Weather looks to be OK for girls game

It looks like the weather will cooperate for today's (Thursday, Feb. 28) tournament game against Eden Valley-Watkins. Coach Dale Henrich's girls team will take the floor at Willmar for the 6 p.m. start. We're coming off a 60-44 win over the Minnewaska Area Lakers.
Will round #2 leave MACA smiling as well? The basketball post-season builds a unique type of anticipation. Now we're against the top seed.
And let's remember the boys are about to embark on post-season play. The boys are seeded #3 in Section 3AA-North. The curtain opens for the boys post-season on Saturday, March 2. Coach Mark Torgerson's orange and black unit will take the floor to play #6 ACGC, the Falcons. On paper this really ought to be a no-sweat game for the Tigers.
Fortunately, considering the lousy (harrowing) weather of late, the boys game will be here in Motown! Whew. The boys own a 16-8 record and closed out the regular season with a win over Paynesville. The team to beat in the boys sub-section is New London-Spicer.
  
Girls: Tigers 60, Minnewaska 44
The female Tigers took care of business with their success at home vs. Minnewaska Area. The higher-seeded Tigers survived a rough first half that saw both teams committing turnovers. Coach Henrich thought there was a wear-down effect on the Lakers, evident in the second half. MACA depth became evident as a deciding factor. Henrich tapped the bench some and with good results.
Will the depth be a substantial plus for MACA against their quality EV-W opponent tonight? EV-W is coming off a 65-23 thumping over Montevideo.
In our win over Minnewaska Area, we shot up 27-19 by halftime. Then we outscored the Lakers 33-25 in the second half. So, task accomplished and now it's on to face the top seed. I wonder how fan Tom Carrington is placing the odds on this game. Tom usually thinks the team has more potential than what it shows! That's really glass-half-full thinking. I get Tom's updated assessment from the counter at DeToy's Restaurant when it's still dark in the morning. These days it's sometimes a challenge to even get to the downtown restaurant considering the weather. Holy mackerel when will spring come?
A Maddie Carrington three-pointer always puts a smile on Tom's face. Maddie made two of these in the win over Minnewaska Area. Emma Bowman made two 3-pointers and Riley Decker made one. It was Malory Anderson leading the scoring list with 16 points, then came Maddie C. with 15 and and Bowman with 12. Continuing: Kylie Swanson (8), Decker (3), Meredith Carrington (2), Sophia Carlsen (2) and Kendra Wevley (2).
Anderson from her post spot got 14 rebounds. Decker and Swanson each dished out two assists. And the steal leaders were Maddie C. and Anderson each with six.
The Lakers ended their season with the Thorfinnson girls on top in the scoring department: Emma with 14 points, Maddie with 12. Other Laker scorers: Alexis Piekarski 6, Addy Randt 5, Hannah Hoffman 3, Avery Hoeper 3 and Elizabeth Murken 1. Emma T. connected for three 3-pointers while these Lakers each succeeded once from long-range: Maddie T., Hoffman and Randt. The rebound leader was Emma T. with ten. Piekarski stole the ball twice.
 
Harsh winter and school days
When in doubt, call off school. There is considerable hair-pulling these days about how to fulfill school obligations with the relentlessly bad weather. I feel sorry for people in these contortions because they are dealing with certain requirements. In an ideal world, we would just allow people in a position of authority to call off school when prudent, period, to ensure safety of the kids. There is no consideration that can come ahead of the safety and welfare of the kids. You need me to lecture you on that?
Sometimes when the shroud of weather hovers and I hear that school is "two hours late" or some such thing, it's a little exasperating. We move mountains to try to get kids to school for an abbreviated, stressed school day. As if these kids would be harmed if they just spent the day in their safe warm homes, going online, reading, typing etc. So their knowledge and literacy does in fact expand even when home.
The roads are in bad shape even if the weather becomes mild or even sunny. Have you tried to walk along sidewalks downtown? There are huge banks of snow on both sides. It's hard to find places where to push the snow. The surface for walking on is slippery all over the place. The adversity isn't so bad for me because I live on the edge of town, in the city limits, and I'm in decent physical condition even though I'm 64. I am set to just leave the car in the garage until the spring thaw and walk to and from town, as I have done for my afternoon lunch the last two days. I don't have to concern myself with getting the driveway cleared of snow all the time.
If only our state system would allow school superintendents to relax and just cancel school when prudence dictates. Oh, we all know the basis for the problem: money. I suppose a certain amount of tax dollars is allocated for every day of school, therefore those days cannot just be wiped out. I know it's unfortunate if money has to be wasted, but maybe this is the only course to follow.
Back in the '60s, I heard talk that "state aid money" was at the basis of the school bus crisis to the west of here, not the Morris school, in which some kids could have died. What a story that was. In its wake I heard schools adjusted their philosophy or system to make school closures easier. It looks now like we need to take further steps.
It's not as if kids can't learn at home today. Quite the opposite is true. Maybe school leaders are AFRAID that families will discover that it isn't so essential for kids to travel to and from bricks and mortar school every day. Those long trips to and from the Lac qui Parle school in the midst of the barren, cold landscape. Shudder.
Someday we'll be smarter, and taxpayers will actually save money. Maybe this year, with school so futile so often, taxpayers could just get a refund, just like in the days of Gov. Jesse Ventura and the "Jesse checks."
 
Moment to feel envy
I emailed a neighbor of mine a couple days ago to share on the challenges of dealing with snow in the neighborhood. He answered, from his iphone and from Arizona! Sigh. The guy was Lyle Rambow. Congratulations Lyle and Londa. Unfortunately we on Northridge Drive in Morris will be saying goodbye to the Rambows soon, probably in about four months. I guess they're headed to Lake Minnewaska country. I didn't see that coming. They live in the old Ahern house.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Boys host Paynesville, win big as Johnson leads

The home gym was a place to celebrate for fans of the MACA boys Friday. Amidst all the challenging weather, the Tigers got their game in vs. Payesville. We won decisively over the Bulldogs 67-38.
Click on the link below to read about the girls' 83-55 win over ACGC, the boys' 69-68 win over Parkers Prairie, and the girls' 48-42 win over Montevideo. These reviews are on my companion blog, "Morris of Course." It is a delight for yours truly to continue writing about Tiger athletics. I just saw Dale Henrich at Willie's and he shared about how his girls team won its tournament debut game over Minnewaska.
https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2019/02/a-thursday-full-of-success-for-maca.html

 

Jaret Johnson against Paynesville continued his productive ways so soon after his 1000-point career milestone. He kept humming Friday with his output of 23 points, team-best. So congrats again to Jaret who carries the family hoops banner, passed down from Dad Matt who once represented the orange and black.
Two other Tigers scored in double figures: Jackson Loge (16) and Camden Arndt (11). Joseph Kleinwolterink put in six points. Jaden Maanum and Kevin Asfeld scored four each, and Cade Fehr wraps up the list with his three. Johnson, Fehr and Loge each made one 3-pointer.
Loge snared the team-best ten rebounds. Johnson had impact in this department with eight. Arndt collected five boards and Fehr four.
Arndt and Zach Hughes each produced five assists. Johnson complemented his other stats with two steals. We had command by halftime of this game as we owned a 42-21 lead. Our W/L coming out: 16-8. Now it's on to post-season play for coach Mark Torgerson's optimistic crew.
 
