"Where are you from?" Neat question

Your blog host is photographed at the starting place on Grantsburg WI's main street for the "Syttende Mai Run." A 16.2-mile running challenge that was an annual spectacle in western Wisconsin. A rural Donnelly man supplied the impetus and work to make it what it was. I found that a Don's Cafe waitress just in the past year was from the town.

 

I once photographed UMM students in an array of their activities. If it was a small group and I had the chance to talk with them, I was fond of asking their hometowns. Interesting to see where all these interesting kids come from. There was also a chance I might have some small connection to a particular town. So upon learning the town I'd ask "Do you know. . ." 

We can be reminded it's a small world. I also thought the newspaper's readers would share the interest in where all these young people were from. 

A couple years ago I was hosted for a little social at the band practice room of the HFA. I had earned this little session by of course giving financially to UMM, specifically to the U of M Foundation. Well why shouldn't I? UMM is the reason my family settled here. Both my parents made a living from the institution. Me? The community never really figured me out. I did manage to stay out of prison. So today I'm acknowledged as a benefactor for the institution. 

So I was hosted for the little social and chat by two persons, one of whom happened to be Janet Schrunk Ericksen who was climbing the ladder to be the top person of the august place. I spell her name right unlike our local paper. I believe Janet was "interim" at the time. 

I cite this because part of the little event was for a group of about four UMM students to perform on their instruments. For little old me? Well, money does have its reach. A friend has advised me that I am not alone in noting that when you give money nowadays, "they just want more." Our City of Morris got a rude awakening on that in connection with the softball complex. The city was nice enough to make a commitment as a partner in the venture. Then the promoters returned to say more was needed. Well what did you expect? 

It was probably awkward for the city leaders to say "no" this time, but say no they did. In doing so, they emphasized that they had been nice enough the first time around to make the positive gesture. 

In my case, do I simply give more? In the case of our public school, I most certainly do. So for the second straight year I am making gestures in that direction. It's all about music for yours truly. I think music, theater and sports are more important than academics these days. Kind of a sea change but I really believe that. "Academics" should be gentle and user-friendly. Music, theater and sports yield a far greater sense of reward. They actually make you smarter too. 

OK I'm going the long way around the barn in this post for today. When the little quartet performed for me at UMM - serenaded? - I walked up to them afterward and told them about my old practice with the newspaper of asking kids' hometowns. So of course I repeated the old habit right there! They recited where they were from, very interesting. 

Sometimes when I encounter a UMM student as a downtown worker, I'll do the same thing. "Where are you from?" And in some cases I might be able to say "Oh, do you know. . ." 

Or I might have some past personal experience tucked away in my memory from that place. I'll share with the student and then we might talk a couple minutes longer. Interesting interpersonal experience, wouldn't you say? 

So in the past year, I discover that a server at a hospitality establishment was from the western Wisconsin town of Grantsburg. Grantsburg! The student graduated in the spring and I congratulated her. I needn't be so formal as to say "hospitality establishment." It was Don's Cafe. 

My eyes brightened on hearing the town's name. "Grantsburg." For eight years of the middle adult portion of my life, I traveled there in mid-May for a major distance-running event. The event was in conjunction with the Syttende Mai observance, the Norwegian independence day. A Donnelly area native had built up this event quite markedly. To an extent he put Grantsburg on the map with this: postcards were designed emphasizing the event. 

It was a pretty hefty distance-running challenge: 16.2 miles. An odd distance, yes. It adds together ten miles and ten kilometers. Clever of old Carlyle Sherstad who is no longer with us. The event no longer exists as it did then, the way I understand it. It is scaled down and is now just known as the "Carlyle Sherstad." 

Carlyle had a World War II background of being quite in the midst of combat. His brother was Emmett Sherstad of Morris. That would make the late Steven "Skip" Sherstad, a very active person in civic/government affairs here, his nephew. Skip and Emmett have gone to their reward along with Carlyle. 

Carlyle's running event in its prime was called the "Syttende Mai Run." I liked the distance because it was certainly long enough to present a prime challenge, not so long as a marathon which I personally believe is excessive. 

Climbing Mount Everest is excessive. Running the 26.2-mile marathon is excessive. You needn't push your body to that extent to feel the satisfaction of a running accomplishment IMHO. It would be very easy for you to hurt yourself. So for eight years I ran Carlyle's Syttende Mai, each year collecting a specially designed souvenir mug from the occasion. I have these arranged in a row in my house. 

I began sharing memories with the Don's Cafe server who was from Grantsburg. She didn't seem to know about the old event when it was a really big deal. The name Carlyle Sherstad did ring familiar to her. One day I brought some photos to show her. Yes, we can uncover a lot when we find out where all these UMM students are from. 

Of course there aren't nearly as many UMM students now. We don't see them on a frequent basis around town now. People in the know say the "official" enrollment stats from the people in charge are inflated, or let's just say they don't reflect the real numbers which the average person would presume are for young people ages 18-22 who are actually physically on campus. Hard to know what to believe sometimes. 

I should note that I always stayed overnight in Grantsburg on the eve of the race. The race had a very early starting time. In mid-May the conditions tend to be quite accommodating for the challenge. The Legion club put on a big pancake breakfast afterward. 

My father went with me at least one time and spent the night before with a brother of his who lived close by. That would be my late uncle Joe. Of all my uncles, he had the lowest opinion of me. 

I stopped making the trip when aches, pains and the inevitable injuries cropped up. I started feeling chronic pain in my right foot. If I were to attempt a "comeback" today, age 68, things might go OK for a couple weeks but then the foot pain would come back. 

This is fascinating: I got weighed as part of my doctor visit yesterday and I'm all the way down to 170 pounds. That's like a miracle! It's in line with my weight from my "halcyon" days as a runner/jogger. I should probably lose five more pounds to be right at that. And that will probably happen. I take a medication that pushes my weight lower.

"Comeback"-bound? Heh heh. I'm content taking long walks these days. I see Kevin Wohlers jogging. Keep at it Kevin. Maybe I'll go back to Grantsburg for a visit someday, let the memories soak in. Just like I have memories from making the rounds for the Morris Sun Tribune newspaper. Taking photos, asking UMM kids their hometowns. We can learn so much.

 

Addendum: Yes I consider the marathon distance excessive but I did run the Twin Cities Marathon three times in the 1980s. I enjoyed writing feature articles on various Morris people who had taken up the marathon challenge. 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com