MACA girls sweep NL-Spicer at New London

I was surprised to learn Kristi Fehr is no longer the MACA volleyball head coach. She had quite a skein of success going in the role. I worked with her back when I was in the media and she coached the Hancock Owls. I wrote for the Hancock Record newspaper which no longer exists.
I have a newspaper acquaintance in this part of the state who thinks there might be potential for reviving the Hancock paper. He'd explore the possibility himself. Re-starting such a venture might be daunting in this age where newspapers seem rather on the ropes. My feeling is that if Hancock is viable to sustain a K-12 school system, there is potential for a newspaper.
Maybe I'm old-fashioned in thinking a certain size community must simply have a paper. Maybe in the real world, the phasing out of the institution is very much in the works. Certainly the Morris paper gives us substantially less content than when I was there.
Kristi Fehr is apparently content being an assistant coach now in the bump, set and spike sport. Is she seeking less pressure? There might be something to be said for that. The new coach is a male dude name of Caleb Greene. Years ago there was a sexist perception that girls teams might perform better under a man coach. If there was any truth to that at all, it was probably because male athletics had been established so much longer than female. Yours truly goes back to when Morris had its first high school softball team, coached by the venerable Mary Holmberg who is still at it. I covered the Tigers in state when the destination was St. Cloud for that: Whitney Field.
 
Always nice to beat Wildcats
Coach Greene ushered his 2018 team into the new season with winning style. The opponent was New London-Spicer, always likely to challenge strongly in girls athletics, especially basketball. Right now we're talking volleyball, and the Tigers' Tuesday (8/28) showing was totally impressive! With Fehr in the assistant coach role, the orange and black prevailed over the Wildcats. We swept the 'Cats at their home court in New London. It wasn't real one-sided but we still won by sweep, scores of 25-23, 25-20 and 25-21. Congrats to the Tiger crew.
Success came on the 17th birthday of player Bailey Marty, who marked the occasion with superlative play. Undistracted by decorations related to her birthday, Marty focused and came through with eleven kills, the team-best total. She focused to also contribute eight digs and an ace serve.
New London-Spicer is a 3AA-North rival so it was important to pass this test.
Greene lauded his team's back-row passing as a key ingredient. The offense got set up most smoothly. Marty and Riley Decker were key individuals executing the passing. They got the ball up in the air proficiently. NL-Spicer put up decent resistance at times. They got the score tied at 19-all during the second game, and kept things close toward the end of game 3. But they could not overcome a Tiger team that looked disciplined and sharp.
NL-Spicer had some sputtering at the service line. Unforced errors were another occasional woe for them.
Let's note that some of our MACA players don't have a lot of varsity experience. Bailey Marty sized up the NL-Spicer defense and performed cross-court shots. She gave credit to the bench players for communicating with the on-court talent, as they advised of soft spots on the NL-Spicer side. Riley Decker was a cog on defense.
Two Tigers each had two serve aces: Kenzi Hockel and Liz Dietz. These Tigers each chalked up one ace from the serving line: LaRae Kram, Decker and Marty. We're so used to seeing Karly Fehr standing out in setting. Karly has moved on from the high school scene, so now we have Kram and Dietz standing out, at least on Tuesday, each with 13 set assists. Decker contributed four assists. Marty with her eleven kills was followed in this department by Alexis Pew who had eight and Hockel with seven. The list continues with Emma Berlinger who had three and Jen Solvie and Sophia Carlsen each with two.
Kram and Carlsen each had two ace blocks while Berlinger had one. On to digs, and here it was Decker showing proficiency as she always does, totaling nine in the sweep win effort. Marty had eight followed by Kram and Dietz each with six and Hockel with five.
I notice in the Willmar paper that stats for New London-Spicer were "unavailable." In other words, the NL-Spicer coach wasn't interested in working with the paper, odd because NL-Spicer is in the immediate area of Willmar. The Willmar paper is showing stress these days, being forced to go digital-only with the Monday edition. My newspaper contact/friend said in reaction to this: "death spiral!" Online-only can never fully be a substitute for the traditional print model, at least not commercially speaking. Of course, all information of interest to us can go online. We'll see as this retrenchment process proceeds.
I actually feel there is potential for a newspaper coming back to Hancock. I did the Hancock Record sports section for 15 years. I hope that is not forgotten. I worked with some interesting coaches there including one who ended up in prison. Things seem a lot more settled in Hancock now with more typical and less volatile coaches. I don't think the volatile ones get as much slack as they used to.
 
Yes I'm befuddled
Speaking of the Hancock school, I noticed something I considered odd on their website when checking it yesterday. The person who drove the van in the horrific accident in March is back on staff. I personally do not see how this is palatable. All the news accounts at the time indicated with no apparent doubt that the van driver was at fault. Have new facts come to light?
The consequences of that accident for the affected kids were horrific. I just don't see how this person can continue functioning at the school, though she is no longer listed as "van driver." I see where the Malos - Bruce and Jan - have taken that over, and I would have total confidence in them. The person involved in the accident is cited as "paraprofessional." How will her colleagues interact with her? I would find it impossible being around her as if nothing had happened.
My goodness, what an episode to have on your record. And to think I used to worry about making a typographical error in my writing for the Sun Tribune newspaper. We notice strange things in the world around us all the time.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

A fundamentalist church folds locally

We learn of the collapse of Morris Community Church. It's hard to know what trend this reflects. Is it the general trend of churches being in decline? The Star Tribune has done some extensive features on this. However, people often cite an exception to the trend: the survival or even the strength of the more so-called fundamentalist strains. These people are so committed, it is argued, they can overcome the forces of apathy or agnosticism. Those latter forces have produced the "nones."
I heard the "nones" term for the first time on a "Book TV" (C-Span2) program several years ago. People in this category check the box for "none" on a survey about religious affiliation.
I was surprised that Morris Community Church acquired the old newspaper building. I wonder if the plumbing of that building could ever be rescued. Prior to the digital age, the paper used phototypesetting chemicals that were very, well, strong and just plain "icky." We had employees who, because they didn't know any better, disposed of exhausted activator and deactivator chemicals in the sink at the same time. Those chemicals had polar opposite purposes.
Jim Morrison can tell you about the time a plumber tried remedying a sink problem and applied a certain chemical in the sink, causing paper around the shop to start turning brown within minutes. We literally finished our layout process for the paper outside. There was a stink. Howard Moser later commented that our health might have been threatened by that episode. Stabilization processing was a true "analog" way of getting things done, a dirty process of the type that was common before the wizardry of digital-based processes.
 
