Tigers pour in 48 in first half, beat Monte

Boys: Tigers 78, Monte 46
The Tigers' offense was fully in the groove in first half play on December 18. The site was Montevideo. The MACA boys scored a whopping 48 points in the first half en route to an easy victory. We cruised through the second half with a 30-16 advantage.
We got our third win of the season in a 78-46 final. We came out of the night at .500 while the Thunder Hawks came out still winless.
Jaret Johnson connected for three 3-pointers and topped the scoring list with 21 points. The scoring effort showed impressive balance. Jackson Loge poured in 20. Two other Tigers achieved double figures: Camden Arndt with 14 points and Eli Grove with ten. Adding to the attack were Zach Hughes with seven points, Kevin Asfeld with four, and Cade Fehr and Joseph Kleinwolterink each with one. Hughes and Grove each made one 3-pointer.
Loge was tops in rebounds with 13. Arndt was the top assist producer with six.
One Monte T-Hawk scored in double figures: Jackson Snell with 15 points. Here's the rest of their list: Adam Root (9), Christian Riley (7), Sam Olson (5), Bradyn Schultz (4), Merrick Moe (4) and Kaden Boike (2). All nine of Root's points came on 3-pointers. Olson connected for one '3'.
Snell topped the T-Hawks in rebounds and assists with nine and two, respectively. Olson had a steal.
 
Girls: Tigers 52, NL-Spicer 42
What a thrill to beat New London-Spicer in girls basketball, a task that has proven most difficult through the years. The Wildcats are so often a nemesis. But on December 18, the Tigers of MACA won by a margin of ten over NL-Spicer. Adding to the satisfaction was the fact this success came at the Wildcats' court.
Still more satisfaction: the win elevated our record over .500 to 4-3. The Wildcats have had their share of success and owned 4-2 numbers. A re-match in the post-season would be most interesting. How savory to establish a new pattern of having success vs. those Wildcats.
Maddie Carrington and Riley Decker each made two 3-pointers in the December 18 success. Carrington topped the scoring list with 12 points. Kylie Swanson and Malory Anderson each scored nine. Decker's output was eight. Three Tigers each added four points to the mix: Emma Bowman, Sophia Carlsen and Kendra Wevley. Liz Dietz put in two.
Carlsen and Anderson co-led in rebounds with eight each. Dietz dished out four assists. Anderson stole the ball four times.
The host Wildcats had one scoring standout: Emma Hanson with 19 points. Three Wildcats each had six: Aleah Zieske, Kenzie Rich and Grace DeSchepper. Ava Kraemer scored four points and Payton Mages scored one. Hanson made three 3-pointers and Rich made two. Sam Johnson and DeSchepper each collected seven rebounds. Mages performed six assists and Mages had five steals.
The Tigers gained a 29-23 lead at halftime. This was a non-conference game.

Girls: BOLD 71, Tigers 62
The BOLD court was not real hospitable for the MACA girls on December 21. Cruising into Christmas, the MACA Tigers came out on the short end against the BOLD Warriors at Olivia. We were done in by the 1-2 punch of Makenna Steffel and Brenna Weis. Both of these Warriors poured in 20 points in the 71-62 victory that the Warriors achieved for their home court fans.
The first half really told the story as BOLD surged to a 38-23 lead. The Tigers had the advantage in the second half, 39-33. But too much damage had been done earlier. BOLD's win was their seventh of the season. MACA came out of the night at 4-4.
Ashley Trongard made a statement with her offensive talent, scoring 14 points. Other Warriors on the scoring list were: Makayla Snow (8), Morgan Schmitz (5), Lanie Mages (2) and Alex Revier (2). Weis connected twice from 3-point land. Trongard had one make from long range. BOLD's top rebounders were Steffel (10), Trongard (9) and Snow (5). Top assist producers were Snow (4), Trongard (3) and Weis (3). Top steal producers were Steffel (6), Snow (3) and Weis (3).
The Tigers stayed as close as they did with good 3-point shooting. Maddie Carrington topped that list with four successes. Riley Decker had two long-range successes. Makenna Kehoe and Liz Dietz each made one '3'. I share Janet Kehoe's excitement about Makenna's success!
Carrington's 3's helped put her atop our scoring list with 21 points. A great many Tigers scored points. Joining Carrington were: Decker (8), Kendra Wevley (6), Emma Bowman (6), Dietz (5), Malory Anderson (4), Sophia Carlsen (4), Kehoe (3), Kylie Swanson (3) and Jordann Baier (2).
Anderson attacked the boards to get 14 rebounds. Decker and Bowman were assist leaders with four and three, respectively. Anderson and Carrington were steal leaders with six and three respectively.
This was a WCC hoops contest. BOLD's Steffel came out of this game with a huge harvest of 1,987 career points - quite the career.

Boys: Minnewaska 49, Tigers 37
The Tigers made the trip to Lake Minnewaska country on December 20 for a contest vs. the Lakers. Minnewaska Area had been dealt its first loss of the season in its previous game. The Lakers had five wins under their belt. They got victory No. 6 at our expense. We came out on the short end of the 49-37 score.
'Waska took control decisively in the first half, achieving a 31-18 lead and getting well on its way to the 'W'. The second half was a stalemate.
Grant Jensen and Shawn Carsten were a 1-2 punch for the victor with 23 and 15 points respectively. Just five total players scored for the Lakers. Jack Blevins scored six points, Ryan Amundson had three and Aaron VerSteeg two. Blevins and Carsten each made two 3-pointers, and Jensen made one. Luke Barkeim was the Lakers' top rebounder with nine. (I always want to spell his last name "Barkheim.") Carsten collected eight boards.
Jensen dished out three assists. Barkeim and Carsten each had two steals.
On to the Tigers' stats: It was Jackson Loge topping our scoring list with 14 points. He was followed by Jaret Johnson (8), Zach Hughes (7), Jaden Maanum (5) and Cameron Koebernick (3). Three Tigers each made one 3-point shot: Maanum, Hughes and Koebernick. This was a WCC hoops contest.
Click on the link below to read an update on MAHACA wrestling and MBA boys hockey. This post is on my companion site, "Morris of Course." Thanks for reading and Happy New Year! - BW

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2018/12/mahaca-wrestlers-fall-to-minnewaska-in.html

 

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

It's Xmas Eve & all through the house. . .quiet

The late Glen Helberg and I agreed that holidays are hard on unemployed people. The "normal" world around us slows down to accommodate the holidays. Meanwhile we get out of bed in the morning in the same state as always. Our own routine has to change because things are closed.
Today (Dec. 24) is Christmas Eve Day and I can at least count on "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, a 5 a.m. start with a cup of instant coffee, prepared with one of the few things in life I can really count on: our old microwave oven.
I'll remind you I have an original song on YouTube about the "Morning Joe" program, entitled "I'm Watching Joe and Mika." The full names are Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. I must always look up the precise spelling of Mika's last name, no matter how often I type it. Her late noteworthy father had a first name like that. I'd abbreviate Dad's first name to how it appeared in Doonesbury: "Zbiggy."
You may listen to my song with this link, and thanks so much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L3sMJFPxBA
 
Scarborough is a lifelong Republican and conservative who today has a reputation like Jeff Flake. In other words, he's a wise and sensible person who does not follow the herd of dangerous Trump supporters - dangerous because of their ignorance and emotional, impulsive ways of arriving at opinions. I have assailed the "Hillary for prison" bumper stickers.
 
On brink of something really bad?
We learned in the past 24 hours that Steve Mnuchin was calling around to try to be certain that banks aren't on the verge of collapse. This very fear should be of concern to all Americans. We elect an administration that creates instability, with a "president" who gets influenced by loose cannon opinion mongers on cable news. We used to consider Anne Coulter and Rush Limbaugh on the fringe with their pronouncements. Such pronouncements might be deemed interesting to an extent, something to think about, but they didn't guide our nation's top leaders.
We are now going to find out the consequences of such sharp views. We are going to see if tariffs really do work out. We will see if the unyielding commitment to "the wall" with the resulting government shutdown, will be worth it. Trump promised "the wall" to his base. But he also promised most pointedly and repeatedly that "Mexico will pay for it."
Democrats are going to have to be assertive when they take over the House of Representatives. Based on evidence to date, Trump and the sycophants surrounding him will be unyielding in opposition to the Democrats. Trump has bragged that his base elected him to do certain things, e.g. "the wall." The new Democratic majority in the House was most certainly elected to accomplish priorities too. What will be the consequences of the severe schism?
Is Mnuchin on to something, perhaps a hint of something grave lying ahead? Are we all going to have to hunker down and start worrying about our basic survival? Will government begin to disintegrate because of a shutdown that goes on and on? Unlike Obama, the Trump crowd will try no doubt to patch things up with a piecemeal approach to government. They will decide that certain functions need to continue, like keeping certain national (patriotic) monuments open, by bypassing the normal systems by which they operate. What about protocols or even the law? Can Trump conceptualize that?
 
Whatever power is attainable?
He may eventually reach to a "strongman" type of power. In other words, he'll do certain things simply because he realizes he can - he has the power. He has this fake attorney general in place, Whitaker or whoever he is, not confirmed by the Senate. Senate confirmation is required for a reason. If a president can bypass this for reasons that could actually be self-serving or even nefarious, the "process" means nothing and heaven help us all.
A normal president, either Republican or Democrat, would have the stability to respect process. Morality and a sense of order would dictate it. Mitch McConnell won't even call a vote to simply ensure that the Mueller investigation can proceed unimpeded.

