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| Time of year to yawn here? |
The Morris school was once commonly referred to as "Morris-Donnelly." Back when I was with the newspaper and interacted with so many people who were "in the know" - I knew too much for my own good - I had it explained to me that "Morris-Donnelly" was only based on a gentleman's agreement. The reference had no legal standing.
Back in those days I would often type references to our "Morris middle school." The term got bandied about as if it was quite official. I think of Mr. Edinger who was an administrator at that level. A school board member eventually explained to me that officially or legally speaking, there never was a "Morris middle school." So it was a term of convenience.
I heard Glyndon referenced on KFGO Radio yesterday. The community has one of those wonderful community summer festivals: "Glyndon Days," the 2023 dates of which are August 7-12.
You can guess why I bring this up: Morris once had such an event. A really glorious one IMHO. At its peak it felt like a really big deal. The announcement of its end was sudden. It hung on for a time in sort of vestigial form. There was an incarnation in the fall and at the fairgrounds.
It retained the name "Prairie Pioneer Days" but I was amused at how local journalist Rae Yost handled this. She handled it in the manner I would have: a little snark. That would get me in trouble. I liked Rae because she projected some personality in her role. Her significant other was a member of a little movie discussion club we had at the public library. He too was an interesting person. They moved on as so many people do in Morris.
We are a community of so many transitory people.
When Prairie Pioneer Days got trimmed down to one day, Yost began her article in the paper by noting "maybe we should call it "Prairie Pioneer Day" (instead of Days). A subtle hint there, that maybe the community was just letting the event die.
As time passed, we increasingly learned that PPD had fallen into death spasms. I was shocked that our so-called community leaders wouldn't try to keep more viability with it, just for the sake of our town's image. The Chamber of Commerce is supposed to protect that intangible. Or maybe it really is pretty tangible.
But nobody here cares? Indeed, as a lifelong resident of this place, I have often heard some derision about how we are "apathetic." So assumed is this, by so many people, it's just allowed to pass as "the way things are."
We are not a lakes recreation community. We are close to such communities. It's a prescription for real atrophy during certain times of the year. I think that at present, just before the fair, is the most comatose time of year for our Morris Minnesota. I have been out to the biking/walking trail the last few days and have seen hardly anyone.
Organized summer activities for kids have seemed to wrap up by now. There is so much of August left.
Why do so many of us treat this like throwaway time? People find things to do but they typically leave Morris for this - any place but Morris. What is there to do here? I do not find it so terrible to just stay here. Call me nuts.
I went to church Sunday and turnout was sleepy and small. I have begun speculating in this online writing of mine that First Lutheran Church, once a premier house of worship in Stevens County, may be sliding to extinction, shutting its doors. Our last pastor announced his "retirement" with such short notice. I had to wonder if he just wanted to get out before the excrement hit the you-know-what.
How did we get here? Our church once had so many assets, special features and activities, now eroded down so far. I have noted with fellow parishioners that we seem nothing more than a "little social club." And make no mistake, it can be pleasant that way. But it once stood for so much more.
A struggling church really feels the effects of this "comatose" time of year in Morris.
I look around and I notice that some well-established members of our church are not present. For the most part these are older people. If our outstate churches lose the support of these older members, it's game over. Here's the perplexing thing in my mind: so many people are absent from church and then we hear about their special reasons for being absent or being "gone."
I have joked that Morris should have on its water tower "We're going to be gone." Don't you have friends who will say that to you on occasion? "We're going to be gone." The first time I wrote about this idea of the water tower, my friend Randy Olson of Bonanza Valley said he laughed out loud. He has a lot of familiarity with Morris. He knows what makes us tick or why we sometimes fail to tick at all.
"We're going to be gone." Always someplace better to be, always something better to do, than to be here in Morris.
I have found that many of the older stalwart members of my church - a shrinking circle to be sure - are absent on Sunday because they are "visiting grandchildren." Maybe those grandchildren could get along just fine if they stuck with their parents. Just saying. The frequency of the visits does not seem necessary. Just spend time with your friends and neighbors here in Morris, right? But many people here seem unable to stomach that.
People must have established their residence here for a reason. Well, one's work I suppose, like to have a plum job with an educational institution e.g. UMM.
One should be careful making friends with UMM people because those people can be so transitory these days. An example from First Lutheran Church: Laura Wiebe. Before that it was Brad Miller and his wonderful young family. I suspect he did not see the kind of solid future with UMM music that he thought necessary. He found another college home that appeared to promise better - congrats to him and Ana.
They come and they go. So Morris is a mere way station, a place to go into a holding pattern, hopefully not for too long. Hey, don't you all think this is kind of a drag? We may think it but are loath to saying it, eh?
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| First Lutheran Church |
Life just rolls on in Morris with no one paying much heed to how sleepy or laid-back it is. We tread water as it were. A friend explained to me in an email our situation for getting a keyboardist this Sunday. This has "Morris" written all over it, eh?
There was almost drama revolving around the First service this coming Sunday. Deb isn’t able to play piano as she’s "going to be gone," and she couldn’t find a sub - Susan Smith, Emilie, and Jennie Odello all had prior commitments. She even tried to talk Mike into playing. But they did find a woman from Hancock who is a piano teacher and accomplished pianist to play.
Congrats to Glyndon on its 2023 Glyndon Days festival. It remains a viable community. Lots to be said for that.
I know Morris Mayor Kevin Wohlers shares my concerns about issues I raise in this post. Too many other people would just have a puzzled look if confronted about it. They'd clam up and then just walk away from you.
Addendum: Referring to Glyndon reminds me: way back in the first basketball season when I was involved full-time with the Morris paper, our Tigers played Glyndon-Felton in the section (then region) tournament at Concordia of Moorhead. It was a high water mark for our boys athletic programs. Unfortunately it was not a prelude of things to come.
Our coach struck gold that season with a system that worked, built on defense. The system in the following years came apart. The coach lost his cool - I know because I overheard a locker room speech. Then things got worse.
We got an actual community uprising toward the end of the 1980s. So sad it had to come to that. The small town dynamics here were worthy of a book by a sociologist. Two sides, each with clout and with distinguished members of the community. We ended up with business boycotts that were instigated by the teachers or a certain faction of the teachers. I hated that faction robustly.
So did the "insurgents" win in the end? In the end I think yes. I think they had to, because those on the other side represented a fading set of ideas in academia. It was a leftover of the stagnant 1970s. A leftover from when society allowed "academia" to lecture us so much. Finally we said to hell with all that. But it took time.
On a positive note, I think the underlying philosophy of our school today is quite sound. It's never going to be perfect. Sometime a sports team will struggle. Sometimes a coach might seem over-matched. But we're healthy and positive. No more gossip-mongering and plotting by teachers who are fat with their tenure contracts. There's a special place in hell.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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