I went to high school with "Mr. Culligan," Craig Birch. He had the image of an athlete through much of his school life, and then he transformed into theater. I congratulate him on that. He has a younger brother Cary who I didn't know as well, or rather I didn't get familiar until later years.
Let's credit Cary for being ahead of his time, when as a Boy Scout he envisioned a biking/walking trail for Morris. This eventually came into being and is now a treasured recreational asset for Motown. A grant effort has failed in getting the trail extended to the golf course. We should redouble our efforts. I have noted that since Morris is not one of those communities associated with lakes recreation, the bike trail ought to be seen as a special gem. The more it can be expanded, the better. Cary Birch with his youthful wisdom could see the benefits.
Water quality was the Birch family's stock-in-trade. I have written way more than I care to, recently on this. I have become jaded. I'm sitting here wondering if we should empathize with Ebeneezer Scrooge, the pre-Christmas Scrooge, who had somehow gotten very suspicious of everyone, crusty.
I was so innocent in jotting down "water softener" on my list of matters to take care of, not long ago. I had heard out and about regarding this ballyhooed new water treatment plant. That's part of my problem: I hear too much. This was not an acceptable basis for acting.
I called Mohr Plumbing to see if they might investigate the status of my softener - they visit each fall anyway for the furnace check - great pros. The answer was no and that's understandable, as it's not a specialty they have. Doesn't hurt to ask. A friend suggested I call Todd Valnes. Again, I should not rely on personal acquaintances or "street talk" to advance my interests. If the city wishes to declare that a particular action needs to be taken, I'll take it. I consider myself a proper citizen or I try to be. I told Mr. Valnes that I had a Kinetico water softener and wondered if he should come or if I should call Kinetico. He suggested the latter. That's fine.
So I assumed that a visit by the guy in the Kinetico truck would surely take care of things. So, appointment made. He arrived on schedule, went downstairs and informed me that our softener was too old for him to evaluate. I asked him if it would be prudent to just leave everything as is. He seemed to agree, or did not dispute it. I figured, "well if I use a little extra salt, I can live with that waste." It was not a physical burden for me to handle the sacks. Isn't it something how easily those blue sacks of salt at Willie's break open, just with very little contact with something?
I had no desire to keep my water softener on the front burner of my life. It is about the most unglamorous subject. It's the sort of thing you hire people for. The Kinetico guy was apparently just a service tech because he didn't try to sell me a new softener. I was later told by Eco Water - yes, a rival - that Kinetico would have quoted me a king's ransom, which I would not have paid. I was happy to put the subject on hold indefinitely, as I could at least claim that I had the company come and look at it.
Then I made the mistake of looking at the front page of the Morris newspaper. The paper these days likes to get on its high horse about the need to cover government well. This should not mean that they just sit back and let government issue its "party line." I would argue this is what the paper did. I thought for sure the next week's paper, or perhaps the one after that, would have meaningful follow-up. I saw none. A new issue comes out today (Tuesday, Dec. 31) but I'm not much of a mind to even look at it anymore.
If the City of Morris wishes to communicate something important with me, it can send out an official communication, postcard or whatever. I would respect that. The newspaper is not connected to government.
The newspaper article used stark language to talk about the trouble you'd get in, if you had issues with an old softener.
Who wants to get into the weeds on this? Hell's bells, I certainly don't. (I learned the expression "hell's bells" from the late Don Chizek for whom the local ballfield is named.) We are getting pulled into the weeds on water quality whether we like it or not. I do not like it.
I did act as a result of the newspaper article, and put Eco Water to work installing a new on-demand softener. At least I don't have to worry about getting into legal trouble now. Really though, I'm not sure the city is going to get too threatening on this, even though they talk with bluster. And why would they talk with such bluster? An apt question.
You must be aware that the city is under what appears to be considerable pressure from higher levels of government, to get chloride emission reduced. You could say it's a pollutant that ends up in the river. Not sure how serious a problem this really is. Apparently the city is going to have to show at some point that appreciable progress is being made. To get funding? Well maybe. City spokespeople appear nervous about this. And while they will hector us and threaten with the "legal" language in the paper, they themselves are not totally on board with the simple step of disconnecting their softeners. Some are and some aren't.
Please be aware that water quality affects your home life quite a bit.