Alison Lundergan Grimes

Why did Kentucky voters even choose McConnell over the wonderful Alison Lundergan Grimes? Fox News went into its characteristic smear mode toward Grimes, making a big deal out of how she wouldn't say if she personally voted for Obama or Romney. Who cares? A powerful media force like Fox News can put anyone - anyone - under a microscope to try to ruin that person.
All the revelations coming out about Trump, his family and the crowd around him are sensational and dark. And yet, what happens? The media get ratings that are higher than ever. Is there a weird symbiotic bond between the Trump phenomenon and the media? We can't assume the media will fully strip Trump of his "force field," the way the likes of Woodward and Bernstein did with Nixon. It's a vastly different media landscape now. Nothing like Fox News existed in Nixon's time. Believe it or not there was no Internet. We take the Internet for granted today, so much so, the term itself - "Internet" - isn't heard so much - it's ubiquitous.
We expect the Internet to serve us with perfection and we complain if it doesn't. My, how could we have existed without it? Well, I'm 63 years old and I certainly remember how we existed without it. We just did. As a child I lived in a neighborhood that got only one TV channel: Alexandria's KCMT.
So it's Christmas Eve Day 2018. Thanks to Don's Cafe for being open at the usual time this morning.

A diminished Morris paper, vestigial?
I stopped by the library Saturday to glance through the very small Morris paper. There's a Christmas greeting edition that is quite small, seeming more like a flier than a section. I remember when I was at the Morris paper, we filled a considerable amount of space with "straight material" (non-ads) in the greeting thing, and I remember we used up a lot of my photos from the parade of lights.
I felt joy putting that issue out. I'm convinced the Morris paper is a joyless place now. They wouldn't know the meaning of the word.
I was exhausted going into Christmas back in the day. But it was a satisfying type of exhaustion.
Isn't there usually a newspaper staff photo as part of the greeting edition? I did not see one. I even checked the regular paper to see if it was in there. Nope. This used to be assumed, and one year I even arranged for our cartoonist Del Holdgrafer to do drawings of staff members. I remember driving to Donnelly to have breakfast with Delmar when I gave him the guide photos to use. All he asked was "enough money to fill my gas tank." What a refreshing throwback Mr. Holdgrafer was.
The Morris newspaper no longer has any distinct enterprise about what it does. It is minimal and almost vestigial compared to what it used to be. Speaking of cartoonists, didn't the paper have one (after I left) who exposed himself to kids? Did he spend time in jail for that? And doesn't the paper have a contributor now who is known for leaving urine where he sits around town? And to think Sue Dieter told the staff after I left that things would be "better" with me gone. I once risked my life getting the paper printed expeditiously during a blizzard. I had to spend overnight at the Starbuck motel because of a highway being closed.
The paper is sure "smaller" now. Its retrenchment has gone far beyond what might have been expected with the Internet's advance. It is of course a "chain paper" and that term should make you smirk. It is hanging on over the short term as the parent company harvests decent profit while waiting for the walls to cave in.
That parent company, Forum Communications, worked hard to try to get us Minnesotans to elect Jeff Johnson as governor. Johnson is a member of the Trump crowd. Forum Communications had its Minnesota properties publicly recommend voting for Johnson. Remember that the company is Fargo (ND)-based. It has a background of pushing Republicans in pivotal races. Amy Klobuchar's race was not pivotal. The Forum had nothing to lose endorsing her, but it dug in with trying to get Johnson elected over Tim Walz. Guess what? We thought for ourselves. We won and Forum Communications lost. Tina Smith prevailed. I miss Al Franken.
We can put up with Trump paying the likes of porn stars to hush up sexual encounters, but I guess Franken's issues were disqualifying. Sometimes these days I think we're in "Alice Through the Looking Glass." (The Johnny Depp movie version is considered one of the worst movies of all time.)
 
With due respect to Jason Kirwin
Trump says there should be "work requirements" for getting public assistance. Jason Kirwin, I know where you're coming from, and in an ideal world your ideas on such things would work. We do not live in an ideal world. "Getting a job" and (just an important) keeping it is no routine thing. Anyone who has worked in a small business knows that. Sometimes employees come along who simply "don't work out." It's not that they are bad people or didn't have a decent attitude. All kinds of issues can crop up.
Many businesses have dysfunctional aspects that make holding a job an untenable proposition. Sometimes personalities just grate on each other. There are losers in power struggles. People are shown the door where there is no boss saying "you're fired" in a way that Mr. Spacely (from "The Jetsons") would. Or, Mr. Dithers from "Dagwood." The real world isn't so cut and dried on such matters. The real world of today has become so disrupted by new technologies and the miracle of "friction-free" electronic communications. Old business models are dissolving. Many "common labor" jobs have disappeared.
I had to leave the Morris paper after an avalanche of unpleasantness, complications and enmity in my work environment. Much of this even seemed to contradict the principles in the Forum's employee manual. It wasn't enough that I simply "wanted a job," Mr. Kirwin. You see, this is how real life can be.
 
Religion becoming worrisome
It's Christmas Eve Day and I must strive to have thoughts of cheer. This is my first Christmas all alone. Like the late Glen Helberg, I have to fight some disconsolate thoughts with so much of the world turning quiet and placid around me. I hate it. I would so much rather we had our regular routine.
Christmas is totally religious-flavored. And, I hate so much of what religion has become. My late mother would try to disregard the negative elements of the Christian faith today, the sharp political tone it projects from various quarters, the fervent pro-Trump orientation promoted by the likes of Robert Jeffress and Franklin Graham.
Shall I assume that the local Apostolic Christian Church, getting ever more influential or so it seems, votes 100 percent for Trump? Does anyone have knowledge to the contrary?
It grates on me to hear so many people say "Stevens County would dry up and be nothing" without the Apostolics. It's great to have this element of assuredly hard-working people, but why do they define themselves on such religious terms? I think the Apostolics are a cult or certainly borderline.
Are the other churches of Stevens County to be viewed as minor or secondary now? I don't understand the huge attraction of the Apostolic Christian Church.
The ELCA seems almost to stand alone as a middle of the road, maybe even progressive church. Federated has similar stripes. But are those of us in these churches becoming outliers?
Are the Apostolics just scared of their own sinful inclinations? Do they need the church as a buffer between them and sin?
First Lutheran's monthly publication recently had an article or essay asserting that man-caused climate change is a credible theory. This seems a reasonable science-based view. But we live in the age of Trump. ELCA Lutherans might be derided as "liberals." The Trump crowd does not buy climate change and sees the term as a flashpoint for conflict.
Based on all that I see, I think the wisest course would be that of my former boss at the Sun Tribune, Jim Morrison, who is a non-believer. I'm a believer in truth, science and humanity. I am not an anti-Semite like Martin Luther. Such are the scandals in the Catholic Church, we ought to consider outlawing it.
Visions of sugar plums are not dancing in my head. But I did enjoy my regular breakfast at Don's this morning. At least there is a shred of normality here and there. God bless Don's.
 
Addendum: A December 20 article in the Idaho Statesman, about the sentencing of a former Catholic priest, had to have this warning: "Some readers may find the details in this news story disturbing." The Rev. W. Thomas Faucher, a longtime priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise, who pleaded guilty to five felony crimes, was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole. He was accused of amassing thousands of child porn images and videos on his home computer. He shared some of those images online.
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

The "CNN sucks" crowd gravitates to unreality

I saw a new one the other day: "CNN sucks." On a pickup of course. Donald Trump has of course raged at CNN, the cable news channel that has tried to occupy a position in between MSNBC (with supposedly a progressive view) and Fox (the insane right wing nutjob view). The idea is to try to push CNN a little more to the right. To scare them away from what really is happening with the Trump phenomenon, something we are all just trying to survive now.
So, what's with the pickup truck with the blunt bumper sticker - classy language too, eh? Mere fealty to Trump, the would-be autocrat president. Trump might even make it to that pedestal. Republicans refuse to rein him in and will not do so, it appears, unless their position in Congress really seems endangered. Anyone who spoke out against Hitler in Germany in the 1930s risked getting killed. Might such a fear begin to sprout here in the U.S.?
The public pushed back some with how the Democratic Party fared, positively, in the mid-terms. But the Democrats are far from realizing any decisive pushback power. North Dakotans rejected Heidi Heitkamp, a most sensible representative of the people, in favor of a guy who seemed to be branded Trump. You would think the Trump loyalists would feel foolish and embarrassed, kow-towing as they do to a prominent leader, not wanting to show their own independent judgment. You would think their manhood would seem at stake if nothing else. But they plunge forward with their pickup-driving supporters. "CNN sucks" and "Hillary for prison" and "another deplorable for Trump."
I wake up in the morning praying for the Dow Jones to drop another thousand points, if that's what it takes to bring us all to our senses. Bill Maher has articulated hope for a big economic downturn, for this reason. We have become so mesmerized by the stock market, completely contradicting what I was taught when I was young: "The stock market is risky."
 
What is the underpinning?
I have to ponder the "CNN sucks" crowd to try to understand what really motivates them. Is it just anti-intellectualism, a dose of which comes along every few years? Remember the John Birch Society? I remember a Morris veterinarian who was involved with that. I invited him to join me in my Don's Cafe booth when the place got crowded. Nothing personal.
I'd venture that the "CNN sucks" crowd, or "Hillary for prison," seeks a detachment from reality. These people see government populated by a well-educated class of people who purport to know best, like regarding climate change. Everyone hates taxes. But can we be sure the celebrated "tax cuts" from the current regime in D.C. will really be in the interests of the common folks? Aren't the cuts set up to cause some short-term satisfaction that will give way to reality later? (I'd say "sugar high" but that has been over-used.) Won't the long-term satisfaction really be felt only by the most well-heeled?
Isn't this how Republicans always operate? And isn't Trump cynically pulling strings, knowing that if he just dispenses lots of populist bluster, he will have a lot of the common folks eating from his hand - the "CNN sucks" people.