Weighing another theory
If a fundamentalist-oriented church in our midst is floundering, what does it mean? We must allow for the possibility that it reflects a general decline of Morris. Nowhere is this theory better supported than with the elimination of Prairie Pioneer Days as we've known it. Is a parade even feasible in September? PPD might get re-structured as a glorified picnic, much the same as the "welcome" picnic we just had Monday (assuming the rain didn't wash it out). I wasn't at the picnic because I was at the funeral home picnic at Pomme de Terre City Park.
The welcome picnic at Eastside Park (or East Side Park?) was not promoted as a "welcome UMM" picnic as it should have been. Who else would we be welcoming at this time of year?
Is the picnic a reflection of the fact that Morris goes so limp in summer with people leaving town, going to "the lake" at every opportunity, as if Morris is sort of a last resort place for them to spend time? So, the picnic is a suggestion of some sort of (hoped-for) return to normalcy? Del Sarlette questions whether the September scheduling can really resuscitate PPD. He suggests that instead of going to "the lake" on weekends, people just start going to "the Cities."

Not putting best foot forward
The evangelical or fundamentalist crowd has been doing no favors for the Christian world. We are flummoxed, or ought to be, by the bond between the so-called evangelicals and Donald Trump. It continues to amaze. It has been cited as another influence toward the "nones" becoming more the norm in our society.
While the evangelicals remain very committed with eyes glazed over, they are a minority. I must be blunt here and scold the evangelicals, some of whom have been my personal friends. You are being used. Trump's foundation is not really faith, it's hard-right political conservatives, people who do not really have a philosophy at all, they just want deregulation and more tax cuts for the well-off. They talk big like there's some sort of virtuous philosophy behind what they support, conservative or whatever, but it's self-interest.
They are more than happy to tell the religious crowd "we're on your side," because those votes can then be chalked up. They don't really lose any sleep over whether abortion remains legal.
Evangelicals must have to twist themselves into knots justifying their Trump support. We have had two prime examples of the Trump crowd communicate in letters in our Morris paper recently. The second of these was so typical it seemed like parody. And, I would actually argue that it was questionable judgment for the paper to publish that letter, because of how race was invoked. Normally the Trump people are too delicate to be nakedly racial in how they argue. But this letter, as I recall its content, listed "whites" among the supposedly aggrieved parties in America that Trump speaks to.
So, white people are an aggrieved class. On what basis? White people are not literally "white," of course. Our society increasingly reflects the melting pot origins of this wonderful free nation. It is becoming archaic to even refer to people using racial classification. But here we see a letter to the editor from one of the lost souls being left behind in an inexorably changing nation.
Barack Obama represented everything that is good and virtuous. He projected class. These attributes sound the opposite of who, exactly? Trump's administration has supported so-called religious beliefs over civil liberties. Does Pastor Robert Jeffress speak for you? He claims to speak for "evangelicals."
I continue to be confused by how the media tosses around the term "evangelicals." It is a flaw of the media, a lazy flaw, to like easy classifications. We hear speculation on how the "evangelicals" will vote. Young people hear this and might start feeling some alienation from organized religion. Millennials tend to be quite receptive to progressive political views. There's another easy classification: "progressive." Don't we all want to progress?
 
The Catholic Church element
Christianity is in fact taking it on the chin in more than one way. While the Trump/evangelical marriage chafes on many a soul, we have the unspeakable scandal steadily getting worse involving the Catholic Church. We have known about that for some time like with the movie "Spotlight." But the recent headlines paint a far more scandalous picture. How can anyone stand idly by? There is no forgiveness for the transgressions now being revealed. There is no opportunity to allow for a fresh start by this church.
There is no chance for Catholics in our own community to "spin" in some way about how "we're sorry and will take action to remediate." We are past that. I have asked before: Does local government have the authority to prohibit any church that has a policy of celibacy for clergy? And of course we all know that is the crux of the problem.
The Star Tribune continues to explore the decline of churchgoing. I think we all trust science and secularism so much more than the mystical church. We trust science over prayer. Maybe schools should just start ignoring "church night" of Wednesday and go ahead and schedule the normal events. "Church night" increasingly seems anachronistic.
There are elements of spiritualism we can cling to. After all, we don't really know how we got here, do we? Maybe Native Americans are right when they simply talk about "the creator."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Author Jim Kjelgaard connected kids with nature

("Goodreads" image)

How does a writer discover he has a gift for reaching the age level of about fifth grade? Does the writer consciously set out on this course? Or does the writer just like storytelling in a way that has minimum "clutter?" Use the most basic language to get across the story. There is no reason an adult could not enjoy these books as much as kids.
I feel joy as I once again see the book cover for "Fire-Hunter." It's a book by the kind of writer just described. He has been gone from us for quite a while, having died too soon at age 49 due to suicide. We cannot readily explain such decisions. Jim Kjelgaard left a legacy with his writing that makes his presence among us still seem real. His forte is described as "young adult" literature. Like all adults I was a "young adult" once. Thankfully I got steered toward the works of Kjelgaard. The late Laura Carrington refreshed me on the pronunciation of the name: KEL-gard.
Outside of my own mother, Kjelgaard was probably most responsible in helping me climb the ladder of literacy. I remember his books to be true page-turners.
We have all wondered, I'm sure, if we might create a book for really young kids, the kind of books with large pictures and not much text. We probably think it would be easy. We probably think it's easy like the creation of a base country-western song. Successful art on any level is never easy. There is craftsmanship to master, rules to learn. I suspect few of us think about creating "young adult" literature where the audience would be about the fifth or sixth grade. Whatever caused Mr. Kjelgaard to gravitate toward this, it was a blessing for all who would come to consume his work.
Some of my friends liked the Hardy Boys or Tom Swift books. Those works were terrific I'm sure. I personally got attracted to the Jim Kjelgaard books that had animals and the wild world at the forefront. I wonder if I liked the sense of peace that comes with contemplating the wild world.
I remember reading some pages of a Kjelgaard book using a flashlight when I was under the covers in bed!
Sometimes his books are categorized as "juvenile." His first such book was "Forest Patrol," issued in 1941. He won praise not just for sheer storytelling but for educational value. Librarians and teachers grew attached. Kjelgaard told the story of a Canadian husky in "Snow Dog." The book "Fire-Hunter" was a flirtation with sci-fi making it even more appealing for me. It was sci-fi in the sense it was set in prehistoric times and he had to speculate on the nature of daily life and the struggles of primitive man.
 
