Now we're into individual accomplishments and these are significant. Just as much cause for cheers as the teams. We're talking golf and track/field now.
Charlie Hanson has become quite the headliner for MACA athletics in golf. Generally speaking this sport has a much lower profile than baseball and softball. Charlie is certainly lifting it up. He makes an impression on yours truly because he's a fine trumpet player too. But let's get off music now. We're talking golf on a day when summer has set in with such intensity, we might be in shock.
Are the current 90-degree temps making up for the endless winter we had? Minnesotans have to be prepared for anything. We all act like we can adjust with no real inconvenience, right? Are we just in denial? The incredible thing about our just-past winter is that we got no reprieve of any kind in March or even April. Unbelievable.
Never again will I look forward to March with the assumption that things are looking up regarding the weather. But ditto with April?
Right now we are in quite the prime golfing weather, n'est-ce pas? And Hanson who is just a sophomore is quite the competitive force. Is he headed toward a possible pro career? One must wonder. Our Charlie Hanson was No. 1 in the Section 3AA tournament, held at Buffalo Lake. His two-day total was 144. This was four strokes better than Owen Sudenga of Luverne. He was the class of the tournament.
Hanson's Wednesday total was 74. MACA junior Mason Erickson finished 27th with his 167 total. New London-Spicer was the team champion.
Hanson is now headed to state naturally. And to think he's just a sophomore! I don't think the grades mean as much as when I was in high school. I actually think they mean very little now, and I think that's a good thing. I was astounded to report this past spring that Alex Asmus, a (mere) eighth grader, was turning in some outstanding varsity pitching performances. I joked that when I was in eighth grade, it was all I could do to memorize my locker combination.
Hanson is hopefully getting us all here in the MAHS district to appreciate high school golf more. Maybe more kids would get interested. And while we're at it, maybe interest could grow in high school band also! That's my personal little bias.
I heard Charlie play a solo on trumpet during the ice cream social that preceded the big spring concert. The word is, Charlie has very good standing with our high school band director who sets such high standards! I also have the good fortune of living next door to another high-achieving band student, Addie Cihak. Let's raise a toast for band! And golf!
Track and field
Here's another high-achieving athlete on an individual basis in spring sports: it's Lydia Fynboh. I have the good fortune of belonging to the same church as the Fynbohs: First Lutheran of Morris. Lydia Fynboh is state-bound with her talents. In the old days I covered state track and field personally, soaking in the infectious excitement at a Twin Cities venue. It's so much more exciting than sectionals.
Lydia is headed for that distinct atmosphere of state. She took second place in the 100m sprint at the section meet that was held in Montevideo.
Hailey Werk placed third in the 800 meters, plus fifth in the super long-distance 3200m. I have special admiration for the kids who run the 3200m. Our Heika Hall was sixth in the 300m hurdles.
Turning to the boys, let's acknowledge Derek Waldbeser for his No. 4 showing in the 300m hurdles. And, Mitch Moser who was fourth in discus. Then we see Noah Malek placing fifth in the pole vault. The 4x200m relay team took fifth - members were Derek Waldbeser, Grayson Gibson, Kendall Waldbeser and Noah Malek.
Also placing fifth was our 4x400m relay unit composed of Blake Bruns, Lewis Nohl, Max Lietz and Derek Waldbeser.
So there's plenty of excitement remaining in spring sports for our Tigers. Just that it's individuals and not teams. No matter, we feel the excitement. I'm proud that someone from my church is doing so well.
First Lutheran is in transition now as our pastor is leaving his position this month, and we have also lost our choir director. The latter development became known very recently. She was the UMM choir director and unfortunately we must use the word "was."
I have suggested to friends that maybe it is not good making friends with UMM people because so many of them are "transitory," to use the word made famous by the Federal Reserve not long ago. Here today, gone tomorrow? So Laura Wiebe is reportedly headed west to California now, where she got offered a tenure track position. Can't blame her for seeking this.
San Francisco? That's what I hear. I sent her an email of congrats in which I advised her to watch out for the homeless people. "Don't step on any hypodermic needles." I wish she could have stayed here in Morris.
Who will our new pastor be? Word is, it's very tough for ELCA churches to find new pastors. There's a pretty widespread perception now that the ELCA is "liberal." Too liberal for many I guess. We may come to regret having that perception. You will hear a wholesome sermon at my First Lutheran Church every Sunday. But we do not go out of our way to glorify Donald Trump and MAGA. That is one thing that distinguishes my church, and I'm proud of it.
How in hell did we get to this place? Anti-LGBTQ? Why not just ignore all that? Stephanie Miller's new podcast episode, up today: "Do Republicans secretly want to celebrate Pride Month?"
Regarding Trump and all that ilk, I'll just advise "beware false prophets." I'd like to trumpet that to all my Apostolic friends. But they'll vote for Trump gain, guaranteed? Want to make a wager on that? You know, the Apostolics could attend any Sunday service at my First Lutheran and feel totally uplifted by everything said from the front of the sanctuary. Maybe it just makes too much sense.
Time marches on
As I write about our current MACA athletes, I am also reminded of how my old MAHS peers are aging and even leaving us. A few months ago it was Mike Eul of the famous hardware family of Morris. Mike had a head injury and did not immediately seek medical attention. That's what my old peers are saying.
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| Dave Gausman |
The boys seemed no longer to be at risk of getting drafted. But the horrible tragedy of Vietnam was still in the news so often with the USA still having connections to it all. The fall of Saigon did not happen until 1975. Yes, this was a war that the United States lost. Our huge military apparatus had to leave in the end - it was an ignoble exit.
I remember Dave Gausman as having a strong interest in the now-very-outdated photo darkroom process. Picture-taking was a whole different proposition then, compared to today. Night-and-day. Photography was expensive and very complicated. Dave took on the challenge.
There was a photographic "darkroom" to the rear of the library at the school. The library was in a different place from today. Jean Peterson reigned at the library. This was new: we could check out headphones to listen to music from portable cassette players. I remember Mark Thielke checking out "James Gang." Not very enriching, I'd say.
Dave Gausman took the only known photo of me when I was "in action" working as stringer for the Morris newspaper in the 1972-73 school year. No one in the history of Stevens County media has even come close to me in terms of covering such a wide breadth of special community activities. I traveled far and wide often.
I generated lots of coverage of UMM from the days when UMM did not have its own department for doing this, or it had someone assigned "in name only." No, I was not perfectly consistent. In fact I was less than perfect in many ways, but I savored the challenge always.
I studied writing in a time when "avant garde" was ruling in nearly all spheres of study. So I was encouraged to be stylistic in my writing. I was heavily influenced by the Jim Bouton book "Ball Four" of 1970. That was the epitome of avant garde thinking about things.
Turned out that in the real world, not everyone appreciates stylistic writing or "interpretative journalism," the latter meaning we could exercise our judgment to a degree. This resulted from how the U.S. government had used "the press" for so long to promote lies about the Vietnam war. Finally the press got fed up and decided it had to impose its judgment. When applied at the micro level, this approach can be dicey, as I eventually learned.
Nevertheless I covered so much ground with press work in our Stevens County. I'd run circles around anyone else you could cite from area history. But I am not beloved - I was a huge adversary of the Morris public school teachers union, mainly from the 1980s. It took years for the community to move past their odious influence. We can easily forget. People obviously want to live in the present. I strive to do the best I can. But nothing will ever get named for me.
The image below of Charlie Hanson is from Twitter. We look forward to following Charlie's continued golfing at the highest level.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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