From the land of Ted Cruz

The "Trump base" which is becoming an absolute boil on our society, has an imaginary world on their minds, an imaginary world where we needn't defer to people with a college education, to bureaucrats seeking to impose policy. "Hillary for prison?" There are aspects of Hillary that grate on me, like standing by Bill in spite of his trysts. But if I vote for her, it's not because I expect some personal affinity with her. I will never meet Hillary Clinton. I would vote for her because she would generally support Democratic Party policies, if anything toward the political center. She would be striving to improve and fix "Obamacare," which like all major government efforts has fits and starts.
It is true that government isn't as efficient as the private sector. But we need government. We need government to do things, like guarantee health care, that the private sector cannot fully accomplish. If I resent Hillary Clinton about anything, it's about the way she treated Bernie Sanders in the primaries. I resented Al Gore for how he treated Bill Bradley.
When I think of the Trump crowd and their dream world, a world with no regulations and no "experts," I'm reminded of a strain of country music. It's a strain that paints a picture of impoverished people. A world where guys enjoy their fishing pole at the local stream, going after "channel cat," and have crumpled up beer cans on the ground around them. They live in a semi-shack along a dirt road. They visit a dive bar regularly. Problem is, many fans of this genre of music would actually prefer a comfortable suburban home.
So, it's a yearning for a set of values that kind of floats in the ether for these people. Never to be realized.
Never has the virulent strain of anti-intellectualism taken hold so strongly as now. Leon Panetta may have been right when he said our current state of affairs reflects the very decline of America. How will it all go down? How much tragedy might ensue? I mean, when Heidi Heitkamp is no longer good enough to satisfy us?
  
Addendum: In my "dive bar" reference I was going to note that such guys wear a flannel shirt with holes in the elbows. I admit I have such a shirt myself.
  
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Might Ridgewater be ahead of the game?

Have you noticed that your emotional connection to football may have dimmed? You may not be fully aware of it. These trends can progress slowly.
We develop reservations because of the flow of negative reports on what happens to players. Were we fully logical beings, we would have fully retreated from the sport by now. We lack the self-discipline to do this. We probably must overcome an addiction factor. It is not exaggeration to say we depend on football entertainment to make our weekends interesting.
You would think the world of commercial entertainment could catch up to football. I actually think progress is being made on this front. But the much-celebrated sport of football keeps its vital signs quite vital in the big picture.
The day after Christmas will have us watching the U of M Gophers on TV. We sneaked into the bowl picture in a way that should keep fans from getting too restless. We seem to shrug over the fact that three of our wins were in non-conference games carefully mapped out to guarantee victory while still having the appearance of legitimate football games. Ah, marketing. We decided that North Carolina was too scary so we jettisoned $800,000 - hey it's only money - to get out of that series of games. "Gopher nation" doesn't seemed fazed by that.
Well, my only interest in the games is to hope the players get through unscathed in this needless risky and violent sport.
I noted recently that when Joan Gabel came to Morris, none of the questions presented to her dealt with athletics. I didn't even notice it at the time. Later I felt relieved that we were relieved of that distraction - sports, which at the Division I college level really seems like an extension of professional entertainment.
 
A harbinger in Willmar MN?
Is it possible that Ridgewater College in Willmar - an obscure community college - is a forerunner in what awaits football? Ahead, perhaps, of the august University of Minnesota? Little Ridgewater? You see, Ridgewater has announced cancellation of its football program. The program had little connection to academia there in the first place. And now those resources can be re-directed to more worthy pursuits.
And most importantly, Ridgewater has sent a message that there will be life after football on its campus - no more devastating hits that wrack body and mind on those 100 yards of turf.
A litany of news about football's dangers comes out regularly these days. The cloud hung over the Gophers' final regular season game when something seemed wrong with the opponents' quarterback, Alex Hornibrook. Wisconsin is getting ready for the Pinstripe Bowl. It will not be Hornibrook starting in that game. The QB will be Jack Coan. When you're hurt in football, there's always a new guy waiting in the wings. Coan will "burn his redshirt."
We learn that "Hornibrook's concussion issues remain a concern for that program." In fact, the coach says it's uncertain whether Hornibrook will even be able to return for 2019. He says "it's too early to tell."
All such cases make us wonder about the long-term future for all such young men. As fans we consume football as entertainment. Mention football to anyone and the conversation instantly turns "light" - you'll prompt a smile and exchange thoughts on how your favorite team will do in the next game. "How's the running game?" That sort of thing. So it feels like a faux pas when you get serious and make a comment about the very propriety of the sport - shall we just discard it? And the sooner the better? That's the mindset I'm into now.
I'm polite as I field those comments about how "hey, looks like the Vikings will make the playoffs." I do make it clear I'm not very knowledgeable about this stuff anymore. I'll work in a comment in the more serious vein and see if my conversation partner is receptive. Over time these people will probably sense that they ought not bring up the subject with me. They'll go on with their enthused football distraction.
 
Another exhibit of tragedy
On December 12 we heard of another tragic end to a former player's life. This is Rod Jones, RIP. He was a former University of Washington tight end and played in the NFL. He took his own life at age 54. His family believes head trauma from football led to the man's "downward spiral." I'm sure you have regularly caught news reports in this vein. Were these lives worth sacrificing for the sake of our regular consumption of football entertainment? Well we certainly know the answer is "no."
We're dazed by the fact football seems ingrained in our entertainment expectations, our comfortable lifestyle.
I'm angry at high school football parents who speak in such a flippant way, eager to rationalize about their son's involvement, simply because they feel a sense of enjoyment in the short term. Or, ego-building if their son excels and gets prominent attention in the local media. The local media goes ape-s--t over sports, putting it on a level so ridiculously out of proportion, it coaxes young men to feel the allure and play even if reason tells them it's questionable or dangerous. Maybe the cheers from the stands make them blot out their more reasonable thoughts.
And the parents for their part feel none of the pain. They'll rationalize - they are so eager to rationalize - by saying the well-known suicides are by former pros who are to be viewed in a distinct circle. Never mind that a younger brain and body are more vulnerable. And, the news regularly has updates on high school players experiencing concerning injuries of both the brain and body. Let's not overlook the latter category.
Pro Alex Smith got hurt so badly, his bone protruded outside his skin, and there were infection issues, perhaps not over yet. We don't need to be entertained by this.
I never had the talent or interest to play football. And why should I feel blessed just because of that? Why should my peers who were in sports be more at risk? They didn't deserve that - a single season playing football might be all it takes to change a young athlete's brain. Why do we live with this activity? Well, maybe the same nation that elects Donald Trump can be expected to do most anything.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

MACA boys own second half in 63-43 win

Tigers 63, Sauk Centre 43
MACA picked up its second win of the young session Friday (12/14), as they came at the host Sauk Centre Streeters with depth in scoring. Indeed, the orange and black had four players score in double figures in an impressive road win, 63-43.
We burst forward in the second half after the contested halftime score of 30-28, MACA with the edge. That edge gave way to a rout the rest of the way. The Tigers outscored the Streeters 33-15 in the second half.
Zach Hughes found the range to make three shots from beyond the 3-point stripe. Joseph Kleinwolterink made two long-rangers and Jackson Loge made one. The four double figures scorers were Jaret Johnson (20 points), Hughes (13), Kleinwolterink (12) and Loge (11). Jaden Maanum put in four points and Kevin Asfeld dropped in three. Loge snared 14 rebounds to lead the charge there. Johnson collected nine rebounds. Loge was the top assist producer with four. Johnson was tops in steals with two.
We owned a 2-3 record coming out of the game. Sauk Centre sat at 1-3.
 
New London-Spicer 60, Tigers 52
Thursday action (yes, the night before the Sauk Centre game) had the Tigers matched against the always-tough New London-Spicer Wildcats at our court. The Wildcats emerged on top in this renewal of a Section 3AA rivalry.
Brandon Adelman was a nemesis for the Tigers, as this NL-Spicer standout scored 21 points. NL-Spicer was up 26-20 at halftime. In the end it was the Wildcats up by eight, 60-52.
Adelman was complemented in the NL-Spicer attack by Ryan Wyganowski whose point output was 17. Ander Arnold and Brandyn Harlow each scored eight points, and Jake Poole added six. Wyganowski had the hot hand from long-range with his five 3-pointers. Arnold made two long-rangers and Adelman one. Adelman with his seven boards led there while Harlow had four. Adelman passed crisply to accumulate seven assists, while Jake Schmidt had four. Adelman stole the ball four times.
Three MACA Tigers each made one 3-point shot: Zach Hughes, Jaden Maanum and Connor Koebernick. We had two double figures scorers: Jackson Loge with 16 points and Jaret Johnson with ten. Maanum and Cade Fehr each scored seven points. Hughes and Koebernick each scored four points. Eli Grove and Joseph Kleinwolterink each contributed two. Loge attacked the boards to collect 13 rebounds. Johnson had four assists and Loge three. Maanum, Hughes and Johnson each had a steal.
 
Girls: Tigers 61, ACGC 20
The Tigers buried the Falcons of ACGC in December 11 GBB action. Coach Dale Henrich had to be smiling as he watched his team shoot out to a 39-9 halftime lead en route to the 61-20 final at the home court.
Yes, lots of reason for the home court fans to cheer, like for the five 3-point shots we made. Riley Decker made three of the 3's and Maddie Carrington had the other two. Our scoring was characterized by balance. Here's the list: Malory Anderson (11), Carrington (10), Sophia Carlsen (10), Decker (9), Kylie Swanson (9), Kendra Wevley (8), Emma Bowman (2) and Lexi Pew (2).
Our rebound leaders were Anderson with nine and Swanson with five. Three Tigers each dished out three assists: Carrington, Makenna Kehoe and Swanson. Steal leaders were Bowman with four and Carrington with three. None of the Falcons broke into double figures scoring. Here's their points list: Jeana Denton (7), Rachel Wilner (5), Lindsay Minnick (4), Pailey Wilner (2) and Alexis Schmidt (2). Denton and Rachel Wilner each made a '3'.
The Tigers climbed above .500 to 3-2 with the win. ACGC's W/L: 2-5.
 
Boys hockey: Storm 4, Willmar 2
MBA hockey got a feather in the cap with a 4-2 win over Willmar in December 11 boys puck action, here. Success came despite Willmar having the advantage in shots, by 12. Key momentum was seized in the first period. The Storm "stormed" to a 3-1 advantage in the opening period. Neither team scored in period No. 2, then the teams traded goals down the stretch.
Peyton LeClair was a cog in our winning effort, working in goal and making 36 stops.
Zach Bruns was instrumental in getting our early momentum. Bruns got the first goal with an assist from Tyler Buss at 3:53 of the first. Bruns also got our second goal which came at 5:25. This time it was Kolby Goff assisting. Jack Riley put us up 3-0 by getting the puck in the net at 8:54, assisted by Bruns. Then it was Willmar getting on the scoreboard as Nate Spencer scored assisted by Eldridge DeKraai at 10:04.
Mike Halvorson scored a power play goal for MBA at 8:15 of the third period, assisted by Goff and Brady Loge. The night's final goal was by Willmar's DeKraai, a power play job at 16:27 with assists from Adam DeJong and Ashton Gregory.
Willmar's goalie was Gunnar Banks who had 22 saves.
 