How simple this would all be, if the City of Morris were to just make a bald declaration to "disconnect" and it was a no-brainer. Oh, they'll try to tell you now it is a no-brainer. But we wrinkle our foreheads as we wonder why all of them aren't taking the step. What do they know, that they don't want the rest of us to know? I wonder if Craig Birch would answer an inquiry I might make to him.
We're stepping into a thicket of some confusion. Agendas clashing maybe? Watch your back whenever you're dealing with government machinations. So I'm veering off to Ebeneezer Scrooge territory now, not wanting to give much benefit of the doubt. Well, life certainly pulls in that direction, quite often.
Kudos to the radio station website for having an article update. The radio station is certainly out-performing the paper now with its online news. The headline: "City and water softener companies argue semantics." Oh, it's not really about semantics. It's always about facts. The city makes claims about what the water quality companies are asserting now. The city says the companies dispute some of the city's terminology.
A city council member personally told me the city is now offering "soft water" to everyone. Is this just a ploy to get people to ditch their softeners, so to satisfy government on the chloride matter? The city is offering water softened to five grains of hardness. The term for this quality of water is "moderately hard." It is not "soft." If it were soft beyond question, why should certain people with the city keep softening their own water to a certain degree?
The city council person informed me the new city water will be good enough for some people, not good enough for others. Deeper in the thicket we go. Why would I want to accept water not judged good enough for other people? Simple question, I'd like an answer.
The city attributes the following to the water quality companies: that the industry standard for softened water is one grain of hardness or less. My own research shows that up to 3.5 grains can be considered sufficiently softened. Is the city trying to make the companies seem too narrow? I detect a scent of ax-grinding in the language. Even three grains is of course under the five as specified by my city council contact. So it appears we have a problem here.
"(The water quality companies) don't like us saying that we're softening water," the city manager says.
But, I don't think those companies are claiming that there is no softening going on. The bone of contention is the degree. It would be super for the sake of healthy contrast to see an article quoting the water quality people. Who wants to assume anything at this point? So while I credit the KMRS-KKOK people, they could reach out more.
The Eco Water people were very friendly and informative when they came to my home - that's more than I can say for the city.
According to the city manager, the water quality companies are arguing that the city doesn't have a softening plant. Are they really arguing that?
I would suggest the companies are fully aware that the city has taken a meaningful step, but that it's questionable whether a rank and file local citizen should go softener-free.
I called Eco Water as a follow-up and Holly gave me considerably more background, gave me her name and said I should call back if I had any more questions.
Here's an interesting sentence from the radio station's coverage: "The city will leave it up to each individual as to what they want to do with their current softening system." That's interesting in light of the legal threat the Morris City Council projected through the page 1 newspaper article.
The newspaper deserves a grade of "F" for not digging and asking some questions. Maybe something is in today's paper. I might not look at it anymore. It looks like the paper has opted for a totally "token" website with just a handful of teaser items, not real timely. Boy, that sure wasn't the direction when Sue Dieter was there.
I think it will be hard for the paper to hire - it's my impression the benefits aren't good. Maybe the owner won't want to put a lot of pressure on the news department to post ambitiously on the site. Nothing halts the retreat of the print media. When will Willie's end its weekly printed circular? Maybe we won't have to get ink on our hands any more from that. I thought it might happen by now. The cost gets passed on to customers. Food inflation is happening.
BTW Chet Birch was mayor of Morris. Cary was a UMM football standout who got a shot in the NFL. I wrote all about it.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Win for Tigers in FF Tournament, 74-62
MACA boys basketball got its second win of the season Friday. Success came in the Fergus Falls Tournament. There, the Tigers took the court to face Chisago Lakes. And when the two halves were done, it was our Tigers with the win 74-62.
Our sophomore of note, Jackson Loge, made more strides toward really being an attention-getter in West Central Minnesota basketball. His 6'7" frame is imposing. And against Chisago Lakes he poured in 29 points and grabbed 17 boards. We got up 39-35 at halftime. Our record at day's end: 2-4. The Chisago Lakes record: 1-6. We outscored Chisago Lakes in the second half 35-27.
Thomas Tiernan was second high in scoring and he made a special impression with long-range shooting. Tiernan made four 3-pointers and scored 17 points. Jaden Maanum and Cade Fehr each made one '3'. Toby Gonnerman had impact with his 11 points. A trio of Tigers each scored five: Maanum, Brandon Jergenson and Fehr. Durgin Decker added to the mix with two points.