"Sign" of the times, maybe
Remember the big sign from the Metrodome's early days: "We like it here?" It's a reference to how we feel total fondness for life in Minnesota despite the weather's vagaries and harshness. Somehow that old sign pops up in my memory now. I seem to recall the sign was eventually removed.
I remember an interview with the legendary baseball numbers guy Bill James, in which he seemed amused and perplexed by the sign. One reason I remember the interview so well is that it supported thoughts I had. Why do we need such a high-profile reminder of why we like living in Minnesota? Is it that we sometimes wonder if we should seek better? Do we wonder if re-locating south might actually be a wise thing sometimes?
James, the guy whose genius led to the movie "Moneyball" with Brad Pitt, said the sign "We like it here" struck him as "curiously defensive." He said "It's like you're saying 'we don't care what everyone else thinks.' "
I sense the same exact kind of defensiveness in the slogan promoting UMM these days: "In the middle of somewhere." It's like we know full well that the whole world considers Morris and is inclined to say we're "in the middle of. . ." Well you know. So I don't care for it. Perhaps I doth protest too much.
All my life I have been able to criticize UMM with impunity, when the spirit moved me, because I'm not on staff there! In fact, I studied mass communications at a time when the prevailing ideal within the field was to go out in the world, armed with typewriter (manual typewriter) and cut through the fog of pretense and mendacity. Really, the notion got totally ingrained in my head, to the point where it endangered my future in journalism. Because surely that set of attitudes came crashing down.
So I'm a dinosaur, as if my reference to manual typewriters didn't make that clear anyway. I am free and unfettered to criticize, and if I had wanted to, I could have written the name of the accuser in the celebrated (not that we celebrated) case of the Morris high school principal getting in a whole heap of trouble a few years back. I remember the guy who tipped me off to the whole story at McDonald's early one morning. He said "did you hear about the principal? Hoo boy." And then he said "hoo boy" again.
I was made aware of the identity of the accuser and didn't type it, but as I'm not employed in the law enforcement system, I could have done so unfettered. When all else fails, I do savor this kind of freedom. I suspect that others secretly envy me. "Burn baby burn" - remember that refrain? Oh, maybe you're too young.
I write about the old Metrodome sign because the weather of late has surely challenged all our love of Minnesota, right? I'm writing this at the absolute apex of our "winter blahs" for 2019. I feel as though I am hanging in there. How about you?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Being the bigger town not always a slam-dunk

Morris against Hancock in basketball? Well, why not? On the face of it, the disparity in size between the two communities might make such a game seem unlikely or impractical. Really there is a pretty long history of the small town Hancock being capable of challenging Morris. This was notable in wrestling once.
It was actually most notable in girls basketball. The girls basketball issue should have shaken Morris community proponents. I tried nudging them in that direction only to find that huge enmity arose toward me. I don't think I have fully shaken that to this day, sadly.
Beyond that, there was a time when Motown had at least one "big game" against Cyrus in boys hoops. I am chagrined even having to write about this. Cyrus is a warm but tiny community. Today it is totally distant from anything akin to a school-based controversy. There were times in the past when the school there could be a flashpoint, as the realization set in that the school wasn't going to exist much longer. I'm talking about the senior high through grade 12. I covered graduations there. Seems quite the different era, eh?
Make no mistake, the times were exciting and fun. And certainly, Cyrus could enjoy and savor rivalries with similar-size schools. But I couldn't quite fathom, even once, how Cyrus could be at the same competitive level with Morris. It didn't compute in my head. I understand any small town can be blessed by 2-3 talented kids who can make a difference in basketball. But we'd still expect the bigger town, certainly Morris, to have abundant depth that in the end would roll over the likes of Cyrus. Would you dispute me?
I remember being at the UMM P.E. Center one day for a big game between Morris and Cyrus. Many anxious fans were there. And I thought, "well, this is fun, a highly-anticipated prep hoops game - makes the winter seem shorter." But, Morris against Cyrus? I had a personal friend in Cyrus school administration who I had known before he came here. Having breakfast one day at Don's in Morris, the two of us focused on the illogic of these "big" games between Morris and Cyrus. Obviously he was proud of what his Cyrus kids could accomplish, bursting his buttons. At the same time he was frank and showed candor, saying of the Cyrus roster compared to Morris or Morris' potential, "we don't have s--t."
Thank you, sir. It's nice to talk to someone who doesn't have the typical Morris blinders on. Those blinders suffocated me and disturbed me for years. There was a cafe owner in Morris whose daughter played for Hoffman-Kensington, a typical ebullient small school with old-fashioned enthusiasm. I mentioned to her one day the difficulty in trying to discuss some Morris-related school issues with important people around town. And she responded with a look of earnestness in her eyes, "they don't want to hear about it."
We had an "activities director" in Morris during the 1980s who frankly ended up as a flashpoint. I guess that was too bad because really the buck stops at the top, and if it's not with the principal, it's with the superintendent. I found the activities director to have some pleasing personal traits. So when the time came to make an issue of some festering problems, it was uncomfortable making him or other lower-level people the targets. That individual was the head boys basketball coach when we lost to Herman in the post-season. I was there at the UMM P.E. Center.
The automatic reaction of so many people would be "oh, it was just one game." As a fact, yes. I still am befuddled why the status quo had so many apologists back then: the 1980s. It was like an episode of "Twilight Zone" where I was the only person not affected by some weird phenomenon taking over people's heads. My Cyrus friend was immune too, but he was Cyrus and not Morris. Morris could be a strange place in the 1980s.
Eventually there was a groundswell of concern and it was anything but pretty. Businesses got boycotted. It was a small town controversy with the predictable scars in the aftermath. I haven't shaken it even now.
 
Unions, how they grinded away
I have always felt that teachers unions had too much power in that stage of our Minnesota history. I was reminded of that the other day as I read about the Austin MN meatpackers issues of the mid-1980s. Sigh, the most ugly management vs. labor dispute you could imagine.
I feel it is absolutely unconscionable to countenance a situation in society where such bitter antagonism exists. To hell with it, I say emphatically, and I'm similarly tempted to feel bitter about teachers unions of that period roughly defined as the '80s. I didn't join the Morris paper until 1979 so I didn't personally observe a lot until then.
I realize that some of the Morris teachers were just bad people. Some community leaders were less than objective and tending to be influenced by their personal friendships which could be aligned with teachers' parochial concerns. I guess I won't name names at this time. I was determined not to be kow-towed. And boy, did I get hurt by all that. I had a lot to offer - I always did.
Why do we not hear about meatpackers disputes any more? Is it because immigrants are so happy to take such jobs and to defer to ownership? I'm just speculating. I actually learned to be anti-union in my attitudes - too much enmity - even though I consider myself a political progressive today. Life is too short for such pitched battles.
 