In awe of his own audience
As with all successful commercial artists, Kjelgaard had overwhelming respect for his audience, never mind they were just "kids." The kid status seemed to call that much more for respect, as reflected in this quote from the author: "You can't write down to kids. Kids spot weaknesses in a juvenile book that would get by in a book for adults. You have to struggle to get up to the kids' level." 
This isn't hyperbole - I'm sure he meant it. Kjelgaard authored more than 40 novels. He wrote "Big Red" which was made into a Walt Disney movie. As an adult I bought the VHS tape of the movie, wanting to enjoy it for old time's sake, and found I didn't like it as much. I eventually found this feeling of letdown happening with watching all the old Walt Disney fare from my youth (early '60s).

This is not a commentary on the book "Big Red" which I may not have actually read - I'm sure it was up to the standards of all Kjelgaard's books.

I do remember reading "Fire-Hunter" in its entirety and loving it. The theme was much like one of my favorite comic books of the time: "Turok, Son of Stone."
"Fire-Hunter" is set in the days of saber-tooth tigers and woolly mammoths. In it we become familiar with "Hawk," the chief spear-maker of his tribe who is abandoned by his people and has to confront a foreboding wilderness, employing new ideas and weapons. There is a heroine too, "Willow." They learn how to store water and smoke meat. The man develops the bow and arrow through trials. Animals are menacing, along with a hostile tribe. Kids can read this book and learn about the process of trial and error. The leading characters tame a wild puppy who comes to assist in hunting.
Kjelgaard probably loved dogs more than anything in life. His wonderful book "Snow Dog" tells us about "Chiri," a husky who as a pup watched a black wolf kill his mother and two brothers. Chiri must be intrepid in order to care for himself and mature, in the snow-covered land. He reaches adulthood. He's willing to trust human friend and trapper Link Stevens. Looming over the story is the knowledge that our hero dog will need to confront the black wolf. There's an understanding that only one of them will survive. Such is the suspense the author could weave into his wilderness-based storytelling.
We quickly feel for the characters. We are drawn into their world, even as I lay in bed holding my flashlight! I'm glad I consumed a fair amount of fiction at that stage in my life. As an adult I'm not inclined to read fiction, unfortunately. I write reality-based journalism, these days online and from my life experience as a 63-year-old person. I guess I have seen a fair amount. I'm old enough to have spent considerable time writing on manual typewriters. It's not as remote in time as the "Fire-Hunter" world but it almost seems like it!
I really hope the young adults or juveniles of today still get exposed to Kjelgaard's works. As an adult you'll find a guilty pleasure in reading this material, to be sure. Don't pass up an opportunity. Jim Kjelgaard left us in 1959. How much more he could have shared with us.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Please listen to "Ralph Williams Wrote the Tunes"

A young Ralph E. Williams with baton

I am pleased to have written a song of tribute about my late father. The posting comes as we celebrate the establishment of the Ralph and Martha Williams Fund at our University of Minnesota-Morris. Thanks to those who added some funds at the time of Mom's recent passing. The singer of my song is the fabulous Debra Gordon of Nashville TN. She deserves to be a star. Thanks to Frank (Franklin) Michels who runs the studio and is very creatively gifted.
The song has a verse/climb/chorus construction and I feel it's quite spirited and reverential.
The song is called "Ralph Williams Wrote the Tunes." I was happy to mention Dad's tenure at the U of M St. Paul School of Agriculture in the first couple lyric lines - that was a very pleasant time in yours truly's life, preschool! I invite y'all to listen with this YouTube link. Thanks as always to Gulsvig Productions of Starbuck MN for getting the song on YouTube. I'm not quite the "geek" to do that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdJ7eLAyJ_I

 

Our old family patterns
There's no place like home. "Sandy" was a treasured family member. He was half American Eskimo and half poodle. How I miss when my father, Sandy and I would rise very early to get a taste of the day. On many occasions, no twinkle of sunlight yet. On TV we had two main choices: Robin Meade or Don Imus. My father would stretch out on our davenport. I would come along shortly after that and get seated in a recliner.
"Have a seat," my father would say. He said this knowing full well that as soon as I got comfortable, Sandy would come along and ask to be fed! Sandy would look at me for 3-4 seconds, and then start barking. It was a dependable ritual. When you hear a Williams family member say "have a seat," be aware it's an inside joke and you'll see a twinkle in our eye.
To help preserve these memories, I have written a little poetry. Here it is:

 

"Have a Seat"

by Brian Williams

 

My father rose before the dawn

Soon he turned the TV on

He was happy as could be

Hearing news from Robin Meade

 

Sandy was our family dog

He was like a gift from God

He was loyal to my Dad

They were partners in life's path

 

They were old and getting ripe

Having seen so much of life

Knowing wisdom is instilled

Through the years like with a pill

 

Dad had won his leisure time

Earning every single dime

Plus he served in World War Two

With the Navy's fighting crew

 

Then he followed his career

Teaching music without peer

At the U of M he was

Doing what he always loved

 

Grooming kids in "do re mi"

Capturing his destiny

Finally in his later years

He just wanted family near

 

That included our canine

Such a bond you'll never find

He and Dad were out of bed

Before the eastern sky turned red

 

We soaked in from Robin Meade

All the news that's fit to read

Robin seemed my father's friend

From her place on HLN

 

We laughed at Don Imus too

Don and his irrev-rent crew

Then he had to step aside

'Cause his words had crossed a line

 

Though he was his Daddy's dog

Feeding Sandy was my job

Breakfast was a can't-miss time

For our dog to feast and dine

 

Dad would notice Sandy's urge

From his early morning perch

He would show that gimlet eye

Sense of humor so alive

 

Breakfast was the task at hand

For the canine with his Dad

Sandy had to get his food

Then we'd have a happy mood

 

First I had to move my butt

'Cause I really loved that mutt

Dad would smile for us both

Family made us feel our oats

 

Sandy was a priceless pearl

Making full our family world

Though he had no pedigree

He had value all could see

 

Dad would never cease to joke

So soon after I awoke

"Have a seat" he said with mirth

From my seat I had to lurch

 

Finding Sandy's sustenance

Breakfast, supper and for lunch

Was a task I did uphold

With the three of us growing old

 

I could just hear Tom T. Hall

Sing a song about this all

He would surely find a smile

Watching Sandy all the while

 

Sandy had a priceless way

Sharing love throughout the day

He helped my Dad persevere

Long beyond his quota here

 

My dad would not give a speech

He would just say "have a seat"