Decker and Maanum each dished out four assists. Loge swatted aside two shots.
Here's the Chisago Lakes scoring list: Andrew Koehler (16), Beau Backes (14), Ethan Thompson (10), Ryan Sanvik (8), Noah Lasiuta (6), Grant Koehler (4), Ben Forsberg (3) and Holden Miller (2).
Fergus Falls 72, Tigers 68
So, on to Saturday it was. Now we faced the host Otters of Fergus Falls. We didn't have quite the firepower to overcome this foe. We did have the lead at halftime, 32-31, but the Otters surged to outscore us the rest of the way, 41-36. So the final score had Fergus Falls up 72-68.
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| Jackson Loge image from "Hudl" |
Fellow sophomore Durgin Decker made his presence felt with 14 points on five of nine shooting. Our third-best scorer was another sophomore, Thomas Tiernan, and he came through with 12 points. Toby Gonnerman - whoa, another sophomore - scored six and Jaden Maanum (senior) five. We shot 42 percent from the field.
Loge topped our three-point shooting with three makes while Tiernan had two and Maanum one. We were six of 16 in that department. From the freethrow line we were 12 of 21 for 57 percent. Loge made eight of his eleven tries from the gift line. Decker made four of six.
Loge impressed in rebounding as we'd expect, as he came down with ten rebounds, two offensive and eight defensive. Gonnerman grabbed seven boards. Maanum topped the assists list with four. Loge had three steals followed by Tiernan and Decker each with two. Loge had both of the team's blocked shots.
Boys hockey: Storm 6, Fairmont 1
Nothing like having puck success in your own tournament, at holiday-time no less. The MBA Storm boys skated past Fairmont with a score of 6-1 on Friday. We got our ninth win as we out-shot the Fairmont boys 75-13. Fairmont is having a below-.500 season. For MBA, the wins are frequent and thrilling.
Surely we thrilled in the opening period with a 2-0 advantage as first it was Zander Hoffman scoring. Hoffman scored at 11:44 with assists from Grady Goff and Tyler Buss. Zach Bruns got our second goal at 12:53 as Jack Riley supplied an assist.
The score became 3-0 when Riley scored in the second period with a Bruns assist (:13). Then the score was 4-0 with a Matthew Tolifson goal, assisted by Kaleb Breuer (5:25). The surging continued with a Tolifson goal that had assists from Ryan Tolifson and Brady DeHaan (6:44). The last goal of the period was by Fairmont and it was scored by F. Thomas Claeys, assist from Carson Kuhl (15:40).
The only third period goal was by our Storm: Ryan Tolifson got the puck in the net with assists from Hunter Blume and DeHaan (7:53).
Chase Engebretson guarded the goal for the winner. Chase saved 12 of 13 shots. Fairmont had two goalies work: Carsen Musser and Tyson Geeerdes.
Girls hockey action didn't go so well for the Storm as we got shut out 8-0 by Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Friday, December 27, 2019
Glimmers of business life on Christmas
I didn't hear the bells on Christmas Day but I found a store open. Let's laud both Family Dollar and Casey's for being willing to serve the needs of customers. Casey's is where I checked first but I was too early - it didn't open until 10 a.m. It turned out that Family Dollar, a place I hadn't thought of, opened at 9.
Let's laud the individuals who were available to come to work at these places. One has to wonder: as time goes on, will we see more and more in the business world willing to keep the business wheels turning a little more? As I get older, I increasingly question the assumption that normal life has to grind to a halt on Christmas Day. Thanksgiving too.
On Thanksgiving I found Caribou Coffee at Willie's to be open in the morning, so could get some nourishment and have the satisfaction of just "getting out." Let's not underestimate the value of the latter.
I feel concern because we have an aging population in the rural heartland. Many people are not in a position to celebrate Christmas in the standard Norman Rockwell-flavored way. Death may have depleted the ranks of family. That has happened to me. The people I worry about most are those who are "on the bubble" for getting special help. They may be only marginal with their limitations or they just haven't been discovered yet. These people can become highly vulnerable. It can be life-threatening.
I could have attended the Christmas lunch at my church of First Lutheran. Increasingly it's hard to grapple with church issues and that's due to politics. My church is in a synod that is increasingly a refuge from the heavy right wing political tilt in Christianity. And that is fine. But we're losing. Not only are we losing, our adversaries in the reactionary churches - the people who thump their chest over Donald Trump - are glowering at us.