Arndt shoots the lights out
Our MACA Tigers played the Hancock Owls in a Saturday, Feb. 9, showcase at UMM. Camden Arndt came to the fore for our Tigers as he put in 29 points, making 12 of 16 shot tries. He also led in rebounds with eight as the orange and black turned back the Owls, 79-77. It's deja vu: Morris getting challenged by a markedly smaller community. Well, congratulations Hancock.
I was told in the old days I should just be happy for the small towns rather than focus on shortcomings with Morris. I once wrote that Morris was a "sleeping giant" in girls basketball. I put that in print in the Morris paper, oh yes I did. I'm fortunate I wasn't assaulted. Why was such a statement considered so "edgy?" We were totally a sleeping giant in girls basketball while Hancock and Wheaton were thrilling packed houses at UMM for the post-season.
Those were the days: the P.E. Center getting filled time after time for tournament hoops. I remember standing up along the concourse one day with Skip Sherstad and we were marveling at how the small schools could show so much enthusiasm. These days, it seems Morris fans must immediately head south for post-season hoops, to places like Granite Falls and Marshall. I think that's regrettable. It's also a road safety issue, so many fans driving home late at night after a game. But that's our reality.
People today might want to boast about how they wouldn't even want to read my writing. If they did read it, they would want to clench fists, and why? All along, haven't I really been trying to be an advocate for Morris? Is that a sin? Are you all just such close buddies with certain coaches and their spouses/friends, partying and perhaps drinking cocktails with them, that you fail to think with clarity?
I know some people do take an interest in what I write today. I can still circulate in this town and have civilized relationships with people.
The Owls did well on defense vs. Tiger Jackson Loge in the Saturday matinee. Loge was limited to six points. When I write "matinee" I'm not being literal of course as this is a reference to movies. So I'm taking liberty, in the same spirit as one might say "gendarme" instead of policeman. "Gendarme" is a European term. I remember that after the storm clouds of contentiousness in this town, with my opinions becoming known, Jim Morrison at the paper got a formal-looking letter from someone, as if it came from a legal office, written by a soul with neck turned red, making it sound like anyone who'd use the word "gendarme" must be some sort of hopeless idiot.
Of course, it was just a case of someone venting who was on the other side of me in a community controversy. Exact equivalent of what happened in Austin with the meatpackers. We went through a period of time when Darcy Winkelman had to be shown the door in girls basketball. That was a real knock-down, drag-out. The board had an odd way of ultimately announcing her departure from the coaching position - I can report that because it was in the Morris paper.
We have now found in the year 2019 that "life simply goes on" after certain adjustments are made in school extracurricular, and everyone can be happy. The situation is never perfect. Today I sense basic contentment overall with these activities. And I'm happy to write about it, whether everyone approves or not.
The Hancock boys trailed us by just one at halftime. Bennett Nienhaus and Cole Reese were top Hancock scorers, reaching the mid-20s range. The Willmar paper misspelled Bennett's last name "Ninehaus" - I'm looking at it on my laptop screen right now. OK, so who is really the dumb s--t when it comes to writing - is it really me? No, it's someone else. The current issue of the Morris paper has the same sports article appearing twice on Page B1. We're paying for such a small paper to begin with. Way to go, Forum Communications.
Camden Arndt was one of three Tigers each making four 3-point shots. Jaret Johnson and Thomas Tiernan were the other two. Zach Hughes made one. Arndt led in rebounds with eight. Loge led in assists with eleven. Cole Reese showed hot shooting for the Owl crew as he made five 3-pointers. Connor Reese and Nienhaus each made two. Peyton Rohloff snared ten rebounds. Cole Reese and Connor Reese each produced seven assists, and Nienhaus had five steals.
 
Addendum: Obviously I could continue writing about many of the issues enclosed here. Apologists for our past superintendent would say he was beholden to various (pretentious) academic types in Morris - the UMM faction held sway - who'd stress how we mustn't place emphasis on athletics. It's all about academics, presumably rigorous academics. That attitude is dated now. For one thing, we are paying for all school programs and they should all be held to standards, not being made a sacrificial lamb to some avant garde outlook on such things. As for girls basketball, wouldn't high competitive standards be in line with "women's lib" which is what so many of the pretentious academic types actually pushed? I put that thought in print once and I think I drove certain people nuts. What I was writing made too much sense. I'm not bragging because I have no standing to brag, as I have been unemployed for 12 years. I will repeat that the situation in 2019 appears quite healthy and well-adjusted, so congratulations all.
 
Now, let's get back to some exciting "straight news" about recent MACA hoops!
 

Tigers 65, Benson 46
The home court was the site for a boys hoops victory by the Tigers on February 15. It was win No. 12 for the orange and black crew, against eight losses. Benson meanwhile fell to 5-16.
Things were well in hand for MACA halfway through as we led 39-22. "Another day at the office." A great way to break up the winter blahs. Have we ever had the winter blahs so bad?
The second half was basically a stalemate. Fans enjoyed six different Tigers making at least one 3-pointer. Jackson Loge and Jaret Johnson each made two long-rangers. These Tigers each made one: Joseph Kleinwolterink, Zach Hughes, Kevin Asfeld and Durgin Decker. Those 3's always give spice to a game.
Loge was quite out front in the scoring with his output of 27 points. Johnson was the other Tiger in double figures with 12. Here's the list of the other scorers: Kleinwolterink 5, Hughes 3, Micah Aanerud 2, Camden Arndt 4, Asfeld 3, Decker 7 and Thomas Tiernan 2. Loge and Johnson led in rebounds with seven and six respectively. Arndt and Loge led in assists with four and three, and Tiernan led in steals with two.
The Benson story had Ben Peterson with the only 3-pointer. None of the Braves reached double figures scoring. The Braves who scored: Austin Ose 8, Matt Goossen 4, Cole Hedman 3, Peterson 5, Eric Hoium 2, Will Enderson 8, Hunter Gonnerman 6, Matt Ebnet 2, Matt Lenarz 4 and Devon Liles 4. Enderson collected five rebounds, Peterson had an assist, and Hedman and Liles each had two steals.
 

