A retirement reception was held for my father outdoors at UMM, not on the mall but close to it. Mom insisted that I attend, so I did. I felt uncomfortable in these situations because I was outside the preferred "caste.".
The atmosphere was pleasant. At one point we heard loud music from someone's "stereo" a couple blocks away. Kids with the loud sound systems back then often liked to flaunt it. We heard a loud BeeGees tune. And someone quipped "that's one of Ralph's earlier works." Ah, Dad and his "works" - he was a prolific composer of published music. He had something like 90 published works.
Our MAHS band under Wanda Dagen performed one of those a couple years ago:"Testament of Nations." Thanks Wanda. Some of my father's works can be found being performed by church choirs on YouTube. Not long ago I found one example from the Amarillo TX Methodist church. It's like achieving a little bit of immortality: having your own musical ideas published, isn't it? I would take this over having a book published.
Dad has been gone for 13 years now. His music surely lives on.
My father had a massive impact in elevating the profile of our humble little campus in its earliest years. The school's promoters/lobbyists were uneasy about whether our venture of UMM could have staying power. Southwest Minnesota fought with us for getting this plum. I know it meant the world to the Morrison family of Morris.
Dad's No. 1 contribution, among many in UMM's infancy, was to take his "men's chorus" to two World's Fairs. The first one probably made the biggest statement. The year was 1962 when Dad's chorus traveled to Seattle for the World's Fair. Click on the link below to read the whole blog post I wrote about this for my companion blog "Morris of Course" just a couple weeks ago. You'll see archived press clippings on top and at the bottom. I assure you that venture was a big deal. Thanks for reading.
The clipping you see at top here is from my father's "last days" at UMM leading to his retirement. I don't have the year handy but I'm pretty sure it was 1978. Jimmy Carter was president! The BeeGees led a disco wave. You know, disco pop music could really be pretty artistic IMHO. Nothing wrong with music that gets you to dance.
Using my magnifying glass to read the caption on the clipping, I can report that it was Dave Buechler, UMM senior, who wrote a musical composition dedicated to my father. The UMM concert band proceeded to perform his work which I'm sure was boffo. Buechler titled the piece "Three Short Movements for Band." It was part of his senior project. Way to go Dave.
Dad's retirement capped his 18 years with UMM. But his involvement with the U was deeper. He got his undergraduate and Master's degrees from the U and taught at the U of M-St. Paul School of Agriculture in the 1950s. That's when I was in preschool. I do have memories of it. The St. Paul "School of Ag" was winding down just like Morris' West Central School of Agriculture. Times were changing. Well, as they often do.
Are times changing now so as to make the future of UMM uncertain? This past academic year showed some possible fissures. Our chancellor says there are no plans to close UMM. Then again there's the old saying that no one's life or liberty is safe when the legislature is in session - something like that. So I don't know.
Our spring graduation is scaled down from what it once was. Believe me I remember the past.
I established a family fund to make sure the Williams name stays relevant and appreciated. If you examine my blog post on the men's chorus World's Fair trip, you should surely have an appreciation of what Dad meant. Well, Mom too of course. All I can do is keep the Fund going.
Will I win respect this way? Not with the longer-of-tooth UMM people or at least a significant number of them. There are always some good people around like David Brown. As for the pretentious and stuffed-shirt types, maybe they'll feel an obligation to show some respect for me. It is a long shot. To those people I would say "Eat your heart out." I might cite Sue Gooch. Yes I remember.
Addendum: Del Sarlette recently informed me that Dave Buechler was in the UMM jazz ensemble when it performed the Don Ellis chart "Final Analysis." This was in the pre-Jim Carlson days of UMM jazz. Clyde Johnson gamely directed the most challenging piece with its unconventional time signatures. I was there! I wrote a whole blog post about the historic performance which was at the recital hall.
Del said "the concert was the only time we got the ending right!" Tom Garberick was on drums. Tom recognized a little "riff" toward the end and then guided the band to its smooth ending or smooth landing! I saw Tom at the recent funeral for Donna Christensen. The funerals for the boomers' parents can feel like high school reunions! Bruce Christiansen and I immediately remembered our Jimmy Stewart impression.
I also reminded Bruce of when he was employed at the Morris Theater, he'd put school hallway gossip up on the marquee and then step back and take a picture of it!
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| Del Sarlette in the spirit for the July 4 holiday! |
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - musicstuff54@gmail.com
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