert involving band and choir - OK it's "symphonic winds" - was in Alexandria. Obviously I'm puzzled.
I have heard the party line that it was "outreach." Which is a very nice thing. However, if it was outreach it should have been repeated for the usual Morris constituency. I assumed for a time it would be. But no dice.
Unfortunately I have to speculate in the manner of a jaded mass communications person. So I'm thinking there was spite involved at some level. Yeah, like the UMM powers-that-be would say "yes" on that. Well of course they won't. But this kind of stuff goes on all the time. Someone is trying to make a point, not saying who.
Maybe the spite is coming from our public school which maybe said "no" on using the concert hall. I have attended at least one UMM concert in the past that was at the concert hall. I remember well because at first I took Mom over to the HFA, and there I saw a sign re-directing us.
A source tells me that UMM needed a large place to perform because band and choir were going to do something together. Not enough space at the "recital hall" on campus? I don't know about that, as I have observed the choir to be small this year. I am not the only one who has noticed that.
If UMM cannot accommodate a combined band/choir performance anywhere, that's embarrassing for the institution. UMM could sure as hell accommodate this in its early years. I had a photo that showed the UMM orchestra and chorus onstage at Edson Hall. I say "had" because I gave the photo to Del Sarlette who proceeded to frame it a certain way. He sent me a photo of what he did with it. This was not a "small" chorus at all. There was lots of humanity on the stage and they must have produced a memorable sound. My late father was the director. So long ago this was, "WCSA" students were identified.
Today the Edson facility also goes by the "Morrison" name, as in "Morrison Performing Arts Center." So it's interesting: Edson/Morrison was the site for all UMM music and theater in the institution's earliest years, quite satisfactorily I might add. And in later years it was good enough for the historic Jazz Festival. The Jazz Fest grew to where it seemed like the most celebrated event on the whole UMM calendar. Now it's gone. Nothing like it for the current academic year.
To be revived in the future? That's the plan, at least tentatively. Word is, UMM could have had a full-fledged Jazz Fest this year if they could have gotten Dusty Retzlaff's name on the dotted line. The story goes that this nearly happened, but the final offer was too low-ball.
The U of M has issues with a deficit, right? UMM is probably feeling pressures that are unavoidable. We're not assuming anything bad at the administrative level. We can feel discouraged, yes, because stakeholders in UMM music don't want to hear rationalizations for austerity. That's no fun. We want to see a vibrant and exciting music program with regular performances.
So is the HFA simply not suitable for the big spring concert? That's the concert where scholarships like the Dalager Scholarship have been announced. We take for granted something big in the spring. But in Alexandria? That doesn't count.
I have heard comments about Edson's "acoustics." As a kid I sure didn't see any issues with that. So, scratching my head, I'm wondering if parking access is an issue there. The lots are too far away. The lot behind the science building is technically not that far away, but you go through the hassle of either finding an elevator or the outdoor steps. The outdoor steps don't jump out at you. I finally discovered them.
We are so sensitive to handicapped needs now, and that's a good thing. The audiences at Edson in the "old days" dealt with accessibility as best they could. Look at how so many old buildings were designed: no apparent concern for the handicapped or really the elderly.
A source tells me there may not be a band for the UMM graduation. I can't state for a fact there will not be. This was not related to me in absolute terms. But my goodness, if there is no band, that would have to be shocking. It has been a given through all the years that led up to covid.
I personally played in the UMM band for graduation back in about 1969. I am proud of myself because I recently came up with the name of the tune we played there, my favorite tune. Have you ever "come close" to remembering something but just couldn't? I went through that for several days. I groped. The word "nobles" danced through my head. But what was the name of the cotton pickin' tune? I remembered "Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" which I played at some point in my schooling. A check of the melody on YouTube showed that this was not the tune I was trying to remember.
You know the feeling when a light bulb goes on and you finally retrieve something? It happened. The UMM band tune that was so memorable from 1969 was. . ."Procession of the Nobles." I called this up from YouTube and there was the glorious melody, just as I had remembered it. I played French horn. We had a terrific trumpet section.
The graduation in which I played was in the midst of war protest times on college campuses everywhere. Some graduations had to be cancelled because of bomb threats (not here). Roland Guyotte can tell you some background about what it was like.
We'll get through the graduation of 2022 somehow, band or no band.
Will we have to swallow the fact that UMM lacks a sufficient performing arts facility, even with the HFA and Edson? That would be unbelievable. I think things could be worked out if everyone had unimpeded judgment. But there's the spite or the back-biting possibility. I didn't come into town on a turnip truck. I am an old Watergate era journalist. We're nothing if not sensitive to human nature with all its blemishes.
Maybe the public school administration asked for permission to use Big Cat Stadium for softball. Would have been a wonderful arrangement. Cougars played games there and it was eye-opening, such a perfect facility. Maybe the public school encountered some resistance or hesitancy. So then the public school maybe played its hand, saying "no" to access to the concert hall.
Remember all the talk about "Humanities Phase III?" It's a unicorn. So the public school ended up with all the marbles when it came to an all-purpose performing arts facility. Strange and sad, really. I told a friend the other day that all the talk of cooperation and shared-used facilities sounds so rosy, but there's a dark side of potential conflict also.
Is the softball complex really part of UMM in an official way? So the public school announces games there as being at "U of M-Morris?" Took a walk yesterday and sure enough, officials are clamping down on the madhouse parking scene of last year. No more parking on both sides of Prairie Lane. Signs are up. Why weren't they up last spring? We're lucky no one has gotten hurt out there.
So sad, because all the varsity softball games of MACA and UMM could have been at Big Cat Stadium. The MACA sub-varsity games could be played on the school grounds where diamonds are already established. It's a short walk from Big Cat. All this makes way too much sense. And the U continues to fight with a deficit. I could write a whole post on that. In the meantime, let's all get our lawn mowers ready!
Addendum: When Jim Carlson was here, UMM music was not on the defensive about anything. It was on the offensive, you might say, with dynamic concerts. I worked with Jim promoting the "Godzilla Concert" where I heard people had to be turned away. He and I posed a photo that included someone in the "Godzilla" costume along with the HFA custodian! Jim made everything fun. May he rest in peace.
Addendum No. 2: I have always heard negative things about an individual named Martin Seggelke who was in the UMM music department. Legend has it he once asked Carlson "why do you spend so much time here?"
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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