Melrose 64, Tigers 59
Things didn't go so well for the Tiger BBB crew on February 8. The Tigers made the trip down I-94 to Melrose. It was the host Dutchmen with the winning advantage with the 64-59 final. Even Jaret Johnson's four 3-pointers weren't enough on this night. Zach Hughes and Durgin Decker each made one '3'.
Johnson's 3-pointers helped put him atop our scoring list with 21 points. Jackson Loge came through with 18. Other Tigers with points: Jaden Maanum 2, Hughes 7, Durgin Decker 3 and Camden Arndt 8. Arndt attacked the boards for ten rebounds while Loge collected six. Arndt dished out six assists. Hughes and Arndt each stole the ball once. We trailed by one at halftime, 32-31.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Ridgewater with coach Holleman wins 68-65

Ridgewater College had an up night in women's basketball action on February 13. Those Warriors are under the coaching of Jodi Holleman, formerly the quite successful coach of the Hancock Owls.
Coaching at Ridgewater no doubt has its share of challenges, as it appears athletics is not a high priority for the school. My point here is not to indict that. I in fact like how that school has jettisoned football. Yes that sport is gone permanently from the Ridgewater landscape, hallelujah. It's a sport that subjects its male players to a ridiculous amount of health risk. Our high schools should follow suit. Or rather, they should have started following suit a long time ago.
For the present we have men's and women's basketball to enjoy from the Willmar college known as Ridgewater. I don't know why the school doesn't identify with the name of the city: "Willmar." What in fact is "ridgewater?"
The school is part of the Minnesota State system named for the old Jerry Van Dyke TV sitcom, no not really. We wish coach Holleman the best of success as she guides her student athletes through their challenges. I'll assert that she is doing as well as any coach could do there. I know the program has taken its share of lumps over the last roughly three years. That's the way it goes in sports sometimes. But on Feb. 13, the program achieved success with its 68-65 win over St. Cloud Technical in St. Cloud. The win was savory as it ended a five-game loss streak.
Community college teams play quarters not halves. Ridgewater got up 20-14 at the end of one quarter. Then St. Cloud Tech surged to outscore the Warriors 21-11 in the second quarter. The pendulum continued as Holleman got her charges fired up to outscore St. Cloud Tech 19-15 in the third. The decisive quarter was the fourth: an 18-15 edge by the winning Warriors.

Kendra Kuczek, leading scorer

The taste of success was most timely. Three Warriors stood out in the scoring department: Kendra Kuczek with 23 points, Morgan Swenson with 19 and Taylor Rose with 14. These three were complemented by Catherine Vogt (8) and Sarah Frederick (4). Rose made the Warriors' only '3'. The rebound leaders were Swenson (13), Vogt (7) and Rose (6). These three Warriors each had two assists: Kuczek, Rose and Frederick. Rose had three steals followed by Kuczek, Frederick and Swenson each with two.
The St. Cloud Tech scoring list was topped by Shania Nahring with 26 points. Then we have Kiara Coops with 16 and Abbie Wuertz with 13. Rachel Vreeland put in eight points and Julianna Cottier two. Wuertz found the range to make three 3-pointers. Vreeland made two long-rangers and Coops made one. Maria Stokes grabbed nine rebounds and Coops grabbed eight. Wuertz and Nahring each had three assists, and Vreeland had four steals.
You all might remember that Mel Lewis built up his coaching resume with a successful stint with Ridgewater football, many years ago of course. Lewis used that as a springboard for his time at UMM as both assistant coach and co-head (with Darrell Kluck). I recall basketball being Lewis' forte. My journalism instructor at Willmar Community College back in 1974 wrote an article himself about Lewis with a headline I still remember: "Football coach Mel Lewis, winner." Oh, I remember the instructor's name: Linton Lehrer.
The Willmar school no longer has to face any expectation of winning in football. I'm thankful for that. I know someone who works in the Ridgewater system and this person says athletics just doesn't rank high with administration. No criticism called for there. But everyone should just keep trying to have fun. Good luck to coach Holleman as perhaps she can lead her team to more frequent wins. Go Warriors!
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Boffo UMM jazz concert but too-small audience

Jonathan Campbell

We celebrate the liberal arts every time we support an event at UMM. Friday night (2/15) was a time for jazz music to shine.
Back in my school days, education leaders were averse to using the word "jazz."
I suppose the word conjured up a world of smoke-filled nightclubs or whatever. Remember the scene in "The Glenn Miller Story" where the up-and-coming bandleader and his fiancee visit the nightclub where Louis Armstrong was featured? Jimmy Stewart played Glenn Miller. June Allyson was his squeeze. Louis Armstrong played himself.
The most famous photo in Del Sarlette's collection here in Morris shows Armstrong. It's a light-hearted photo in which Armstrong has "traded" his trumpet for Florence Sarlette's purse. Walt and Florence are in the photo.
I was pleased to recently find a photo from the 1961-62 academic year, a photo that includes Walt playing bass fiddle. This is a precious mass photo at UMM's Edson Auditorium. The orchestra is onstage with a large chorus that even includes WCSA students. You see, the WCSA did not end immediately once UMM was created. There was an overlap time when the last WCSA kids completed their studies. What a big musical sound that big assemblage made, I'm sure.
My father Ralph was director. Jazz had not yet sprouted. When jazz eventually came on the scene as part of academia, we saw the terminology "stage band" rather than "jazz band." Our MHS with director John Woell most certainly went the conservative route. I played in the same trumpet section as Terry Rice and I wasn't worthy of holding his mouthpiece. Oh, Del Sarlette was most certainly involved too along with Marilyn "Hazel" Strand who has become highly honored as a UMM alum.
Tony Hansen played drums. Tony's mother Daisy was the top violinist with the orchestra in that mass photo. She was a brilliant artist.
What a blessing for UMM to come along in 1960 and provide these opportunities, not only for the students but numerous adults from over a wide area. Think of the void if UMM had never sprouted.

So today we have the UMM jazz program overseen most capably by Jonathan Campbell. I am "not just saying this" when I say the quality of music was superb on Friday at the HFA recital hall. On a down note, allow me to express disappointment at the minimal size of the audience. I might have missed the concert myself if Del had not given me a heads-up.
I submitted $5 at the entry and was handed $2 change, which meant the dude suspected I was a senior citizen. "I don't know what the cutoff is," he said, and that's a very good point because standards vary for determining who a senior citizen is. I suppose I'm past the point where there can be much doubt about me, sob. I'm 64. I have seen the cutoff as low as the mid 50s for senior designation in this town. I think McDonald's is real "soft" on this for offering "senior coffee." We miss the time in our lives where we'd have to prove we're a senior citizen! It's sobering to get lumped in so readily.
But, putting that thought behind us, let's move on to the music. The much-too-small audience enjoyed the Prestige Combo and then Jazz Ensemble I. It's unfair to compare this concert to the long heyday of Jim Carlson, as Carlson led events with multiple groups that were below the top level. For example, we'd hear a band that included music majors who were exploring a second instrument - a very valuable endeavor, sort of like Rod Carew trying to bat right-handed. I suspect he'd still be effective.
 