Wrestling: Grant County Invite
MAHACA wrestling was among nine teams in the Grant County Invite held on Saturday, Dec. 8. Our Tigers had a middle of the pack showing in fifth place, while BBE was on top, lifted by five champions. Ottertail Central was the second place team. Those five BBE Jaguar champions were Walker Bents, Canon Swanson, Tyler Jensen, Tyler Bents and Michael Doubek.
BBE carved out an eight-point advantage over Ottertail Central. The Tigers were behind fourth place United by a mere one point. Our point total was 158.
Davin Rose of the Tigers was champion at his weight of 113 pounds. Davin turned away all three challengers. It was ditto for Ethan Lebrija at 120 pounds who blazed through at 3-0. Another Rose in the lineup, Dalton, had a 3-0 day for No. 1 at 160 pounds.
Our 132-pounder was Jed Feuchtenberger and he carved out a 2-1 day to take second. At 152 pounds we had Gideon Joos in action and this Tiger had a 2-1 day to place second. Matt McNeill at 195 pounds won three bouts and lost one but had to settle for third.
There's another Rose to follow on the wrestling mat this winter: 106-pounder Caden, and Caden went 2-2 to place fourth. Tristan Raths carried the MAHACA banner at 182 pounds and placed fifth with a 2-2 showing. Hunter Messner chalked up a win at 138 pounds. Ben Travis got a win under his belt at 145. Kylen Runninghawk was our big guy at 285 pounds.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Please listen to my Christmas song for 2018

The image shows your blog host at Christmas in about 1958 in St. Paul. Eisenhower was president. Dad taught at the U of M St. Paul School of Agriculture before we came to Morris for the start of UMM! I remember the preschool years very fondly. We came to Morris just in time for me to start kindergarten with Miss Feigum.
 
I am once again pleased to share an original Christmas song for the 2018 holiday season. The song was inspired by an op-ed I read several years ago. I have had it in the back of my mind to write this song. Several months ago I made it reality.
The op-ed was about our distant acquaintances at Christmas, people with whom our only contact might be the annual Christmas card. Well, what happens? We age. Someone goes into decline and could even die without us getting immediate word about it. Our friend's loved ones might not even know who we are. We're just a name tucked away in an address book.
So we write the card and it might not be answered at all. The op-ed writer recalled getting a belated response from a family member or spokesman for the old friend. The spokesman rather tersely informed of the health decline that had set in.
My 2018 Christmas song is called "I Write to You." It was recorded at the Nashville TN studio of Frank (Franklin) Michels. Thanks Frank. I invite you to listen to the song with this YouTube link. God bless and Merry Christmas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lh8afazKYs&t=5s
 
Brent Gulsvig of Gulsvig Productions, Starbuck, puts my songs on YouTube. If you have any media transfer work to be done, contact the Gulsvigs. They have a charming orange cat!
Brent recently did me a favor: tracking down the obituary for my grandfather Martin of Glenwood. The obit was actually something that was re-typed in 1940 as part of a WPA project. No way could I have found this on my own. I had never seen Martin's obit before. The original appeared in a publication called the Glenwood Herald, not the Pope County Tribune.
Why did we not have the obit in our possession before? I think Mom feared that Dad would find it distressful being reminded of the deaths of his parents. Dad was the kind of person who kept emotions bottled inside.
Martin and his wife Carrie both died too young, so I could never meet either. I have discovered they are both buried at Glenwood Lutheran Cemetery, a place I do not recall ever having visited. This next spring I certainly plan to visit and locate the graves. Martin and Carrie had five sons go through confirmation at Glenwood Lutheran Church. I'm thinking of going over to that church for Christmas Eve services. It would be nice for the Williams name to be there. My uncle Howard was a lifelong member and he died about 15 years ago. He and his wife Vi are buried at Glenwood Lutheran Cemetery too, most likely by Martin and Carrie.
Brent Gulsvig also located a photo of Martin and Carrie for me and emailed all this material.
 

Mom opens a present at Christmas

A transition, to be sure
The 2018 Christmas is the first for me being alone, as Mom passed away in April. She died as the result of breast cancer which had likely gone into the bone. The last time she had "labs" done, the doctor pointed to a number in bold face type and said "this could mean" (or "probably means") that the cancer has gone into the bone. He added: "We could do a bone scan but you might not want to know."
Actress Sondra Locke died recently as the result of breast cancer that had gotten into the bone. Locke had had a double mastectomy.
Mom said "no" to a mammogram until I finally pushed it. I made the appointment and then postponed it a week, because I went online and read a lot of skeptical stuff about mammograms. I was concerned that if Mom got cut open, that might be the beginning of the end. We as human beings cannot deny "the end" forever. We must capitulate, all of us.
Dr. Sam did an outstanding job operating on Mom and removed a lot of the cancer. I was put in a separate room and not allowed to consult. It was a judgment call, I'm sure, how aggressive the surgery should be. In the final analysis, I'm quite pleased with the medical approach through all of Mom's declining years. We love Dr. Sam and Dr. Barnstuble.
Mom made it to within six weeks of her 94th birthday. That's pretty good, I'll say.
I hope you enjoy my Christmas song for 2018. Would my father approve? Dad was a highly successful composer of music with professional credentials. He did not encourage me to develop this pursuit at all. So you might say I'm "on my own" and that's fine.
 
Addendum: You know what? I have never seen an obit for grandfather Andrew on my mother's side either. I have a theory here too: I only recently discovered that Andrew had a previous wife to my Grandma Hilda, and the first wife died in 1920 at the age of 46. Andrew re-married and began his family with three children with Hilda. Andrew was up in years for doing this, and was quite a bit older than Hilda. That first wife was named Johanek or Johanna. I only discovered this info when visiting the website for Evergreen Cemetery, Brainerd. Did Andrew have any children with Johanek? I'm not convinced he didn't. I discovered Andrew in the 1920 Census through the Ancestry website,  with his named spelled "Olson" instead of the more precise "Ohlson." However, I am not a member of Ancestry and the public library no longer has a membership, so I can go no further at this point, unless I want to try their "free trial." I don't want to be pursued by them. Eventually I am going to try to do all it takes to fill out family info. I'm at the stage in life where this is important to me.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Martin and Carrie Williams of Glenwood MN

Joan Gabel poised to lead the U of M

Joan Gabel

What a treat to focus on the true spirit and priorities of higher education Tuesday morning at our University of Minnesota-Morris. We got to meet Joan Gabel who I found to be a totally warm, interesting and knowledgeable person. It's not a done deal for her to become U president.
We as a society are probably past the stage where we should make a big deal over "the first woman" in a particular position of importance. Gabel would in fact be the first female at the helm of our august institution. Now let's move on to what's really pertinent: the state of our U. Something interesting dawned on me following the Q and A with Ms. Gabel at Edson Auditorium. If you were there, did this occur to you also? No questions about athletics.
Perhaps the reaction should be "amen and hallelujah."
I don't read Sid Hartman anymore so I don't know if he has offered any assessment of Ms. Gabel. That assessment would be from the standpoint of. . .well, you know. Our media universe has expanded so exponentially, we needn't feel so dependent on the likes of Hartman and his sports overview.
I felt for Gabel as she took questions "cold" from the audience. Even a very dynamic person could get stumped on a particular question. She was asked about the last book she's read. I remember a political debate where this question came forward. It's a relief to be at home watching a debate like that rather than up on the stage, because I don't know what I'd say. That's because even though I consider myself knowledgeable and maybe even a little erudite, it is very rare for me to consume a whole "book." I consume media.
A busy person like Joan Gabel might well forgo "books" for the way yours truly stays informed and enlightened. At Edson Tuesday, Gabel thought for a few moments and then came up with a quite acceptable answer. I wonder if the question was offered in sort of a "gotcha" way. If it was, she passed the test and in general had a storehouse of knowledge in response to all questions. I sense she's the type of person - this is a compliment - who'd happily delegate sports to the proper capable administrator.
The situation is best when sports and academics are kept separate. We know the U of M athletics department has a checkered background with scandals and embarrassments, n'est-ce pas? Remember Norwood Teague? Could you imagine someone like him circulating in a more confined, intimate community like UMM? Lecherous man.
Did I read recently where the current U athletic director got a big performance bonus? Yes, sometimes money seems to flow as if from a spigot at our U of M. Didn't Bob Bruininks seem to grease that? Correct me if I'm wrong. I always wondered why he didn't just spell his name "Brunix."
It's 5 a.m. as I write this - "Morning Joe" on TV - and a friend has just forwarded me a link about how a U of M Gopher will forgo the team's bowl game in order to 1) prepare for the NFL draft, and 2) protect his body from injury. So, it's happening here like elsewhere around the country, maybe even at University of South Carolina, home of the "Gamecocks," where Gabel works at present. "Gamecocks!" Why is it necessary for college sports teams to even have nicknames?
The Gopher who is exiting from the bowl picture is senior linebacker Blake Cashman. He made his announcement on Instagram. The Gophers will be playing Georgia Tech (sometimes reported as "GA Tech" with the first syllable pronounced phonetically in jest) in an obscure bowl. We of course were fortunate getting into any bowl at all. And we'll take it! Even if it's in Detroit, hardly in the sun belt which is what college fans covet this time of year.
Cashman's absence could be costly for the team's appearance in the Quick Lane Bowl. He led the Gophers in total tackles. "GA Tech" has a formidable running game.
Oh, there's another Gopher who has opted out of the bowl game for the same reasons as Cashman: Donnell Greene, left tackle. One sensed Tuesday morning that these matters didn't even drift through the thoughts of anyone at Edson Auditorium. And that's a breath of fresh air, I feel.
 