It was like a morning chime

Etched within the mem-ries mine

Let us not unravel the (local) ties that bind

The ELCA Lutheran churches in town are barely able to sustain a weekly Wednesday night event designed to bring believers together. (Remember "Faith and the Believers" locally?)
Any event designed to bring people together seems to be struggling these days in Morris. The ELCA sessions just fit into the pattern. "We can't be here next week because we're going to be gone." A litany of excuses builds up.
Who would have ever predicted that Prairie Pioneer Days in its longstanding form would essentially die? We may not have heard the last about that decision. People are startled and may be starting to suggest we take a fresh look at keeping the summertime thing on life support, at least.
I have expressed concern before about the Superior company getting its hooks in local events like PPD and the fair, whereas such events should be truly community-based and not contingent on a private company's interest. OK, maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps I should do a reversal and suggest that Superior completely take over PPD. They could do this on the basis of community outreach and public relations - a big local company showing civic commitment? Maybe the private sector is simply needed to undergird everything nowadays. Some voices in the GOP say we should "privatize the Veterans Administration." Are these the only motivations that count?
Our Prairie Pioneer Days seemed so healthy for a long stretch of years. I remember so well from my years covering it for the Sun Tribune. Maybe that's what the community needs: me rolling up my sleeves to cover things again. I was never milquetoast, was I. My high school classmate Edie Martin gave a graduation speech on the theme of "don't be a milquetoast." Could it be my whole journalistic career was inspired by that?
Even if I were still doing my thing today, I'd have so much less space in the newspaper to play with. And now we hear that the Willmar paper, owned by the Forum, same company that owns our Morris fishwrap, is cutting its Monday print edition. I nearly bent over laughing as I examined their news report on this. It was surely company "spin." They made it sound like nothing was really being cancelled or eliminated - rather they proclaimed the Monday issue was going "digital only." I'm sure the Forum has hotshot lawyers wearing expensive suits who are ready to deal with customer complaints about this, just like when our Morris paper went from twice a week to once. I was with the Morris paper during its heyday of twice a week.
I'd start out PPD by covering the Women of Today "Baby Olympics" Saturday morning. I was out and around for the rest of the weekend. I rode my bike out to the mid-point of the 10K run to photograph the leader out on the biking/walking trail, in the pristine prairie grass area around the river. "Can I ask your name?" I shouted at the leader. "Brad Abbott," he nicely responded. I think some of his friends in high school called him "Bad Rabbit." He ran like a rabbit that day, although over a longer distance!
The new movie club at our Morris Public Library started out as a once a week thing. Yesterday Anne Barber told me that unfortunately, starting in September (with the start of school), it will be once a month. So, it's hard sustaining that concept too. I must say that Anne at the library is leading the way in trying to promote community-oriented things. "Friday Facts" was full of notes and events for library events all summer. This happens while Morris mostly yawns. I guess we hibernate in summer. Is that a curse of being a non-lake community? The lakes we do have in Stevens County are not associated with lake recreation. My late father called them "cow lakes."
Didn't there used to be an occasional religious service at Eastside Park? I haven't noticed that in a while. I have been pretty hard on the Killoran stage at the park in recent posts, arguing that it's useless. However, the upcoming Willie's party might give us an exception to that. Willie's ranks up there with the Morris Public Library for trying to keep Morris a reasonably vibrant place. If not vibrant, at least on life support. I have quoted esteemed local music person Del Sarlette suggesting this community have an "apathy festival."  But as Del points out, "nobody would show up for the planning meeting."
Our two ELCA churches are trying to work in concert getting people to come to the Wednesday night sessions at the Met Lounge side room. No, we don't meet in the bar, it's in the side room.
Organized religion is taking a major blow this week with major new revelations about the Catholic Church. It's like lifting up a rock and finding disgusting creatures underneath. In this case the creatures are priests. We had one in Morris who sought out child porn.
Are we getting to the point where local governments need to start considering a prohibition of the Catholic Church itself? We prioritize absolute safety for our kids all the time. That's why there's a huge fine for driving around a school bus, even slowly and carefully. Despite the zero tolerance for risk concerning our youth, we have the Catholic Church which is inflicting untold lifelong damage.
Of course, you might say belonging to a church is voluntary, so, parents seeing all the headlines should just choose to have nothing to do with that church. But if the family lineage is associated with the church, I suppose it is hard. It should not be hard. The current news just makes it more likely that millennials will get ever more skeptical of all churches, that the ranks of the "nones" will grow.
Local government should prohibit the presence of any church that has celibacy as a policy for clergy.
Did you know that the Wisconsin Synod of the Lutheran Church, represented in Morris by St. Paul's Lutheran, considers the Pope to be the Antichrist?
Up until now I have been willing to give some slack to the Catholic Church, I suppose because I have had friends and know some fine people who were with the church. There's no justification for cutting slack any more. You Catholics could come over to First Lutheran or Faith Lutheran in Morris and be just as fulfilled. I knew a wonderful older died-in-the-wool Catholic woman once who would say: "Oh but you'll never see the face of Christ." Well, I'm quite sure God is present to hear us at our Wednesday night gatherings at the Met Lounge side room. Just come sometime.
 
Addendum: I mentioned my old classmate Edie Martin in this post. Edie's family was with St. Paul's Lutheran of the Wisconsin Synod. Do you have to be a Packers fan to belong (LOL)? Interesting: the oldest children in the Martin and Eul business families of Morris were both in my class - Mike Eul with Edie Martin - and they were the ones who did not stick around with the family business. I'm glad some of the Euls stayed here to work on my bikes!
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

So, Prairie Pioneer Days retreats from summer!

