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| Skip Killoran, son of the late beloved Eleanor Killoran, is at right. |
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| Ken Hodgson leads the community choir during talent night at the park. |
The city is way overdue fixing a pregnant problem at East Side Park: that cement or asphalt area in the middle. This should have been addressed long ago, and if money is an issue, maybe some civic-oriented private interests could get involved. Skip Killoran has reportedly expressed concern about the limited use of the stage, very understandable.
The few events at the Killoran stage are notorious for having the audience sprinkled around the perimeter of the park, because on a warm or sunny day they find it uncomfortable to congregate on the cement area. Sometimes it seems laughable. So why don't we do something about it? Why not have a community band concert weekly at the park in summer? I have suggested that high school-age kids could assemble there weekly for performances. Too much to ask of them?
Well, I was in the Morris High School band when we had marching band rehearsals all week long in summer - no problem getting kids to turn out. If kids today can get fired up to attend those sports camps, why can't some musically-oriented kids get together to share their talents? Del Sarlette says I should talk to the high school band director about that. Not sure what he's implying.
Pretty soon we'll have the county fair. I have never recovered from the confusion I felt when the community supper was switched to Tuesday. At first I thought the fair had simply expanded by a day, understandable. But no, Wednesday at the fair seemed the same as it's always been. I took Mom out there and saw "private parking" signs along the drive to the main parking lot. I was flabbergasted.
"Private parking" for our county fair? Turns out the Superior people had taken over. It's not appropriate.
A disturbing backdrop
President Trump is talking to reporters on TV as I write this. He just quoted Rush Limbaugh. It's July 12 in Morris MN. It ought to be a happy time with people converging on East Side Park for the weekend.
President Trump is so ignorant, rude and dangerous - we all know this - we wonder where our nation is headed. Oh, to have a "normal" respectful and intelligent president and to have the upbeat feeling that accompanies Prairie Pioneer Days in Morris. We hear that ICE raids might be taking off. We see a strengthening of the executive branch of government with a president who is so deferential to autocratic leaders.
The president demonizes Democrats as if they are fundamentally bad people. Were the eight years of Barack Obama so terrible? Well of course not. President Trump exudes defensiveness and rancor. We hear the news about Epstein as evidence of a growing immoral plutocracy. We seem to countenance it.
The Christian faith is at a crossroads now. So many in its ranks are knee-jerk behind the president - no intellectual curiosity at all, no sense of restraint, of sober reflection. Every Christian should apply every fiber of his/her being to trying to ensure Trump exits the presidency.
Trump intimidates the press. He's doing it right now as I write this. Trump's demonstrable lies are constant. He has minions around him like William Barr. You will always find people like this, people who might be otherwise sensible but see an opportunity to be close to power. How dangerous might this become?
Trump talks about the "fake" New York Times. Do you really believe that? Don't you think Trump and the Times are actually diametrically opposed when it comes to credibility? Trump right now is decrying Paul Ryan, using language that a bullying seventh grade boy would use. Why don't we hear more outrage about this out and around? What is the matter with us?
It is Friday today and I am noticing vestiges of Prairie Pioneer Days. Is it true that Heartland Motors has chosen to rebel against the re-scheduling of Prairie Pioneer Days? I notice that they're having the big annual classic car show this weekend, just as if PPD still existed. What do you make of that? Or, what do you make of the public library having a big used book display out front last night, in conjunction with the farmers market? The book sale always struck me as a major kick-off event for PPD. People would just stream in and out of the community meeting room of the library.
So, to an extent there is still an air of special activity in Motown in mid-July. There are vestiges of PPD.
When I first learned of the event's cancellation for summertime, I was taken aback, as someone who normally hears snippets or rumors that something is about to happen. I never dreamt that the cancellation of the summer PPD would ever be on the table.
I read the media report that the Chamber did this pursuant to a "survey." Well my goodness, think of the basic psychology about this. How was the survey question worded? In other words, was there a presumption that there was an issue with the summer PPD?
My only complaint toward the end with PPD was that "ribfest" might be getting too much attention. But I would never present this observation as grounds for nixing PPD in summer. I guess I'm already concerned about how Superior is accommodated for the county fair. Superior is obviously very important and successful, but I don't like it acting like the 800-pound gorilla. I also don't like how the perception of Superior seems inseparable from religion. The company's patriarch has flown a "Trump" flag under an American flag outside his residence just north of Morris. Fortunately this is on a very lightly traveled road. Increasingly I'm offended by this.
Trump is browbeating the Federal Reserve as he exhibits behavior that in the past would have been derided as violating Washington D.C. norms. Trump is trampling on the norms. Is he now going to unleash ICE? Will the Christian church actually protest this? My ELCA synod probably would. But we're put down by many as politically liberal these days. We believe climate change theory, unlike the dunce president who says it's a "hoax."
What is to become of us all?
Normally I'd be taking my (now deceased) parents to East Side Park early afternoon Saturday, where they'd grab a lunch from the church foodstand, "Luther's Eatery." It was a good place to eat if you didn't have political aversion to supporting the ELCA. There are a lot of fanatical red-staters around Stevens County. The irony is that these people, largely up in years, would be personally better off if they could just accept some Democratic Party leadership, the party that believes in taking care of senior citizens and ensuring there's a proper safety net, not just throwing more money at the military.
The prospects for our nation's recovery do not appear good, sadly.
What about the prospects for PPD returning to its proper place on the calendar? I don't know.
Kevin Wohlers said to the Chamber: "Are you sure this is what people want?" Maybe the question on the cotton pickin' "survey" was worded in such a way as to encourage grumbling or negativity. Sometimes it's in our nature to think like this. Maybe that's especially true in Morris. We know we don't have a lot of special amenities here. We're on the other side of the coin from Alexandria.
That doesn't mean that Morris cannot be a special place in its own way. The summer PPD was a nice gesture toward experiencing this.
Addendum: Paul Ryan objects to how Trump once called Stormy Daniels "Horse Face." Frankly I find Daniels to be an attractive woman. So, this is the Apostolics' president.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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