Bigger than life? Well, it was fun
The now-departed Carlson ran a jazz program that had allure almost to an unreasonable level, I always felt. Some people talked about the April Jazz Festival like it was the No. 1 event on the whole UMM calendar. People said "Doc Carlson" like it was hero worship. There was a cult of personality for which he was to be commended, and for which he couldn't totally answer for. He was just being himself.
Carlson sang with my father's men's chorus way back in 1962 when they traveled to Seattle for the World's Fair. It was such a clean-cut and conventional group, worthy of considerable praise. It opened the Minnesota Day festivities at the Seattle fair. The value of that wasn't so much to make an impression on the general fairgoers, as it was to get the interest of the many Minnesota high school musicians who were in the "Minnesota contingent" at the fair. Governor Elmer Anderson was very excited about this.
The world was not yet ready for "jazz" in academia. Jazz made its entry with the "stage band" phase. Finally the word "jazz" was unapologetically ushered in. And today we have the brilliant ensembles at UMM who are deserving of a much larger audience.
I had to wonder: was the tiny audience size a reflection of cultural realities, an urge to be by oneself and interact with the world through electronic devices? The Star Tribune has run a whole series of articles on the "un-churching" of our culture, where people seem less interested in the public space of church. Years ago we began noticing the "bowling alone" phenomenon with that significant book by a sociologist.
We need to try to resist the cultural forces if in fact this is the trend, to get out even on a cold winter night and take in such terrific music. The word should get out among the student body to please get out and support this.
Back in Carlson's days, the combo portion of the concert was frankly a tepid warm-up for the later main attractions. The real attraction was Jazz I which I often found to have a too-small role in the concert.
Jim Morrison told me once he stopped attending the Jazz Fest because he found the combo portion of the concert too unimpressive. I have to agree with him. The last time I attended the Jazz Fest with Carlson in charge, I found he had addressed any shortcomings with the combos. They all did something distinctive and impressive.
Byron Stripling was the last guest artist I heard when "Doc" was in charge. Del Sarlette allowed me to post some photos online from that night, back when I was not well-versed in such systems myself. All these systems have gotten more user-friendly through the years.
 

We loved the Prom Ballroom!

Memories of jazz virtuosos
I am definitely a senior citizen if I can remember hearing Thad Jones and Mel Lewis perform live. I was proud to share this with director Campbell in an email exchange. Campbell is a big fan of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra which is an extension of the old Thad and Mel group. I think "ghost band" would describe. Thad and Mel have gone to that big concert stage in the sky.
In the 1970s I had the pleasure of hearing the "real" Thad Jones and Mel Lewis lead their highly artistic band at the old, now-razed St. Paul Prom Center (or Ballroom). There's an ABRA body shop there now. What a mecca that could be, for jazz and big band aficionados. Lewis was the artistically understated drummer - Jones was a stocky guy who placed trumpet. They led the concert with "For the Love of Money." The band didn't wear uniforms - they dressed as they pleased. The keyboardist developed a real following among the audience.
The famous Buddy Holly touring group played the Prom shortly before they died. The Prom was like a larger version of the old Lakeside Ballroom, Glenwood. Boxing matches were held there.
I wrote a post on my "Morris of Course" blog site about Thad and Mel and my night at the Prom soaking in the music. Here is the link to that. Thank you for reading and please consider attending all future UMM music events!

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-night-at-prom-center-with-thad.html

 

I also invite you to read about the UMM men's chorus trip to the Seattle World's Fair in 1962. Jim Carlson was in the group. This post is inspired by lyrics from a Perry Como song. Thanks for reading. - B.W.

http://ilovemorris73.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-seattle-worlds-fair-umms.html

 

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

What line did Rep. Ilhan Omar really cross?

Rep. Ilhan Omar

We're hearing a lot about Ilhan Omar this morning (Tuesday, 2/12). Again I'll risk sounding like an outlier on these matters. I have had pleasant relationships with Jewish people all my life. Furthermore, I'm sure I've had pleasant relationships with Jewish people who I didn't know were Jewish. "Profiling" a group seems unacceptable on its face.
Maybe I'm an outlier because I'm not particularly religious. I have tried to build a bridge with Christianity since my mother died in April. She would want me to do this. It is something I will have to find a way to do someday. Right now it's difficult. I have handy "The New Testament in Modern English" by J.B. Phillips, and the novelization of the Christ story called "The Greatest Story Ever Told." As a story I feel it's quite lacking. A babe comes into the world with super powers. Comes across like science fiction. It seems to be not even good science fiction.
Somehow I got "confirmed" in my childhood church even though I couldn't tell you who John the Baptist was. A dude who goes around baptizing people. I get depressed reading the Bible story - so much violence and suffering. Mel Gibson made a caricature of this with his crucifixion movie. Worse yet, Christianity has become a springboard in the present for pushing a right wing agenda in politics. A whole new church springs up in the Morris area motivated by, according to common perception, an anti-gay agenda.
I want no part of this, any more than I would want to be backed into a corner supporting Israel. I'm rather on the same page with the late Helen Thomas on this. The Jewish people should just "go home" (from Israel), the pioneering female journalist said. "Go back to Europe." I'm rather inclined to side with the Palestinians.
If I were an aspiring mover and shaker in the "Beltway," I'd be ruined, wiped out, by having such feelings. And this really concerns me. The Democrats ganged up on Rep. Omar when she merely expressed opinions. Donald Trump has said far more offensive things with impunity from his Republican Party toadies.
Rep. Omar suggested that Israel's allies in American politics were motivated by money rather than principle. Well, why does Sheldon Adelson open his pocketbook so much? Why do so many Republicans seek to kiss his ring? And yet George Soros gets pilloried by the forces on the right. You would think Democrats would be more fair-minded than to gang up on Rep. Omar. Omar was backed into the corner and apologized, though not in the unequivocal way many wanted.
At one point she compared AIPAC to the likes of the NRA. So, why she felt compelled to apologize to the people in league with AIPAC and not also to the NRA, is a compelling question. Money as an influence source in politics? Next, they'll be telling me the Pope is Catholic.
 