It is now more than a rumor: our Prairie Pioneer Days is moving to September. That's quite a shocker. We need some time to reflect and to digest a report like this. It was considered a step up for Morris when PPD was created to occupy its midsummer time slot. Previous to that we had the Fall Festival. Those were the days before we had the Killoran stage at Eastside Park.
Did it matter that the stage wasn't there? Now in the year 2018, I think we can proclaim that the Killoran stage was a boondoggle. It's a white elephant. It sits there useless for what seems 99.9 percent of the year. It's a big hulking waste. Did the Morris community band even perform there for our 2018 PPD? I think not. The structure was not planned well. A big liability is that big area of asphalt or cement that reflects heat on sunny days, making it highly impractical for an audience to assemble. I remember when some tuba players associated with UMM put on a performance there. The people who turned out listened from the perimeter of the park. They were a considerable distance from the stage. Did those people take a moment to realize how ridiculous that was? I give credit to those tuba players for being community-oriented enough to want to do this.
What happened to the Thursday night talent shows at the park in summer? I saw no trace of that this year. Will we hear the usual excuses about how there just "isn't enough interest?"
News of the PPD adjustment comes after I have made some discouraging comments on my blogs, comments to the effect that a listless air has seeped into our community. My point is made with a quote one often hears out and about in summer: "We're going to be gone." I joked that there ought to be a billboard on the community's outskirts: "Welcome to Morris - we're going to be gone."
Given the new report about PPD, it looks like my views are not mere hyperbole. I initially heard the rumor about the move from someone who suggested there is too much detachment on the part of Morris people in summer. If true, why is it worse now than in the past? The prime theory regarding this - wouldn't you agree? - is that our tech-oriented lifestyle has caused us to "cocoon" more than ever. We have become assimilated by cyber communities. We seem to take all this for granted.
There are advantages to our new lifestyle. We adopt the new trends because we see advantages for ourselves. But lost in this is a vibrant sense of community. It was that uplifting sense that filled our community's Centennial in 1971. That was a precursor to our later Prairie Pioneer Days. The boomer children of this community were reaching their peak in 1971. Mention that event and you'll put a smile on many people's faces. I remember Dick Bluth and Donna Christiansen having such important roles. I asked Dick a while back if he was ready to be in charge for our community's Sesquicentennial. "No," he replied.
Which raises the question: Is there enough true community spirit left to even care much about our Sesquicentennial? Is it possible there will be no celebration at all? Or, will everyone say "we're going to be gone." I played in the little "German band" that wandered out and about for our Centennial, even sneaking into the Met Lounge! The Reverend Lowell Larson spoke for the Centennial program at the fairgrounds. The later Fall Festival was nice but it was judged inadequate compared to what a summer celebration would be. My top memory is of Lee Temte "freelancing" some entertainment at the park - very nice.
 
The step up to a summer event
It was a big deal when the wheels got turning for PPD. If I remember correctly, Miss Morris was not affiliated with any outside organization, was not a "scholarship program," and was a nice little ceremony held at the park. Once the event got moved away from the park, it didn't seem like a part of PPD any more. I think it was unfortunate that the park went "dead" on Saturday evening, which I presume happened in order to accommodate Miss Morris.
Don't all female-only pageants seem to have a sexist quality now? Oh my, yes. We simply do not judge girls, at all, by the old Dean Martin criterion for being "attractive" or "babes." I must say our society has moved forward in this way.
PPD has lost some luster in recent years. I can list various facets or events that have simply disappeared from the slate. Didn't the FFA used to put up a little replica "alfalfa arch" over 7th Street?
The Superior company has moved in like the 800-pound gorilla. This year it seemed the Superior "ribfest" pushed aside the well-known First Lutheran foodstand. We all know about Superior's inroads with the county fair. Superior has literally reserved a chunk of the fair for its own entertainment purposes, right during the fair's official run. I have waged a losing argument against that. Money talks in our society of 2018.
We associate Superior with a particular church in the Morris area. That church gives the impression of voting 100 percent Republican, even if it means voting for Donald Trump, even if Trump doesn't seem wholly consistent with Republican ideology. Tariffs? My message to the church in question here: what is so terrible about the Democratic Party and Democratic Party (inclusive) ideology? Try not to make a face. People argue on behalf of Superior because it's just the private sector doing its thing. So many of us subscribe to that ethos, like we're all bowing at the altar of markets. Let the market model solve everything. I don't think it does. God will show us that.
Some of the "ribfest" patrons at the park during PPD sit in the area designated for Luther's Eatery. Maybe Superior is happy to hurt the interests of a local church that its leaders probably think is too liberal. People of the "conservative" ilk might refer to Lutherans of a certain synod as "ELC-Gay." Congratulations, you jerks. Enjoy Donald Trump and his porn star pals.
Is it wise for PPD to move to September? Should our community just admit defeat in the face of swelling Morris apathy and inactivity in the summer months? "We're going to be gone."
Del Sarlette has suggested we have an "apathy festival" in Morris. I have quoted this in a spirit of levity in the past. I'm not sure it's a laughing matter now. Knowing our community, people are not likely to laugh or cry over such a quote - they're just too detached or apathetic. There is a PPD event named for someone who didn't even choose to make his retirement home here.
The ELCA Lutheran churches have been struggling to establish a regular Wednesday night event for worship and reflection purposes. It's at the "side room" of the Met Lounge. I think only 6-7 people were present last week. It might just die. Why? "We're going to be gone." Yawn.
Didn't the PPD parade used to have a grand marshal? I remember when Ronald McDonald was chosen for this when the restaurant was new in town. We had an editor at the Sun Tribune who wanted to publish an editorial assailing the PPD planners on this decision. Jim Morrison refused to run the editorial. I read it and found it to be sharply worded. I laughed. As I recall, the wording was to the effect that this choice was "a slap in the face of the Morris community," and that the character was to be rejected as "a corporate advertising symbol." The editor had some connection to academia where such attitudes could often be heard then.
Turns out that Ronald McDonald was going to be driving a carriage in which were seated kids who had been in the Ronald McDonald House. The editor smoked cigarettes to the extent she might have taken five years off my life. She was installed as editor because she would be a toady for the then-very powerful Morris public school teachers union. I hated the Morris teachers union of the 1980s more than I have hated anything my whole life. Schools seem far more steady today with employees who are happy to be there. A friend who is a past member of the school board told me "if teachers want to go on strike today, they have to re-negotiate the whole contract." It sounded like a disincentive for striking and other annoying behavior.
Are we saying goodbye to PPD as we've known it? Obviously it's a step down for the Morris community. If anyone cares. "We're going to be gone."
A friend said to me "people don't do crafts much any more, unlike 20 years ago when the park was full of booths. So, I don't see that part improving." As for countering the lament of "we're going to be gone" - it's presumed to be a summer phenomenon - my friend wasn't so sure. He said "even though everybody is in town because of school (theoretically), many families seem to 'be gone' and head to 'the Cities' every weekend anyway. This just replaces 'going to the lake.' "
There's a depressing country music song in there somewhere.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

G.G. Shinn, singer with "Chase" & others, dies

At the Minnesota Music Cafe in 2007, from left: your blog host, holding an early and rare G.G. Shinn record album; Mr. Shinn himself; and Del Sarlette of Sarlettes Music in Morris. This was the night the bridge fell in the Mississippi River! Pay no attention to the squirrel in the foreground of the photo!
 