A bigger question
Many college leaders may be speculating, in hushed tones at present, about the doubtful future for the very sport of football. It sounds radical now to speak in such terms. Society isn't ready for it? Perhaps not. But the news coming out about the unacceptable health risks of the game must be confronted. The fading process will probably be gradual but I do see it coming. The sport's last bastion will probably be the U.S. Southeast. The sport will come to be associated with young men from a challenged socioeconomic background. The Big 10 could be a leader for the new era sans football. I can see it.
The subhead in the Star Tribune says Gabel would bring a "collaborative style." That's a cliche. A college president must by definition be collaborative. The subhead also described her as having "low-key charisma." Seems like a contradiction in terms. "Charisma" is a pretty loose term. I might describe her as disarming and engaging. I told her she'd be a comfortable distance from hurricanes now. Her background is quite from below the Mason-Dixon Line: she grew up in Atlanta.
Well, welcome to "the winner," north of the Mason-Dixon Line. I didn't notice any southern accent. I can't associate a southern accent with academia. There, I'd get slaughtered by the "Northstar" publication.
Joan Gabel has been at U of South Carolina since 2015. She has had to face student concern about diversity. Well, I think this would hardly be an issue at our UMM which has bulled forward on this matter. We had a reputation for a few years of maybe being overzealous or too outspoken on gay rights, at least in the eyes of the general population. I don't sense that's an issue anymore. Our society has come to accept the obvious in a non-dramatic way: gays are entitled to basic rights.
I thought the Star Tribune engaged in possible sexism at one point in the December 7 article about Gabel. The article reported on how Gabel responded to a walkout over diversity matters at U of South Carolina. We read "a video from the protest captures a visibly self-conscious Gabel facing the students. . ." I find that to be pretty judgmental and edgy on the part of the Star Tribune writer. So I'm wondering: Are women more likely to be analyzed in the context of their "feelings?"
Gabel was quoted saying "beginning the work on diversity at a Southern institution isn't always the most popular thing to do."
Well Ms. Gabel, if you get the reins here like I hope you do, you'll certainly be out of the Southern environment and away from hurricanes. Goodbye to the "Gamecocks." Welcome to our Minnesota winter. Hope you'll visit often at our "jewel in the crown" in Morris!
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Hoopsters on short end in recent games

Boys: BOLD 79, Tigers 61
Remember that bumper sticker from the 1970s? "Where the hell is Bird Island?" Pretty edgy language with "hell," eh? Cyrus did a takeoff on that: "Where the heck is Cyrus?" Whew, more civilized language.
Our MACA boys hoops squad made the trip to Bird Island Friday, 12/7. Jackson Loge had a terrific night with his 29 points. But it wasn't enough as the host BOLD Warriors prevailed 79-61. We got down 42-33 at halftime. So overall it was a bleak night with Loge's heroics giving an upbeat aspect. Loge grabbed 14 rebounds to lead in that phase. BOLD upped its won-lost record to 3-0.
The Warriors needed a little time to get humming. They were able to assert themselves with pressure and a determined pace of play, to garner the halftime advantage en route to victory.
The low post position featured Loge tangling with Carter Henry. Henry made nine of his ten shot tries and finished with 19 points. Loge applied his 6'10" frame to become the offensive standout of the night, reviving for sure the memories of his dad Kevin. Jackson made 14 of 20 shots from the field. His rebounding prowess helped us outdo the Warriors in this department, 28-26.
Gavin Vosika and Henry co-led the Warriors with 19 points each. Drew Sagedahl was a terror from long-range with his five 3-pointers. These lifted him to a point total of 17. The other Sagedahl in the Warriors' arsenal, Jordan, put in 13 points. The four double points scorers were an asset that overwhelmed the Tigers. Matthew Moorse scored eight points for the Warriors and Trenton Ziesmer had three.
Drew Sagedahl was complemented in the three-point shooting department by Gavin Vosika, Jordan Sagedahl and Zeismer who each made one. Jordan Sagedahl and Gavin Vosika had eleven and seven rebounds respectively. Assist leaders were Gavin Vosika with eight, Moorse with six and Jordan Sagedahl with five. The steal leaders were Jordan Sagedahl (5) and Gavin Vosika (3). The Warriors outscored the Tigers 37-28 in the second half.
Jaret Johnson was second-high on the MACA scoring list behind Loge. Johnson put in eleven points and made one of our two 3-pointers. The other long-ranger was made by Zach Hughes. The scoring list continues with Jaden Maanum (8), Hughes (7), Camden Arndt (4) and Mace Yellow (2).
Loge attacked the boards for 14 rebounds and he was followed in this category by Johnson with six and Maanum with five. Hughes with his six assists led there. Maanum, Arndt and Loge each had a steal.

Girls: Minnewaska 64, Tigers 49
The Friday story was non-victorious for our girls team also. It was Minnewaska with the winning advantage in the 64-49 final at 'Waska. The Lakers upped their record to 3-1, led on the night by Ellie Danielson who poured in 27 points and collected 15 rebounds. 'Waska owned a 32-26 halftime lead in this WCC game.
Emma Thorfinnson was a scoring force for the host with her 14 points. A third double figures scorer was Alexis Piekarski with her ten points. Here's the rest of the 'Waska scoring list: Hannah Hoffmann (4), Elizabeth Murken (3), Michele Stai (3), Maddie Thorfinnson (2) and Avery Hoeper (1). Emma Thorfinnson showed a pinpoint long-range shooting eye to make three 3-pointers. Danielson and Hoffmann each made one '3'.
Danielson with her 15 rebounds led in that phase while Emma Thorfinnson had eight and Piekarski five. Emma Thorfinnson had four steals and Piekarski picked up three. Our Tigers came out of the night at 2-2.

Boys: ACGC 59, Tigers 54
Alas, the game outcomes were no better for our orange and black hoopsters in December 4 action. The boys team treated fans to a home game but the outcome was no treat as it was the ACGC Falcons with the winning advantage, 59-54. It was a night to admire Steven Lawver's talents. This Falcon came at the Tigers with 26 points.
ACGC built a five-point advantage at halftime, 30-25. The second half was a 29-all stalemate. Lawver was among three double figures scorers for the victor. Dawson Miller put in 14 points and Brayden Hedtke had ten. Josh Kinzler contributed seven points to the winning effort, and Jordan Schumacher had two.
Three-point shots gave lots of fuel to the winning ACGC performance. It was Lawver leading the long-range charge with three 3-pointers. Miller and Hedtke each made two 3's and Kinzler made one. Lawver was ACGC's top rebounder as well with six, followed by Schumacher and Miller each with four. Kinzler topped the assist list with six while Lawver had four. Kinzler and Miller had five and four steals respectively.
The orange and black had four players each make one 3-point shot: Jaden Maanum, Zach Hughes, Cam Arndt and Jaret Johnson. It was Arndt topping our scoring list with 14 points. Jackson Loge was right behind with 13. Johnson and Hughes each scored nine points. Maanum scored five and Cade Fehr four.
Johnson led in rebounds with six followed by Loge and Arndt each with five. Loge dished out four assists. Arndt and Johnson each had two steals. This was ACGC's second win in as many games.

Girls: Litchfield 69, Tigers 48
My, we looked like we might be on our way to victory in the December 4 girls game at Litchfield, home of the Dragons. We owned a 29-15 lead at halftime. But the roof fell in the rest of the way. The Dragons breathed fire - can't resist that - to score 54 points in the second half while we faded. The game's outcome was a 69-48 win for the host.
The Dragons breathed fire with a 67 percent shooting percentage in the decisive second half. Consider the contrast: Litchfield had 15 points in the first half, 54 in the second. Litch used three-point shooting in a substantial way. Neriah Lara hit five 3-point shots for the surging Dragons. Camrie Driver made two long-rangers, and these Dragons each made one: Sydney McCann, Laney Huhner, Maddy Shoultz and Lily Osterberg.
Here's the Dragon scoring list: Lara (18), McCann (14), Huhner (13), Driver (6), Katelyn Cruze (6), Maddy Shoultz (5), Natalie Hanson (4) and Osterberg (3). McCann and Huhner each snared five rebounds. Huhner and Shoultz each had six assists. Steal leaders were Driver (5), Huhner (4) and McCann (3).
MACA had a fair amount of impact with three-pointers too. Riley Decker made two long-rangers while these teammates each made one: Maddie Carrington, Emma Bowman, Liz Dietz and Sophie Carlsen. None of our Tigers scored in double figures. Carrington came close with nine points while Decker and Malory Anderson each scored eight. Bowman and Kylie Swanson each put in six points. Dietz scored five while Carlsen had four and Jordann Baier two. My, what happened in the second half? Litch must have tapped into some special magic.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Christmas cheer tempered for 2018 season