A vocabulary lesson
Thanks to the Omar story, we are all learning the definition of "trope." So, while Omar may not have been directly prejudiced toward the Jewish people, she allegedly used a "trope," a sort of end run, to accomplish the same thing. Or, so the critics assert. It all makes me just that more irritated or offended by religion.
In college I was encouraged to respect just about every religious faith in the world except Christianity. My response was not to embrace Christianity but to just try to withdraw from all such matters as being more trouble than they're worth.
Rep. Omar said "It's all about the Benjamins, baby," a reference to $100 bills. Oh my. When I related my experience of paying a traffic ticket after the Morris Police Department had made a mistake - oh yes, not a matter of opinion - I joked about how I had to bring "dead presidents," i.e. cash, to the courthouse to pay the fine. It was a light manner of describing. But, Omar's statement is prejudiced? Oh no it wasn't.
I have lost some faith in the Democratic Party. I realize the party has a mountain to climb in trying to become the dominant party in D.C. again, very daunting in the face of a truly dangerous president and dangerous, reactionary Republican Party. So the Democrats are striving to be risk-averse. But I wish they'd respect the intelligence of the American people more. We can all understand legitimate criticism of Israel.
We can all back off from the kind of emotional response that some of our leaders feel is necessary on such matters.
We must always consider that Israel gets considerable support from so-called evangelicals in America who see the Jews and Israel as part of Biblical prophecy. Israel's advocates are happy to accept the support because it furthers their ends in the present. The irony is that if you were to ask the evangelicals whether Jews will enter the kingdom of heaven, well ahem. They might rationalize some response that isn't a clear "no." But these people are unequivocal in saying that accepting Christ as your savior is totally necessary. The babe from Bethlehem with the super powers.
So, there's a stereotype of "wealthy Jews?" What about the stereotype of wealthy real estate tycoons like Donald Trump, although his wealth is likely exaggerated. Seems to me, money has been awfully important in Trump's life. AIPAC spends millions on lobbying efforts for pro-Israel legislation every year. So, what's the issue? I repeat: what's the issue?
 
The Fairfax matter in Virginia
Ah, "old Virginny." The governor gets exposed for having connections to a photo that includes a dude in a KKK hood. It's in his medical school yearbook. I didn't know medical schools had yearbooks. I believe Gov. Northam from the initial statement he made on the matter, when he admitted culpability. After that, probably after consulting with an attorney, he realized he simply couldn't make this admission. As for people in the room when the photo was taken, they are probably "frat boys" and aren't going to rat on each other.
I don't care so much about the blackface thing. The media now talks about that aspect more than the KKK deal. I find the KKK hood image far more disturbing.

Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax

So, the result of the whole Northam dust-up is: His lieutenant governor being pressured to resign? Only in America, I guess. Were it not for Northam getting into trouble, the accusing women toward Lt. Gov. Fairfax probably would not speak up, right? Why are they speaking up now, were it not for the other controversy?
The truth in this whole matter, as happens so often, will probably not be aired in the media. It's too unsavory.
And here's the truth: How does a woman get "forced" to perform oral sex, what's commonly referred to as a "blow job?" It is possible that during the course of all that unseemly behavior, Fairfax placed his hands on the back of the woman's head. This is commonly seen in porn. But does this equal the woman being "forced" to perform the act? I'd say no.
I wonder if Bill Clinton ever placed his hands on the back of Monica Lewinsky's head. If he did, even lightly, she could now come out and assert, very credibly by our current standards, "assault," n'est-ce pas? If a woman truly does not want to perform oral sex, to do a "blow job," how could any man really "force" her to do it? I rest my case.
 
Addendum: This post includes the word "crucifixion." At first I spelled it "crucifiction," influenced I'm sure by the word "fiction." That got flagged by spell-check. So I did the appropriate checking and adjusted. It reminds me of when I tried spelling "ad nauseam" as "ad nauseum." The influence there was the word "museum." What a tangled web we weave when we get too many words in our head.
  
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
 

"Carry Me Back to Old Virginny"
by James A. Bland

Carry me back to old Virginny,
There's where the cotton and the corn and taters grow,
There's where the birds warble sweet in the spring time,
There's where the darkey's heart am longed to go.

There's where I labored so hard for old massa,
Day after day in the field of yellow corn,
No place on earth do I love more sincerely,
Than old Virginny, the state where I was born.

Carry me back to old Virginny,
There let me live 'till I wither and decay,
Long by the old Dismal Swamp have I wandered,
There's where this old darkies' life am passed away.

Massa and misses, have long gone before me,
Soon we will meet on that bright and golden shore.
There we'll be happy and free from all sorrow,
There's where we'll meet and we'll never part no more.

Carry me back to old Virginny,
There's where the cotton and the corn and tators grow,
There's where the birds warble sweet in the spring time,
There's where the old darkies' heart am longed to go 
    
  

New Cloquet MN paper challenges the Forum

(Pioneer Productions image)

Clinging to old institutions and habits is mostly futile these days. Given that truism, one has to wonder how the new newspaper in Cloquet MN is going to fare. A new newspaper? In the year 2019? Is there hope? We'll find out as we monitor what happens in Cloquet.
It is relevant to our situation in Stevens County. That is because the new Cloquet paper, the "Pine Knot News," is a protest gesture toward Forum Communications. Forum Comm. of Fargo, as I'm sure you all know, came here some time ago to bring the "joy" of chain ownership to our media. It's quite the opposite of "joy," I'm suggesting.
The Forum eliminated the paper in Hancock, a community still viable enough to support a K-12 school system. The Hancock school appears in fact to be gaining vitality. But there's no longer a Hancock "Record" newspaper. The Forum of Fargo swept into these parts and acquired not only the Morris paper, which is now but a sliver of its former self, but the Record too.
Then the Forum pulled the newspaper office out of Hancock. Jim Morrison was reluctant to do that because he thought the office was so handy for people needing to do business there, e.g. arranging for a photo. The newspaper photographer was one brisk walk away from the school. Jim probably also saw intangibles with the paper having an office in town. Seems quite elementary, for a paper to have a physical presence in the town it serves.
I started out this post noting how old values and habits are challenged by all the change, for which "digital" is the main force. Sometimes, often perhaps, we are forced to change against our will. Don't ever bet against some determined pushback when the feelings become strong enough. So, that's why we see the birth of the Pine Knot News in Cloquet (of the Iron Range in northern Carlton County). The paper published its first edition on October 26. It's an alternative to the weekly Pine Journal owned by the faraway Forum of Fargo.
The Forum strives to maximize profit, using many of the tricks that have become the fashion in the business world. "Efficiencies" prevail. Efficiency in theory brings no protest. Still, "the customer is always right." Maybe the citizens want their paper to cover a little more ground than what the Forum chooses to provide. Maybe the public wants some of the intangibles of which Morrison was proud, e.g. having a photographer one brisk walk away from the school.
Certainly something is afoot in Cloquet and it's symbolic of the nervousness we all feel at the cold and calculating nature of the corporate world. Are true local "roots" still important?
I'd hate to say I'm betting on the new paper in Cloquet, because their task is daunting. I'm reminded of the old Walt Disney cartoon about Paul Bunyan. The great lumberjack engaged in a duel vs. a dude with a new-fangled chainsaw. The big guy ended up barely short. He slumped his shoulders and walked away, disconsolate. I would not rule out this scenario in connection with the "experiment" in Cloquet. But I think many of us would be rooting for the upstart.
 