I recently observed that death is something that happens to 100 percent of us. I added that few things can be put forward as so certain. So it is that the reality has fallen upon G.G. Shinn, whose vocal flourishes marked Bill Chase's second album. People my age are bound to be at least familiar with the name of Chase. A little prodding might be needed for the particulars to surface.
Death came to Bill a long time ago in the same manner as for Buddy Holly. He was one of those musicians needing small plane travel to get expeditiously to a new commitment. The plane carrying Chase crashed in southern Minnesota in 1974. It basically wiped out the band. Enough "alumni" of the band remained to make a reunion concert feasible. That happened in 2007. Among those present was Mr. G.G. Shinn who is associated with the group's second album called "Ennea." The album was not commercially successful like the first album had been. Artistically "Ennea" had tons of merit, partly based on a Greek mythology suite making up one entire side. While novel, it was not the sort of thing promoting record sales.
Shinn sounded remarkably similar to the vocalist on the group's first album. That first signer was Terry Richards who not only sang on the group's signature hit, "Get It On," he wrote the song. Richards came out looking like a big disheveled hobo for a TV appearance by the group.
Richards and Shinn were card-carrying members of a whole category of male singers spawned by the success of Blood, Sweat and Tears. These guys sang with a gravelly voice and projected intensity and restlessness. Kenny Rogers found his first success singing this way with the group "First Edition."
Let's point out that the "Ennea" album name is "nine" in the Greek language - the Chase group was unconventional partly because of its size - 9 - but mainly by how it employed trumpets as the defining feature. No wonder the group was my cup of tea, up there with Maynard Ferguson. These guys were hardly role models for high school-age trumpet players, as they were quite bravura. They played high and loud and pushed much everything else aside!
Despite this, many high school band directors including our own John Woell enjoyed such performances as a guilty pleasure - look what these guys can do! Or, maybe it was a case of satisfaction taken from seeing the "nerdy" band instruments morph into something spectacular with those guys, up there with football, eh? (A photo that includes Woell as he looks today as at the bottom of this post.)
Shinn probably made his biggest impression singing "Woman of the Dark" on the "Ennea" album.
I attended the 2007 reunion concert with fellow Morrisite - or as the late Arnold Thompson of Morris would write, "well-known Morris resident" - Del Sarlette. Del and I would have become better-known had we ended up in the Mississippi River that night. Incredibly, the night of the Chase reunion concert was the very night the bridge fell into the Mississippi River. Mercy. All throughout the show at St. Paul's Minnesota Music Cafe, we watched a TV screen where of course constant coverage of the disaster could be seen. But we couldn't catch any of the audio. Instead our ears were filled with all the classic Chase songs or "charts" as us insiders call them (with some pretension). Eric Myashiro was a performance guest.
The concert reached its climax with the classic "Get It On" where the trumpets really sparkled. Truly it was a night to celebrate brass in music. Del and I were most pleased. So was Mike Eul of the Morris hardware Eul family, a Class of '73 member like me who was also in the audience.
Upon arrival, we were aware of the bridge disaster and Del called home to assure our families we were OK. What were the odds this would happen on the same night I'd be in the Twin Cities? I travel hardly at all. I saw Europe (with a music group) at age 17 and feel little inclination to do much more traveling. I was in New York City in 1964 and 1972.
The Minnesota Music Cafe bills itself as a place "where the food is great and the music is cooking!" Frankly, upon checking the customer reviews of the place, it appears that food service is not their forte. I had the basic burger and fries and it was fine.
Del and I brought with us a couple vinyl album jackets from back in the day. I was surprised that several other patrons reacted to these like they were real novelties. Vinyl records have of course landed in the dustbin of history. They were the total norm when my wild and rowdy generation was young.
Besides the actual Chase albums we had a real rarity with us. This was an early G.G. Shinn release put out for "Putt Putt Golf Courses of America." It was probably a key early step in his career. Oh, he was a trumpet player himself! He's pictured on the cover playing trumpet with his group of males and females that had the quintessential 1960s look! Del called the music "precursor music" to the jazz-rock fusion that blossomed later. Maynard Ferguson put out an album like this called "Ridin' High" and it sounds a little crude today. You have to start somewhere.
Bill Chase was a prodigy who brought G.G. Shinn on board for album #2, "Ennea." I recommend it for anyone to listen to.
As for the "Putt Putt" album, a real obscure thing I guess, words could hardly describe Shinn's reaction when I showed it to him. He said in a drawn-out way, "where the hell did you get that?" Well, we could tell he was pleased and flattered to see it, and he generously autographed it.
I only associate Shinn with Chase. Of course he covered a lot of ground musically in his career, and upon his August 7 death he was memorialized as "swamp pop legend." Death was preceded by a long illness. His singing and brass work spanned 50 years. In addition to Chase his vocals graced the performances of the Fabulous Boogie Kings, TSC Trucking Company, Roller Coasters and Hot Damn Band. He would have turned 79 on August 25. The promo material for a music festival described him as "a preeminent vocal stylist and the ultimate blue-eyed soul singer who has the vocal chops, range and phrasing rarely found in one package."
The man's full name was "George Gershwin Shinn." He owned a night club in Alexandria, Louisiana. He was a resident of Monroe LA at the time of his death. Monroe is in northern Louisiana where, north of the city, you'll find the cypress swamps of Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, home to alligators and an assortment of birds. Think I'll stay in Minnesota.
G.G. Shinn was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
Del and I can tell you about the time the "Chase" band actually came to Morris. It was noteworthy because the sound was too loud and much of the audience left before it was over, unfortunately. The group had one more album after "Ennea," called "Pure Music," and artistically it seemed totally up to snuff, although once again commercial success was not forthcoming. Shinn was not involved. Vocals were shared by three members.
At the time of Chase's tragic death (Aug. 9, 1974), his band reportedly wasn't doing too hot commercially and there were rumors he might go back to the Woody Herman band.
The Chase band had a clearly innovative style which was likely ahead of its time. Woody Herman was embedded in the mainstream. Chase would have been good commercially for that group. There were rumors that Chase was fired by Maynard Ferguson, a generally nice man not inclined to fire people, in the early '60s. Rumors, rumors, rumors. I don't know. I do know that playing trumpet like these guys is incredibly demanding! Maynard left us for that concert venue in the sky about 12 years ago. He brought his band to Morris MN twice.
I hope Shinn gets to meet his "Woman of the Dark" in heaven. He had to study the sheet music for "Get It On" in the reunion concert, as I'll remind you he didn't sing it in the studio the first time around. He and the rest of us had a great time although he may have imbibed a bit too much! Musicians have this distraction, eh?
Below this post you will find a photo that includes our old Morris High School band director, John Well, the way he looks today - quite healthy I'd say! I think Mr. Woell liked some of the same beverages as Mr. Shinn, but that's just legend! Let's have a toast to big band jazz, jazz-rock fusion and the brass family of instruments! Bottoms up.
RIP G.G. Shinn.
 