Christmas of 2018 arrives with the Trump presidency as the backdrop. My generation might assume these things have a satisfying ending. We got out of Vietnam quite belatedly but it happened, thanks largely to the vigilant press which Trump has described as "enemy of the people." Most of us get a furrowed brow observing stuff like this. But then oddly, we continue going about our day to day business as if the oddities in D.C. are some sort of curiosity, an irrelevance.
My generation saw the U.S. withdraw from Vietnam, albeit painfully, and we saw Richard Nixon flash those 'V' signs (for victory?) as he boarded the helicopter to belatedly leave the White House. Not only did we extricate ourselves from some unsavory things, a new age dawned with quite fine prosperity. My warning is this: We cannot assume a satisfying outcome to these things.
If we cannot all agree that climate change is a threat to humanity, then what has become of us?
Christmas is near and Christians should be gravitating to their faith. But what has become of our faith? The evangelicals or fundamentalists have flexed their muscles to become an extension of the U.S. Republican Party. Trump now defines that party.
It is bizarre how people like me, progressives, are so eager to think in fond terms of the Bush family, Mitt Romney and other level-headed Republicans, even though we disagree on purely political terms. That disagreement would be sharp. Remember the tone of the old Keith Olbermann TV show as it assessed the likes of George W. Bush, son of the recently-deceased icon? Remember how Bush and Cheney led us into the Iraq war? Now we gravitate toward the non-Trump Republicans as if they are sort of a civilized home base. We pine for that.
Shall I even bother writing again that Trump has the talent of a demagogue? He tells his VIP corporate friends that they can essentially write policies that benefit them, and he whispers into their ear that he'll simply "get the votes."
"Getting the votes" means weaving populist rhetoric that seems persuasive in the ears of the common folk. Religion figures into that in a big way. Persuade people that their religious impulses are in line with what he stands for, and it's game over.
The media talk about "evangelicals" as this influential bloc of people, yet I'm not really sure how to draw the line between them and non-evangelicals. I'm quite sure that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is not under that umbrella. We had to say goodbye to many from our flock over the hyped gay rights issue. How foolish. The whole issue seems passe now, yesterday's news. The wild-eyed wing of Christianity went into hand-wringing. The issue was never to create preferred status for gays, it was just to ensure basic rights. We should turn to our young people for wisdom on this.
People who make their living in religion know the nature of the political problem. We see the series of articles in the Minneapolis paper about how we're becoming "un-churched." I'm quite sure part of the problem is the perception of politics: the marriage of the so-called evangelicals with Republicans and conservatives. It's not even good enough to describe yourself as Republican anymore, you must be committed to Trump and what he represents. But does Trump really represent conservatism? Doesn't it seem obvious he represents something sinister? He's a chronic liar. He's amoral. He nakedly does favors for the richest among us.
He postures with his language - a talent possessed by demagogues - to get the fundamentalist Christian crowd behind him. Pity those people, unable to think for themselves and feeling they have to do what spiritual leaders tell them. I think of the more conservative churches in the Morris area. What percentage of those people consider voting Democrat? Oh, I'd love to be pleasantly surprised about this. But I doubt I would be.
My Lutheran magazine seeks to be optimistic. I read "there is an engagement for peace that drives the church far beyond its own realm and calls for its robust presence in the public space. Without becoming entangled in partisan politics, it will get deeply involved in all initiatives that envision overcoming war, conflict and violence." 
That's my ELCA and I'm proud of such sentiment. So why were so many people eager to leave the synod over the much-hyped gay rights issue (gay ordination)?
Recently my church of First Lutheran in Morris sent its monthly publication that had a piece that lays out the stark facts about climate change, the need for Christians to be committed in the face of it. But the Trump crowd would condemn the essay and the whole publication, as being "liberal." Why do so many of us continue to buy that? What will it take to overcome it?
We in Minnesota showed wisdom by rejecting a gubernatorial candidate, Jeff Johnson, who was an unabashed Trump-ite. We did this in spite of Forum Communications, owner of the Morris newspaper, pushing for Johnson, instructing all its properties to make such a recommendation. We showed wisdom to reject the Forum and its political ilk.
Voters may be waking up as shown by the mid-terms, but it's still totally uphill, as Mitch McConnell still reigns in the U.S. Senate, judge appointments are all going toward the ultra-conservative end, and the menacing specter of Trump remains in the White House. Amazing. BTW wouldn't it have been a blessing for McConnell to lose to Alison Lundergan Grimes?
Can we assume "the good guys" will win in the end? As I have repeatedly said, we can make no such assumption. So, I'm not sure to what extent I even ought to celebrate Christmas 2018, even though my late mother would want me to. She was an ELCA Lutheran, proud of it, and didn't attach politics to her affiliation at all. To hell with Franklin Graham and Robert Jeffress. Will God punish all those people?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

MACA basketball takes off with wins

Boys: Tigers 64, 
Ortonville 57
It's nice to see winter prep sports get going in the time leading up to Christmas. The orange and black are off and running. Our boys basketball team downed the Ortonville Trojans 64-57 on November 30, away.
Jaret Johnson was quite the force. He was nearly perfect in long-range shooting, nailing five of his six attempts from three-point range. Camden Arndt was good on two shots from beyond the three-point stripe. Zach Hughes and Jackson Loge each made one '3'.
Johnson's long-rangers propelled him to the top of the scoring list with 29 points. Loge poured in 16 points. Arndt joined the group in double figures with his eleven, then we have Hughes with five and Jaden Maanum with three. Johnson muscled his way to get nine rebounds while Arndt and Loge each had seven. Arndt dished out six assists followed by Loge with four. Hughes, Arndt and Johnson each had one steal. We won our season opener with a 26-14 halftime lead.
 
Girls: Tigers 60, Benson 43
MACA made the short trip to Benson for the season opener on November 30. The occasion was the Case IH Invite. It was a winning night for the Tiger crew, 60-43 over host Benson. We achieved a 32-27 lead at halftime.
Maddie Carrington made three 3-point shots to account for her nine points. Riley Decker and Liz Dietz each made one '3', and it was Decker topping the scoring list with 12 points. Dietz contributed eleven points to the winning effort. The list continues with Carrington and Malory Anderson each with a total of nine. Sophia Carlsen put in eight points while Kylie Swanson scored six and Emma Bowman five.
Our top rebounders were Anderson with seven, Dietz with five and Carrington with four. Decker executed two assists. Anderson was deft with her movements and stole the ball six times. Decker and Carrington each contributed two steals.
Benson had a dominating scorer in Claire Ricard who put in 20 points. Kaitlyn Berreau scored seven followed by Abby Lundebrek and Beth Cain each with six. The list concludes with Abbie Mitteness and Melissa Connelly each with two. Berreau and Ricard each made a three-pointer. Ricard was Benson's top rebounder with five followed by Berreau with three. Ricard dished out four assists for the Braves while Mitteness had two. Hannah Andrews had two steals.
 
Girls hockey: Storm 3, Park Rapids 2
The MBA hockey girls needed a little time to build up scoring steam in their November 17 game at the Park Rapids ice. The Storm had no goals in the first period, then got going with one in the second and two in the third. The offense was sufficient for a satisfying 3-2 victory. Park Rapids scored one goal each in the first and third periods.
Alexa Kennedy scored the first goal of the game which was for Park Rapids, at 16:39 of the first. MBA evened things up in period No. 2 as Taryn Picht got the puck in the net at 6:07. MBA enjoyed momentum after that as Picht found the scoring touch again at :10 of the third period, this time assisted by Kortney Sanasack and Danielle Reuss. MBA went up 3-1 thanks to a power play goal by Sanasack assisted by Reuss and Hannah Zimmel (3:35).
Park Rapids scored the game's final goal which was a short-handed performance by Kennedy at 14:12.
Leah Thompson worked in goal for the winning Storm and she had 36 saves. Park Rapids' Kylee Pachel notched 26 saves. The first four minutes of the third period were decisive.
 
Service of Remembrance at Pedersen's
It is with regret that we ever do business with a funeral home. Death is the ultimate setback in life. Because it is reality for us all, it must be confronted, however sad. Sad yes, but uplifting too, to be reminded of the memories of loved ones.
In a past time I visited the Pedersen Funeral Home Service of Remembrance with camera on behalf of the Morris newspaper. I would like to still be involved with that sort of thing, but we cannot always make those decisions. Sometimes the writing is just on the wall. I smile as I remember the year when I popped a cake into the oven and went to the funeral home, timed in such a way that I'd get back just in time to get the cake out. I remember photographing the Mahoneys as they admired the finely decorated Christmas tree, then I returned back home with my timing having been quite precise.
In those days I'd prepare a cake for our family of three - Mom and Dad still alive. I don't recall if neighbor Les Lindor was still alive in the year to which I'm referring. For a long time in Les' twilight years, when he had become a widower due to the death of wife Gina, I'd trot across to his place with a piece of cake every time I baked a cake. I remember once arriving at his door when he had WCROC colleague Steve Poppe as visitor. Steve seemed so impressed, saying "you mean you have cake delivered?"
It is no longer practical for me to bake a cake at home.
This year I had the somber task of going to the funeral home for the Service of Remembrance, as a family member of a deceased loved one. Mom Martha is in heaven now. She left us in April. She was in home hospice for a year: Knute Nelson. You are fortunate to ever have services provided by Knute Nelson.
Eventually death comes and the appropriate professional services are needed. OK it's costly. That applies to quite a bit these days. I was able to deal with it albeit with cost reduction measures like cremation instead of the traditional funeral. I see no need for embalming. Mom is in heaven now, probably at the side of her husband Ralph, which friends have advised me, but maybe she's at the side of her parents Hilda and Andrew Ohlson. Or, brother Edwin and sister Mildred.
Only recently did I discover that Andrew had a previous wife who was named Johanek or Johanna. I saw that name with "Ohlson" on the website for Evergreen Cemetery, Brainerd. Never before had I heard of Johanek who died in 1920, four years before my mom was born. My mom was born four days before George H.W. Bush.
I don't see why Mom should have had inhibitions talking about Johanek. Surely I'd like to know more about her. I see no evidence that Andrew and Johanek had children but I can't be totally sure about that yet. I'm at the stage in life where I'm getting very interested in family history.
I wish to thank Brooke Sanders of the funeral home in particular, for her work connected to the deaths of both Dad and Mom. She was totally warm, capable, patient etc., all the qualities of a fine funeral home professional. She lit my memorial candle on Sunday at the Service of Remembrance. Such a touching occasion. Even though, I'd prefer being "in and out" and getting home to get a cake out of the oven. I'm salivating thinking about it.
I'd like to write that I'd like to give Brooke a kiss on the cheek, but I suppose that'd be sexist. Shane Decker of Pedersen's is the father of Riley Decker who I write about in connection with girls basketball. Riley was a star on the volleyball court too, a particular standout in "digging." It will be fun following all the girls basketball action of this coming winter. I'll be watching Maddie Carrington as she regularly makes 3's I'm sure. Maddie's grandmother Laura is in heaven with my mom and dad now. Knowing Laura as I did, I think she would have been enthusiastic about Donald Trump for a time, then to become less enthusiastic and to maybe be skeptical by now.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

"A book with the receipt still in it"