A precedent for Hancock?
By the same token, might we root for a comeback of the Hancock newspaper? Remember when Katie Erdman was synonymous with the Hancock newspaper scene? So reliable. So devoted to the interests of Hancock. So sentimental about Owl country of Hancock. Today we're inclined to think sentiment and ten cents will get you a cup of coffee. Again, the experiment in Cloquet is going to be revealing. Can the local citizenry really assert itself in a climate where the corporate ethos seems to rule so much?
The chain papers are leaning entirely on what remains of legacy advertising. It's all about advertising, and in the meantime the company hopes a (gullible) public will shrug and go along with a stripped-down news/information service. The company pays lip service to the latter to be sure. But it's all a prevarication, not unlike the prevarications coming out of President Trump's mouth (and tweet machine) all the time. Can't we all just pause and take a break?
 
"White knight" potential?
Maybe some local Apostolics, those very enterprising people, could sense a media void in Hancock, roll up their sleeves and do something. I admire many qualities of the Apostolics. I just wish they wouldn't give the impression of voting 100 percent Republican. If my perception is wrong, I'd appreciate being corrected. Also, I don't see why the Apostolic women have to look different from the norm. I don't see where that accomplishes anything. But I digress (rather badly).
The new Pine Knot News is owned and operated by several community members with a history of journalism experience in the area. Key people are business owner and attorney Pete Radosevich, Moose Lake Star-Gazette owner Tim Franklin and the Pine Journal's former editor Jana Peterson.
A former editor of the Forum-affiliated competitor! Don't need much imagination to know what developed there. A journalist with normal sensibilities for being in the field is not necessarily welcome with the Forum. I would argue the Forum is hard-hearted in dealing with human beings. We know there's a lot of that going on nowadays. We needn't applaud it.
For now the Pine Knot News and the Forum-owned Pine Journal are co-existing. Radosevich doubts that both are going to survive. He says that if the Pine Journal is the one to fall, it will be because of self-inflicted wounds.
I have written critically in the past about standard local papers with their district court news, obituaries and sports "section." District court news can be a launching pad for gossip, obits are depressing and may also step over the line into people's private business, and sports is, well, shall we say way overdone much of the time. These possible faults can be addressed or adjusted. How? Well, the answer is simple - just look at Senior Perspective. Follow that lead and I'll say hooray! Larger type size and heavy emphasis on feature material.
Oh, and hard news is certainly important, like penetrating, often skeptical coverage of local government like the county board. But district court, obits and sports? Not so enthused.
The Forum-owned Pine Journal announced it was closing its office in Cloquet last January. At that time, Jana Peterson said she thought to herself "wouldn't it be nice if you just had a small town newspaper where you just worried about the community and getting your job done?"
Radosevich sent Peterson a text, saying the time had come to plan a new community paper. The town's leadership must have felt strongly about this, considering that everyone knows a new paper is going to face headwinds. This was an undaunted group. Radosevich recalls: "We started talking about it a little bit, and we decided that Cloquet really needed a community-based newspaper focused on community news with quality journalism."
Radosevich and Peterson feel there has been a void in local coverage of the community since the Pine Journal closed its doors in January. Peterson said "when they took that away from the community, it was a huge loss."
So, what about Hancock? Not only has Hancock suffered, so too in Morris where the Forum-owned paper has bent over backward incorporating Hancock news, so to placate Hancock I guess, but what about the interests of the Morris readers? The people in Fargo are just moving the chess pieces around, trying to maximize profit in a cynical way, capitalizing on cuts and "legacy advertising."
The Forum model will expedite the death of newspapers in a time where the public might actually yearn a little, if it's done right. Good luck to the Pine Knot News.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

E-learning hardly just for emergencies

This e-learning option is so practical in dealing with the weather obstacle in connection to education. Many years ago I remember our Supt. Rettke saying the educational possibilities for the Internet were "phenomenal." Maybe the possibilities are so "phenomenal," our whole traditional model for education being dispensed from bricks and mortar institutions will start to be questioned.
Certain oxes are going to be gored, as always happens in a major societal adjustment.
I heard about the "Sylvan" learning system when I was young. In the same breath I heard that professional educators were against it. What? Here's a private model for enhancing kids' learning, which that company brags would "help your child's performance in school." As I'm sure it would. Wouldn't we all like to promote improved student performance?
Problem is, in the eyes of the educational establishment, Sylvan and like systems could threaten the monopolistic base of our public schools. Teachers wanted to keep their mitts on that. There are other stakeholders but they are not as possessive of the whole thing. Teachers are possessive as heck. Though, I think they have moderated their tone over time.
The current awful and cold weather is testing the public monopolistic system for education. Kids can learn very effectively online under guidance of their regular teachers. But, you don't have to scratch your head long to realize there are other systems out there that can facilitate kids' learning online. Those systems are readily tapped into. There goes the monopoly. Local full-time teachers might have their position threatened.
 
A sobering history
I'm still hung over by the kind of arrogance I saw teachers show through the 1980s. It made me want to upchuck. I'm much more comfortable with the situation today.
I fundamentally like teachers. There was a past time when a certain faction of them could get in your face with their parochial priorities. Morris had to struggle with this more than most communities. Of course we got through it all, albeit with some scars. Some of our local businesses got boycotted. Teachers weren't above making life difficult, legend has it, for kids whose parents might assert themselves in a contrary way. This I learned from a former school board member, now deceased, with whom I'd share counter time at the old Atlantic Avenue Restaurant (DeToy's today). A school retiree confirmed this for me too. Regarding the idea that teachers might be vengeful, Dave Holman said "they say they don't (do that) but they do."
I think it's no stretch at all to suggest as much, as I naturally spent a lot of time around the system.
I knew too much for my own good. I came to think there were certain conclusions about what was going on, conclusions that should have been obvious - a matter for consensus - but oh no it wasn't. Certain P.I.A. (pain in the posterior) teachers, and worse than that their friends around the community, engaged in pushback that became very unfortunate.
I personally gained a reputation I did not want. Mr. J.T. called me "negative." Based on what? How I was sharing observations that I felt should be incontrovertible? Things flared up and I ended up on the defensive for pretty much the rest of my career - highly unfortunate. If you read my blogs today you'll see I'm highly capable of writing purposeful reviews of MACA sports events. My detractors would scoff. I've lived with that for years. I have had my talents all along.
 