Addendum: I have written about three blog posts recently (on my two sites) reminiscing about the marching band chapter of our school's history. Woell was instrumental in that. He also was the director who kicked Mona Lyn Reese out of practice one evening for a real trifle, I'd say. One of my recent posts is devoted mostly to that infamous incident. Reese today is a highly successful composer of music. Marching band? We don't have it anymore in our community. Too many kids got obsessed with sports and started going to those camps etc. A shame. I drew a caricature of John Jr. that I titled "Outdoor John." He panned it.

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

The Woells in a family spirit

Autumn gives signs as football beckons

I remember from years ago, associating our county fair with scenes of high school football workouts beginning at the old East Elementary playground. It was surely a sign of fall coming along. So was the "nip" you'd feel in the evening air this time of year.
We let go of summer too early. Or, the season just seems to make its departure too early. Well, we could always choose to live further south. Actually we are already starting to experience "Iowa winters" due most assuredly to climate change. Yes, the Trump people will say climate change is a "hoax." Those people are a wave that seems impossible to shout down. We will have to live with the consequences of their ideas, like tariffs, until we meet total calamity in some way.
I find I agree with Bill Maher who says we need to hope for a substantial economic downturn as a way of waking us all up. Too bad that has to be the attitude. I have noticed lately that the cable TV news networks are paying far less attention to the stock market, its daily fluctuations. We used to see little red or green arrows at bottom-right of the screen all the time. We'd see "futures" updates when rising early in the morning, as if such news would have gravity.
News people have ended up looking foolish because of overreacting to what appears to be a one-day plunge. This happened with a plunge of about 1,000 "points" in the Dow not long ago. There have been other similar episodes, and the talking heads sometimes speak over the short term like it's a big deal, like a cause for panic. But what invariably happens, up until now, is that these markets bounce back completely within two or three days. The markets race upward frenetically, as if there was no cause for concern in the first place. We have become conditioned for this.
So the news people have begun "shrugging" and just don't bother reacting to the daily movements so much.
Constant stock market updates on TV also have the effect of making us nervous. Gee, should we "buy" or "sell?" Well, the message coming across in the media is always to "buy," anyway. Do you suppose that's because there are powerful advertising interests who want people to "buy" incessantly? Chris Matthews on MSNBC has talked about this. "Are you ever supposed to sell?" Matthews asked with a skeptical grin on his face. "Are you always supposed to buy?" Someday we may learn that some of these talking heads who focus on the stock market so much - the cheerleaders, not Matthews - may in fact have had little of their own money in the markets. Jim Cramer?
 
Watch the prices at the fair
Anyway, we are all conscious now of autumn showing its faint early signs. We crisscross the fairgrounds and realize that pretty soon school will start. I used to hear grunts of athletes attacking those sleds at the East Elementary playground. "East" was applied from back when we had to distinguish that school from the west side Longfellow school, where I went for grades 1-3. Longfellow is where I learned of the JFK assassination. There was a small "gym" downstairs where Jim Grant would divide us into "squads." Grant was a member of the Holman-Hendrickson clique on the teaching staff. I played little league baseball with (actually against) Jim's son.
How are we doing with food price inflation at the fair? I hope it's under control but I'm not real hopeful. Something that cost $1.50 last year might be $2 this year. This could reach the point where we might be prompted to feel real concern. I have a whole blog post on this subject on my "Morris of Course" site. It's a fresh post that I put up just a couple days ago, and I even vent some concern re. the 4-H foodstand which we keep close to our hearts. But hey, let's keep prices reasonable. You may click on the link below, and as always thanks for reading. - B.W.

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2018/08/concessions-at-public-events-get.html

 
Let's not promote football, really
OK, so we're on the doorstep of football. How sad. There is nothing constructive to be gained for those boys who continue to elect to play football. You hear cliches tossed out there about "teamwork" etc. These attributes can be gained from any number of other activities. We might consider marching band again. I share about this on another recent "Morris of Course" post. Again I invite you to click on the link below. You must see the photo of our great drum major, Scott Groth, from about 1970!
http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2018/07/some-marching-bands-out-here-but-not.html

 

"Morris of Course" has been my secondary website. Unfortunately I'm living alone now and subject to some boredom, so I'll probably be posting a little more often, therefore "Morris of Course" could become just as vital for me as the site you're reading now.
 
It's not a "man's" sport
Don't even think about discussing football's value in terms of boys attaining "manhood." We are way past discussing the sport's suggested attributes in gender terms. Is the sport too dangerous for girls? Well if it is, we can easily suggest it's questionable for boys too. The non-brain injuries have always been concerning enough. The brain injuries are now in a completely different, new category because they are absolutely unacceptable. Years can pass before the symptoms might emerge. A man might find he's getting headaches too often. Can you imagine what that must be like? Suicides have been attributed to this.
People close to the sport are aware that any day now, a district attorney somewhere in the U.S. is going to charge the parents of a boy who gets seriously hurt playing football. Don't we all realize that the boys themselves, as young as junior high or maybe even in sixth grade, aren't mature enough to make a fully reasoned decision on whether to play football? A well-known researcher says it's unconscionable for any high school boy to "go out for football" based on peer pressure. This person strongly advocates for "club teams" to replace the high school model. Someday we'll see this and we'll consider it quaint to look back on the days of "high school football." Morris will probably host a team for a long time because we have Big Cat Stadium.
I would much rather have seen "Humanities Phase III" carried out at UMM, rather than the construction of Big Cat Stadium which sits there like a big cold mausoleum all winter. A shared humanities facility for both UMM and the public school would be 100 percent richer in its dividends for the community.
I am hoping there will be some drop-off in football participation at Morris Area High School. Even if there is, it will probably be minuscule. Cultural change can be glacier-like in proceeding.
We in Morris must appreciate our history with marching band, a history fading ever more into the past. Man, if our marching band of the early '70s could be transported via time machine to the present, to lead the parade for Prairie Pioneer Days, it would be jaw-dropping for the parade watchers. It was spectacular. The director applied discipline just like in football, only the kids weren't getting their bodies and brains abused.
Another recent post I wrote on "Morris of Course" was about the infamous occasion, well-remembered to this day by everyone who was there, when director John Woell kicked Mona Lyn Reese out of an evening practice. Mona is today a highly successful composer of music. I invite you to read my post about Woell, Reese and the incident. It's another example of "micro" Morris history that I preserve on my sites, too trivial for the Historical Society to deal with! God bless you all, and don't pay too much for the fair food. Please click:

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2018/07/morris-music-prodigy-got-kicked-out-of.html
 

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

Passing years don't alter our focus with UMM

We had a fun lunch at UMM in connection with our Williams family's renewed commitment. The commitment began back in 1960. The first-ever music concert was at the National Guard Armory downtown, where the library is now, and about a thousand people were present in a 4-H gathering. At left is Erin Christensen, development officer at UMM. Your blog host Brian Williams is second from left. Then we have our esteemed chancellor Michelle Behr, the sixth chancellor of the school. Her fortes in academia are anthropology and geography! So I suppose she can answer what the capital of Texas is. Remember the scene in "Red Dawn" where the Powers Boothe character was accosted and quizzed to see if he truly was an American or a "commie?" "What is the capital of Texas?" Behr is a three-time Fulbright scholar. At right we have the UMM music department represented by Bradley Miller who is a member of my church of First Lutheran. Miller is director of choral activities at UMM. He's an active guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator.
 