Boomers grew up being told by our parents how difficult it would be "getting into college." College was a distant citadel for a chosen few. You'd better be prepared to scratch and grovel. It made us scared, just like so many things had us feeling scared and intimidated. Contentment in life was going to be an elusive commodity.
Our parents had been through so much adversity just getting to where they were. We heard their stories and were sobered. College was a citadel with a silk stocking quality. My father felt motivated to get through. I look through his scrapbook and am impressed. The college culture seemed something to be admired. We weren't all inspecting our navel as a culture, as what happened in a later time. (Always I'm reminded of the difference between "navel" and "naval.")
Maybe society should have been doing more self-analysis in the '30s and '40s. But college unabashedly and unapologetically embraced the values of Western civilization. My father ended up writing music that reflected those ideals. He wouldn't have been able to comprehend the alternative, to even get into a discussion about it. He served in WWII when, miserable as it was, there seemed no debate about how laudable the cause was. There's always a dirty underbelly but it was buried.
College in the 1970s seemed totally like an underbelly. Almost gone was any celebration of Western civilization. It seemed perverse for college, that citadel type of place, to have become a cauldron for all the deconstructionist stuff. The U.S. Bicentennial seems remote in the past now. It came at the height of 1970s cynicism and resignation. Something got infused in college culture that made us all want to withdraw from everything that seemed traditionally virtuous.
College was no longer so difficult to get into. Society had decided that if college is so cotton pickin' desirable, let's open the doors. Everyone knows that when a desirable commodity becomes more easily available, it can become cheapened. Teachers were set to lecture us on how everything we thought we knew was wrong! Certainly we had to question basic churchgoing. Words cannot describe the guilt trip which students got put on, as surely we were racists even though few of us had any consciousness of that.
College faculty absorbed people who were groomed by the counterculture. There was one inarguable reason behind the sea change: realization of the debacle of the Vietnam war. It was a debacle in every way, shape and form. Revelations come out to this day about the extent of that. We hear about the deliberate use of "low IQ troops." We hear about the "fragging," more extensive than we at first thought. If college teachers were inclined to pamper their students in the 1970s, to be tolerant of our silly culture much of the time, it was because of sheer thankfulness that we were not in Vietnam. It was a time for political liberalism of the paternalistic kind to gain great currency.
All of the blessings of our digital world of today could hardly be imagined. We consumed knowledge on paper. Everything had to be on paper and it had to be acquired. We went to the college bookstore to get our books. We hardly thought about how book publishing was a business model. It was a racket in the sense that books are commercial products that seek to yield profit. Didn't it seem unwieldy to have to read a whole "book" to get background on something? Isn't it painfully obvious, as we reflect, that books are padded in a way discouraging enthusiastic consumption of information?
Today we unapologetically get our information in bite-size pieces from our ubiquitous Internet tools. I grew up hearing all about Jesus Christ in church. I found in the present day that if I simply went to the Jesus Christ entry on Wikipedia, I could learn more and in a more orderly way about Christ, than I ever knew before. Haven't you had revelations like this?
The Internet is a meritocracy in which the most credible material rises to the top. To the extent there is "chaff," any reasonably savvy person should develop a knack to recognize this. Learn to adjust to the Internet because there will be no alternative.
Have you ever bought a book because it seemed intriguing and then never got around to reading it? Or, checked out a book from the library and had the same thing happen? A friend of mine in college joked about a book by B.F. Skinner who was "in" with the college crowd of my day: "You bought the book and then a few months later, you see it with the receipt still in it." Books are wonderful in theory but not so helpful in practice.
My generation began hearing about "speed reading." I remember when my high school classmate Brian Henjum was enthused about that. I'm not sure the idea was to consume all the material. How could you read every word? I think it was a cynical strategy to try to ferret out what was relevant in what you were reading. Today we must wonder: why deal with the chaff at all?
Academic types tended to pooh-pooh the Internet in its early days. How futile that is today. So ubiquitous is online-based information today, we don't even hear the term "Internet" so much. It's not an entity, it's everywhere.
Academic people had to adjust by now, haven't they? No more assumptions about how "learned" people most certainly have a stack of books at the ready. As a kid we heard the term "bookworm." I have trouble reading from a book today. I don't have the patience.
What about the virtues of Western civilization? Have they made a comeback? It seems higher education would have treacherous footing without an embrace of traditional values.
My generation was imbued with "burn baby burn." Most of us, in all likelihood, realized this was going to be no beacon guiding us through life. We kept our reservations to ourselves. We knew we'd enter a world where marriage, children, kids and church would become our aims.
College leaders would say they were just "making us think." Their prime rationale was probably to convince us that an alternative set of values was needed to prevent another Vietnam war, and to snuff out racism. Racism is hardly dead.
There is rampant fear about the effects of immigration. We have a president with persistent undertones - sometimes it's not really so "under" - about how the traditional white bread world of our forebears is something to fight to restore.
I wonder how my parents would have turned out, had they been college age in the 1970s with all the self-destructive temptations. I cannot see my father even listening with interest to all the rebellious or counterculture stuff. He had internalized the values of Western civilization. He served in "the good war." What would Vietnam have done to him? Fortunately he escaped all that distress.
And me? I only have the satisfaction of striving to write about it with some degree of accuracy.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Winter prep sports w/ eye on local history

We are about to embark on the annual journey called high school winter sports. It stands apart from the other sports seasons, as a haven for investing your emotions through the bleakness of winter.
The winter solstice comes up on December 21. I'm almost inclined to want to celebrate the solstice more than Christmas/New Year's. The solstice has a scientific basis: the shortest day of the year. It really affects our psychology. For me as someone now living alone, regrettably, it makes me want to "hibernate" at times.
Any compulsion to let your metabolism slow down is countered by the high school winter sports season. It's an adrenalin rush that can almost seem scary with the way it can affect parents of the athletes. I "fought the battles" covering this stuff in the media, knowing there'd be slings and arrows at times. Whatever discomfort I was forced to feel by that, was offset by the fact that journalism is in my DNA. I'd keep fighting those battles until the situation became untenable, as it finally did in 2006.
That year was likely the last really good one for the traditional print media. Even though it was good, its leaders could easily see what was coming over the horizon. The business model was going to be jolted by new and profound electronic media forces. And indeed this has been borne out: look at the drastic retrenchment within the company that operates the Morris area print media. The Hancock paper for which I worked so very hard for a long time, is gone. The Ad-Viser free ad circular is gone - I used to work all day Friday at Lowry's Quinco Press to load the Ad-Viser.
And the Morris paper? It's a fraction of the size it was during its heyday, a heyday I am most proud to have been part of. Quite the salad days as I made my rounds endlessly in all phases of the business. We will never see this again.
I rolled up my sleeves for high school winter sports because, well, how could I not? It was a magnet for attention. I had co-workers at the paper who were fanatically devoted to this stuff. Unfortunately nearly all - I should say all - of these co-workers had kids who attended not Morris but one of the surrounding Pheasant Conference-size schools. I will feel mystified through all the rest of my days about why that had to be. Jim Morrison had his son in the Morris school but he was a non-athlete, bless him.
Barb Lienemann came along in our front office, who was attuned to Tiger sports, even wearing an orange sweatshirt on the day of the girls basketball opener, but she was not pushy with her sports interests as she related to the person (me) who did most of the sportswriting.
The 1980s were a time to try one's soul in Morris athletics. I was supposed to do my job with so-called "objectivity" during a time when any moron could see there were problems in the system. I decided I couldn't do my job by pretending nothing was amiss - I felt it would make me look stupid. As time wore on, I could see I'd be portrayed as stupid no matter what I did.

Mark Torgerson, coach

I was surprised when getting the news that Mark Torgerson was being promoted to head basketball coach. I had him pegged as an assistant and probably a quite good one, but I didn't see the kind of firebrand qualities in him that would be associated with the top spot.
I found it was dangerous in this community to share this opinion, so much so you might get run out of town. The teachers in their union behaved like they were under siege in the mid to late 1980s. I saw no need for such defensiveness. But that's the way it was, and they decided that Torgy's promotion was going to be part of asserting they were still on high ground, untouched by the floodwaters of discontent. They wanted no part of the "new guy" with the initials C.B. who the new superintendent brought here with intentions of making him head boys basketball coach.
Never mind that the new guy was going to be a full-time faculty member. The teachers appeared to fight him at every juncture, even when this guy inquired as a fall-back about being the girls basketball coach. He was entitled to the girls job if he wanted it, according to the contract which the teachers union itself had OK'd. Normally whens it comes to union matters, "the contract" rules however it turns out. But there was politics thick as pea soup in Morris. I think it emitted an absolute stench.
Decisions that should have been routine - no big deal - instead became invested with such great gravity, largely owing to a good old boys type of network. Like in the movie "Walking Tall" (with Joe Don Baker)?
And my, the teachers got their way with everything for a time. Torgy got his promotion, really a big deal because everyone knew if he got it, he'd likely keep it for near forever. And that's exactly what has happened.

An oft-heard critique, apparently
I'll quote for you here from an email exchange I had with a well-known and respected professional in Morris' business district, this past year. He is highly attuned with athletics at present. He said "Torgy teams are always being accused of underachieving." Really? Isn't this significant? A highly credible and well-thought-of person here asserts that Torgy teams are "always being accused of underachieving."
We were commenting after Morris blew out its tires in the post-season tournament last year vs. Minnewaska.
I think Torgy had to struggle to survive beyond his first year as coach. People might have made excuses then, saying our overall athletic program needed to be refurbished. I think Dennis Rettke in his wisdom thought Mr. C.B. with his reputation for injecting sheer intensity was quite appropriate then. Rettke told me himself that forces prevailed on him suggesting that Torgy be "given a shot at it" (being head coach). Torgy was definitely "given a shot" and it has lasted something like 30 years. I think Dick Felstul was an influence.