Guarding turf, suspicious of 'net
So, teachers showed their "guild mentality" in turning thumbs-down on Sylvan, and certainly they are watching with trepidation as the option of e-learning is exercised. Yes, its possibilities are "phenomenal" as Mr. Rettke said long ago.
I have suggested based on weather of late that Minnesota cancel public school classes for the whole week. Knock it off. Buildings can have their thermostats turned down drastically. Relieve these cumbersome systems of the burdens imposed. Everyone relax. Our kids don't have to be inconvenienced by the costly process of being transported to and from school each day, like en route to the ungodly Lac qui Parle school out in the middle of the windswept prairie (or "tundra" as the late WCCO personality Steve Cannon would say). Listen for coyotes.
No need for motor vehicles to stream in and out of the Minnewaska school parking lot. Chill out.
Kids can not only learn just as acceptably at home, it can be superior. The school days being lost to the weather do not have to be "made up." Let's just shrug and write them off. Do you think your kids are even going to show any evidence of missing a few school days?
I told a friend the other day I could have skipped my whole senior year of high school and it wouldn't have mattered. I might even be better off. I developed my reading and writing mainly under supervision of my mother. She forced me to read aloud from books that were a year above my normal reading level. It was arduous but "pain equals gain." I developed skill with words that enabled me to today write critical essays about our bloated and often regressive educational establishment.
Some critics of the online model will sniff and say kids just end up indulging in foolishness when using online systems and gadgets. To an extent they do. But this is largely a myth, just like it's a myth that my generation suffered from comic books. Next to my mother, comic books probably did the most building my communication skills.
My high school reading assignments like "Death of a Salesman" could be depressing and puzzling. It seemed there was a political agenda, probably most pronounced in the 1970s. It was highly cynical, yes in an odious sort of way. Gene Mechelke scolded us for quoting from "American Heritage" magazine because, well, this magazine was too clear and positive for how it viewed things. We were supposed to read material that made us skeptical and resigned, especially about the American model.
Mechelke dissed American Heritage as "superficial." The magazine told us how things happened without an undercurrent of suggestion about how this country was f---ed. Yes our country went awry with Vietnam. We should have all been assured that despite that wrong turn, the American model would still be the best. It wasn't going to be shoved aside in favor of communism or socialism.
Public school teachers liked collectivism because they were public employees. Damn them for that. Today I think they have eschewed those urges, or have been forced to temper them. I wonder if they still talk down "Sylvan." As for e-learning, I think a truism about the Internet is being borne out again: the Internet breaks through all barriers. It is inexorable. And it's a blessing. Kids can stay home and coyotes can stay out on the Lac qui Parle prairie.
 
Addendum: I shared with a friend my idea that the state should cancel school all week, with thermostats turned down and money saved. He responded with an interesting email:
 
There is something to be said about public schools taking a break from a week before Christmas until the 2nd week of February. That has been bandied about when discussions of year-round schooling come up. We have no need for taking the summers off for agricultural reasons any more, so why not just 6 weeks mid-winter and 6 weeks mid-summer? Of course, the teachers would complain about not getting their 3-1/2 months paid vacation in consecutive order, but European schools and teachers have adjusted. However, that would also mess up the winter sports schedules, and in some peoples’ minds that’s the only reason high schools exist.
 
(probably some sarcasm with that last thought. - BW)
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

The sea change of print to digital

Paper-based information is dying out even faster than astute members of my generation realize. Ah, information "on paper." My generation is the one signing up for Medicare in large numbers now. When we grew up, we assumed that writing was done on paper. It was in second grade when I was taught "penmanship." Penmanship seemed like an art form in the 19th Century. Just look back to the letters written during the Civil War.
I have begun feeling awkward even writing a routine paper check. Our transactions are increasingly being taken over by the electronic universe. Resist change at your own risk. The Internet is so established now, so much the norm, that the term itself is almost passe. We reminisce on its early days. The Internet practices of 20 years ago now seem like high-button shoes. Napster! CNN has run a documentary on this.
And then we must consider newspapers. So much ballyhoo over the decline of newspapers. And yet we realize that print media isn't literally dying, it is just having to re-form. I visited our Morris Public Library Saturday and noticed the Morris paper is just one section, 12 pages. The paper long ago farmed out ad composition work to the Detroit Lakes branch of the corporate behemoth that owns it. So I have to wonder: why on earth do they need a staff of six people, as listed, to put out this thing? If you still buy the paper or advertise in it, you're paying the salaries of those people.
What does the top manager do there? Does this individual contribute appreciably with either news content or ad sales? It appears not. This individual is certainly the highest-paid of all of them. Wouldn't you want that person to contribute more materially to what you are buying? Aren't you primarily buying "news?" How good a job does the Morris paper do covering the county board?
The Canary publication is included with the Morris paper. In the past, Canary editions as small as 12 pages were rare, appearing only during the predictably slow times like post-Christmas. It's common to see 12-pagers now. I do not see a Heartland Motors ad in the current Canary, and I did not see one the previous week either. Unless I'm just missing them.
I remember when we had three major car dealers in Morris and they all bought large ads in print all the time. I took loads of photos for them, to the point of exasperation sometimes. I once suggested to one of them that they use "file photos" more often, and I got yelled at like you wouldn't believe. I had to wonder why people were buying and trading cars so often.
Today based on advertising, it appears there's just one really substantial car dealer in our Motown: Heartland. As for Valu Ford, a friend told me a while back: "All they do is try to sell you a pickup for $40,000." Considering GM's recent ballyhooed cutbacks, I have to wonder how this will affect Heartland.

(image from Valley Express)

If you get the Canary you might think you're a friend of Jim Gesswein. He appears to be buying print ads like it's the old days. Maybe it is, in Milbank, South Dakota. The Canary presents full-page ads for Jim with his smiling mug, to the point we feel we know him. Sometimes there are two full-page ads in a single issue. Sometimes I wonder if he gets the second page as a "comp" just because he sticks with the Canary so well, and the publication might need to push things to get it up to 12 pages.
Make note of all the "house ads," ads which no one is paying for. Jim Morrison became annoyed with obligations to run those, back when he had to answer to the guy from Detroit Lakes. We had become a "chain paper." The Forum seemed to leave us alone for a while, to reduce the shock effect of chain ownership, but eventually the shock was implemented.
You know who predicted this? Jay Fier of the City of Morris. One day soon after I quit the paper, I was out jogging and Jay pulled up alongside me. I stopped which I was happy to do. He gave the impression that my departure was a prelude to what a chain was likely to do with a new acquisition. The effects were hardly evident yet but they were soon in coming.
I remember a friend in Morris who noticed a small reduction in page size (cost savings of course). She worked at a bank in town. She was rather displeased, but holy cow look what happened later: the Morris paper cancelled one of its whole issues that came out each week. It's just Saturday now. And it's just 12 pages, at least this week's issue is. What do those six employees all do? And my, the Hancock paper has gone into extinction. Plus, the free shopper called the Ad-Viser.
I invested so many hours of my life just working on distribution of those products. Going to Quinco Press in Lowry around Christmas allowed me to "raid" their refrigerator for cold chicken after their Christmas party! I remember going there one night when I had the flu and was so weak I could hardly lift anything. (This was for drop-off of circulars and I was alone.)
I got through all that, back in those glorious times of "analog" communications, when we assumed useful information was in print. If it wasn't glorious it was at least an essential part of the world in which we lived. I have the memories and I still have the penmanship skills.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com