It was with a bittersweet air that I went to the UMM campus on July 17 for a lunch acknowledging my family's contributions to the school. Our family's involvement has retreated into the mists of history, you might argue. All the more reason to keep our family's name relevant, I'd argue.
The lunch was originally set for an earlier date with the idea Mom could attend. As it turned out, she was entering her last lap of life. Both my parents died at home in their 90s. Having been on the scene for that and having been caregiver, I have become acclimated to the reality of death. I now accept that "death is a part of life." It happens to 100 percent of us, and there are very few things you can say that about.
Our monument at the cemetery reminds that Dad was "founder of UMM music." You'll see some little musical notes as a decoration. It is a bench monument and feel free at any time to use it as a bench! The monument acknowledges Mom having been a "diligent worker at UMM." She worked at the bookstore and post office, managing the latter in the pre-email time when I'm sure paper mail was more vital.
UMM had its start in 1960. Now in 2018, substantial change has happened. We hear that cursive handwriting isn't even taught to young people anymore. My generation took notes in spiral notebooks rather furiously when we took classes. Should I assume they keystroke on laptops today? But there's no way you could type fast enough to even come close to keeping up with the instructor. Information is probably imparted differently today. In the old days when Floyd Schmidgall owned the restaurant now known as Detoy's, it was open 24 hours - can you believe it? - and you'd see UMM students hanging out there, poring over pages of textbooks with an exam no doubt looming. Is that old routine performed anymore?
Do students still tote around their cumbersome textbooks or do they consume knowledge in a more economical manner? If the latter is true I'd say it's a good thing. The old system seemed to stress raw memorization too much. Students really didn't seem happy as they "crammed for finals." It was a ritual we just assumed was normal and necessary. Was it really an offshoot of the industrial age when exhaustion and tedium were associated with one's work? The values of the industrial age have faded. Today I suspect, once you have mastered basic reading, writing and arithmetic, you're set to leapfrog into the world of managing a certain type of productive system. It may take some sophistication to master. But it does not by necessity require you to "work" a certain number of hours a week as a means of asserting your basic legitimacy as a human being. What matters is that you can harness a system that provides value of some kind to people.
If you are in fact stuck in the traditional tedious 40-hour-a-week routine, it is nothing to be proud of. It is something to be overcome. I could make a face when I think back to the days when I filled out "timesheets" at the Morris Sun Tribune newspaper. Worse than that, me and others would get scrutinized by certain colleagues who might be suspicious of how we were recording hours. What if I wanted to take a little more time with quality control like with proofreading? It might appear wasteful.
But the point is, focus on the task to be done and make sure it's done properly. The perception of "having your nose to the grindstone" is so 20th Century. We are clearly in a new age now and it's nice. UMM will find its way in a constructive manner, we can be sure.
The July 17 lunch at UMM was to acknowledge us with President's Club status but it doesn't end there. We have contributed sufficient funds to have a perpetually endowed fund in my parents' names: the Ralph and Martha Williams Fund. My mother was able to make one trip to campus, in the building where she ran the UMM post office, to sign her name to documents. We did this even though I had power of attorney for her, but I think UMM officials decided they'd feel more comfortable if they had Mom's signature. We were in that phase where I felt some nervousness about her capability signing her name, or if she could keep it on the specified line etc. We were pleasantly surprised by how well Mom handled it. I went through the same kind of phase with Dad. My dad made it to age 96 and Mom to 93. Mom was about six weeks from her 94th birthday. I think family caregiving was a factor in their longevity, not that I have anything against nursing homes. I do think that when someone is sent to a nursing home, it means the medical system is essentially done with them. They are nursed along in a very capable way until something called "palliative care" kicks in.
No matter the approach, there is no truly comfortable, orderly and acceptable way for people to die. It's still a tragedy and cloaked in sadness. I placed my mother's hand on her childhood Bible. She was always proud to say she had read the whole Bible. I will attend church for the rest of my life for the simple reason that Mom would want me to. I will attend even when screaming infants in the sanctuary mean I can't hear what's being said! I'll just daydream while all that is going on. A prominent member of my congregation uses the term "screaming brats." Might I have been that way once?
I was baptized at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, and now I'm out here in the glorious rural setting, bathing in the therapeutic peace just like our University of Minnesota-Morris.
 
Emphasis: music
The Ralph and Martha Williams Fund is for the purpose of helping the UMM music department. My father was the only music faculty in UMM's first year. Music was housed in the building that is now the multi-ethnic resource place. Yes it was long ago. But I will always think of the present when weighing our family's investment in, and connection to, the "jewel in the crown," UMM.
I hope all my blogging about UMM is factually accurate and with no typos. I remember when an esteemed member of UMM's founding community made a public statement about how Fred Switzer was among UMM's founders. Well, Switzer didn't come to Morris until 1970, as new superintendent succeeding Oscar Miller. I mentioned the mistake to my boss Jim Morrison at the Sun Tribune, and Jim smiled and said, "well, everyone figures (this person) will give a bunch of money to UMM someday, so no one is going to correct him."
Money can indeed give you a bit of a cushion.
It was a tremendous pleasure to visit UMM on July 17 despite the somber aspect of Mom not being there. Her spirit was there. Close your eyes and imagine Mom walking across the campus in her trademark brisk pace. A UMM staffer once photographed that just to have the image for posterity. She is looking down approvingly from heaven now. Dad too.
A UMM student performed wonderfully for us at the lunch meeting. Keep watch on the upcoming calendar of concerts for the new academic year.
Here is a YouTube link to a song I personally wrote about Dad and had recorded in Nashville TN. No, the song style isn't exactly the kind of thing Dad did! But it's my style. Would he be pleased? I hope so. The singer is the fabulous Debra Gordon. The song was recorded at the Frank Michels studio. Please click:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdJ7eLAyJ_I

 

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