Alas, issues with girls program too
This community went through two rough patches with girls basketball coaching. The first one was especially sad because this coach too was "given a shot at it" and we rooted for her because she had been a star UMM athlete. It did not work out. Nevertheless she and her friends fought for a "third year" and they got it, while close onlookers like yours truly were 100 percent sure the program wasn't going to perform any better. We were right.
And even after the third year, it was hard getting anything done. The school had to go through a formal process of relieving her. I remember the drama surrounding that. It was supposed to be a consent agenda item to relieve the coach. Board members had that understanding going in, but then politics appeared to rear its ugly head, arm-twisting due to the political circles of friends which I saw as pollution in the community. So, board members were thrown into the uncomfortable position of making a forced vote.
The replacement coach would be the C.B. fellow. Even a board member with Apostolic Christian ties, thus not being close at all to sports, reportedly talked like an expert and made a disparaging remark about C.B., saying "I don't like his tactics." You mean, you're afraid he might win too much?
I was never personal friends with C.B. and there never was anything personal about it, a claim that could not be made from the other "party group" side.
So, the board voted and the coach was removed. I remember how the vote got reported in our Morris paper. Rather unusual - here's a close paraphrase: "The board voted to thank (name of coach) for her service and to tell her those services would not be needed in the future." Wow!
I felt sorry for the individual in question who if you put her coaching issues aside, was universally acclaimed as the nicest person you could ever meet.
Here's a lingering question I have: Should a board ever have to "fire" a coach? Couldn't a new coach simply be named prior to the next season? I remember a very devoted Tiger sports fan saying after Torgy's bumpy first year: "They should just say 'the position is open.' " No need to have a termination on anyone's record, n'est-ce pas?
But you have to remember the whole political backdrop to so much of what was happening in the Morris community in the 1980s: the teachers union was thrashing away at trying to keep its relevance and power at a time when student numbers were sure to shrink due to the conclusion of the "baby boom" (my generation). We had a fiercely political local teachers union that intimidated many people. I felt the promotion of Torgy was a sop to them, a way of keeping them docile, you might say. Throw them a bone. Let them feel that "their guy," someone already established in the system, was going to be favored and stroked.
As for the "new guy," C.B., well he could just mosey on down the road, which he eventually did.
There was a second rough patch in Morris girls basketball coaching and here I'll name names. It was Steve Harter. His tenure was remarkably unsuccessful and by year 3, it was obvious there'd be no reversal. A special meeting was held to keep the parents restrained just prior to year 3. It's my understanding the coach didn't have the qualifications for the position. He was difficult for me to work with just from a press standpoint. Maybe he got the appointment because his colleagues knew he had aspirations to be an administrator, so a coaching job would look good on his resume. There's a name for that: "politics."
You had to hold your nose around the Morris school system back in those days. I think it's 100 percent straightened out today, albeit not perfect - it's never perfect. So, let's get ready for the long high school winter sports season.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Community Thanksgiving Dinner is gone

Remember when Morris had a community Thanksgiving dinner? Remember the big tempting table full of pie selections? Seemed like an event that fit in nicely with Morris' annual slate. Like Prairie Pioneer Days (PPD). Wait a minute, PPD is apparently done as a summer event. I continue to hear some rather vocal objections to this.
The Chamber of Commerce is not a government entity that by definition would reflect the wishes of the people. In theory the Chamber reflects the wishes of the business community. Wait a minute, the business community is supposed to reflect the overall community, if it's properly in sync.
I took it somewhat personally when the Chamber took the ax to PPD as a summer event. It's a sign I'm getting old that I recall PPD's birth as something remote in time. But that's indeed reality. I even covered the precursor event for the Morris paper. That precursor was the Fall Festival. This Fall Festival was not to be confused with the Vicky Dosdall event at the fairgrounds. The "old" Fall Festival was before the Killoran building got built. For some reason my overriding memory of the event is of Lee Temte "freelancing" his musical entertainment. Temte was an interesting extroverted person in Morris at one time. There he was, poised with his guitar for the Fall Festival. He was often heard on the radio.
Some forward-looking community people thought it was time to consider a bigger annual festival that would be held in summer months. Why should Glenwood have so much primacy with that sort of thing, with their Waterama?
Legend has it that the Waterama almost met its end when guys my age, those abundant boomers, came to town and were too rambunctious. It could actually threaten property, or so I've heard. Do you want to know the template for the kind of undesirable behavior I'm talking about? It's those kids taunting the cadets who were arriving for a formal affair in the movie "Taps." For some reason, many young boys seemed not very happy with life and did not move forward with the proper ideals and maturity. A sociologist might be able to tell you why. That's not my game although I definitely observe and file stuff away.
The boomers receded. DWI laws got much, much tougher. Society straightened things out and the Waterama got along just fine. My uncle and his wife were grand marshals in 1987. I regret that I haven't been there for over a decade. I used to photograph the Kills and the Josts along the parade route - in basically the same place - every year. I enjoyed just walking among the parade watchers. Pastor Garmer of our Faith Lutheran Church said to me one year: "Well, Brian, I see you're working the crowd."
Heh heh.
 
Helping get PPD launched here
I was enthusiastic covering the efforts to establish our summer festival in Morris: Prairie Pioneer Days. Perhaps I was excessive but that was benign in this case. I got excessive about some other things too.
Everyone loves a good community celebration in the good old summertime. PPD was born and had a long and vigorous life. Many of the specific facets did fade away but no matter, the core features like the parade and food were intact. Food and music are the essential elements. The rest is just a little gravy.
My late parents and I enjoyed PPD over a long time. My Glenwood uncle Howard and his wife Vi joined us at least once. And then out of the blue, we hear that PPD has been cancelled as a summer event. People have pondered "why?"
In an email exchange I had with a well-known community leader, he said: "I agree (with you) about Prairie Pioneer Days. I think it should have stayed in the summer. Find some good music, good food and people will come. I think too many organizations took it upon themselves to do their own fundraisers during that weekend. It had a tremendous parade though."
He then "wondered what the weather will be like" for the re-scheduled event which will be in September, not in the "safe zone" for good weather. We'll need to have fingers crossed for good weather and indeed, maybe we'll be lucky. I know what it can be like to depend on luck, though.
We already have the Welcome UMM picnic in September. Actually the "UMM" has been taken out of the name so it's just "Welcome." I'm not sure what other appreciable group of people we'd be welcoming that time of year. The "caravan" of migrants from Mexico? The Republicans feverishly told us before the mid-terms that something like an invasion was coming, and they wouldn't lie to us, would they? Trump wouldn't lie?
Kevin Wohlers has gone public with his view about how maybe we shouldn't have let go of PPD as a summer event. Kevin and I have something important in common: we're Morris natives and MHS grads. We have a good feeling regarding the community's background and what our best interests might be.
Well, PPD is gone for now but let's focus on our month of November: Surely we can count on the Community Thanksgiving Dinner for bringing everyone together, n'est-ce pas? Oh wait a minute, there is no longer a Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
There are always people on the contrary side of me, making excuses and wringing hands.
I don't think there was a shortage of volunteers. I remember Pastor Jarvis (Zion Lutheran) joking one year that there were so many volunteers, he had the very narrow specialty of just filling water glasses! Volunteers were available to bring my parents' meals to them.
Payment was with a free will donation. I remember learning that the basket for this was not put in a real noticeable place, because organizers (I guess) thought it would be crass to suggest up front that $ be submitted. Oh, that's so Minnesotan, like people being timid at four-way stops. Motorists in New York City sure aren't like that! If the Community Thanksgiving Dinner simply needed more financial support, I think the attendees would be more considerate, even paying a designated fee if necessary. Would you be happy to do that? Close your eyes and imagine the aroma of all those pumpkin pies. There are more and more seniors and retirees among us, people for whom it's not practical to prepare the traditional Thanksgiving meal (using oven etc.).
If Willie's is open I might grab a prepared sandwich from the deli and get through the day. I'll be fine.
 
Open door for a new event?
Now that the Thanksgiving Dinner and PPD have essentially bitten the dust, might we think of something new? Oh gosh, that's like pulling teeth in this community, but not for me. I am so often an outlier in this community. Yet my attitude is rather gung-ho. So allow me to suggest we have a "Dyngus Day" festival in Morris. We need the Catholics to lead the way with this, if they have any money left after the bankruptcies and lawsuits across the nation.
Dyngus Day is on the Monday after Easter. It got famous a few years ago when Anderson Cooper of CNN got the giggles uncontrollably on the air talking about it. Something about the pussy willow princess.
Dyngus Day is a tons-of-fun Polish holiday. When I was a kid, "Polish jokes" were big. Never mind, Polish communities across America can be big on Dyngus Day. It's so well-timed coming after the long Lenten holiday. Romance figures in. Make way for fun, parades, drinking and festivities! You do not have to be Polish to enjoy, rather consider yourself Polish for the day. Guys are encouraged to chase after the ladies with squirt guns, buckets or other containers of water. We learn "the more bold and gallant boys may choose to use cologne."
Also, "hitting (gently, please) the ladies on the legs with switches or pussy willows is also common."
And yes ladies, you can strike back. Ladies, you get your revenge on Tuesday, when tradition has it that you throw dishes or crockery back at the boys. But, "it has become increasingly popular for the ladies to get their revenge on Monday, tossing water back at the boys."
How did Dyngus Day start? Well, let's look to the baptism of Polish Prince Mieszke I in 966 A.D.
Baptism with water signifies cleansing, fertility and purification. How about it, Morris?
 
Whither the Killoran building?
One of the benefactors for the Killoran stage is concerned about the declining use of it, justifiably. Gone are the weekly Kiwanis talent shows, and holy cow, PPD is gone from summer. Is it true the Morris community band didn't even play there in 2018? The stage was built precisely for that kind of musical group.
I have a friend in Iowa who once played in the Eastern Iowa Brass Band. How super a group like that would sound at the stage. Isn't there a nucleus of quite musically inclined people in Morris? The group would not have to be as ambitious as the Iowa band which travels and participates in competitions. Why not a weekly concert at the stage in summer with hot dogs and pop available for the audience? Better yet, why not a group of high school-age musicians doing something weekly?
My generation was involved in marching band all summer. The director could crack the whip and we'd respond. Today the common Morris refrain in summer, as I have bemoaned, is "we're going to be gone." Yawn. We can at least remember the Community Thanksgiving Dinner and the summer Prairie Pioneer Days.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com