I tune in to Fox News and see Franklin Graham saying that Barack Obama "put people out of business because they were Christians." Be wary of the media: they have incentive to put provocative voices on the air. We can overlook how much competition there is for eyeballs. So we get Fox News which acts like a flamethrower with political issues all day and all night.
As a kid the totally idle nature of Christmas Day seemed natural to me. The older generation back then was temperate and restrained. Some were Republicans and some were Democrats, but there was a general sense of equilibrium. The extreme right wing was definitely out there - I'd see a ridiculous little leaflet sometimes - but it did not have a platform to get in our faces all the time. Today these voices get attention just because they are outrageous so much of the time. A "big name" like Graham goes on the air and says our last Democratic president was seeking to pick on Christians.
We have local religious zealots who would say that such statements are on the mark. They root for "religious freedom" but it's not what it seems: their freedom is the freedom to discriminate. Obama truly believed in the separation of church and state. So many of the Christian religious zealots can't get past their base emotions on such things.
You know who is paying attention to such things: the young generation. They look at Christianity and see it as not very benevolent - it seems rather the opposite. They don't wish to be so judgmental. We hear about the "nones" movement: those people who do not identify with a religious faith or with a denomination.
You can read the Bible to totally support a "progressive" viewpoint in a political sense. Try quoting that and you'll be shouted down. I think there's a reason why the "Christianity Today" piece appeared just before Christmas. Those Christians who agree with the skeptical essay toward Trump are worried. They are worried about the cost of associating Christianity with the current amoral president. And of course they get Howitzer cannons pointed at them once it's published. That underscores the problem better than anything.
The Christianity Today essay is an appeal to people like me who'd like to find reasons to cling to Christianity. Young people view the conflict in the U.S. Christian faith as reason enough to be wary of it. Life is tough for young adults today, and they are going to want to listen to people with progressive political ideas.
Frankly, maybe we have allowed the senior citizen class to get too wealthy. Just go to any church supper in the fall of the year and see all those nice older folks who don't bat an eye at paying the steadily inflating prices of the meal. No sweat. What a sea change, because in the days before Social Security, senior citizens tended to live life in fear. Something happened. And something could happen again.
The senior citizens who have decided to reject the nice mainstream churches of the ELCA should be cautious about how "in your face" they are getting with politics. Other segments of the population are going to learn how to use the political system too. In addition to the "nones," we have members of non-Christian faiths also. What are they to make of it, when they awaken on Christmas Day and wonder if there's any place open where they can do business, to get a pizza like I did? A nice basic Red Baron four-meat pizza.
I felt true Christmas joy being able to take that home and throw it in the oven. It was my only meal of the day, although I always drink a bottle or two of "Boost" nutritional supplement. I listen to some Christmas music from my laptop. I have colored lights on tree branches out in front of my place. I wish I could say "our place." But life has its phases calling for adjustment.
Merry Christmas? Not sure I'm willing to say that, really, not if Christianity was responsible for the election of our president. Just keep taking one day at a time. Again, God bless the Family Dollar store and its intrepid employee.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Let's laud the individuals who were available to come to work at these places. One has to wonder: as time goes on, will we see more and more in the business world willing to keep the business wheels turning a little more? As I get older, I increasingly question the assumption that normal life has to grind to a halt on Christmas Day. Thanksgiving too.
On Thanksgiving I found Caribou Coffee at Willie's to be open in the morning, so could get some nourishment and have the satisfaction of just "getting out." Let's not underestimate the value of the latter.
I feel concern because we have an aging population in the rural heartland. Many people are not in a position to celebrate Christmas in the standard Norman Rockwell-flavored way. Death may have depleted the ranks of family. That has happened to me. The people I worry about most are those who are "on the bubble" for getting special help. They may be only marginal with their limitations or they just haven't been discovered yet. These people can become highly vulnerable. It can be life-threatening.
I could have attended the Christmas lunch at my church of First Lutheran. Increasingly it's hard to grapple with church issues and that's due to politics. My church is in a synod that is increasingly a refuge from the heavy right wing political tilt in Christianity. And that is fine. But we're losing. Not only are we losing, our adversaries in the reactionary churches - the people who thump their chest over Donald Trump - are glowering at us.
I tune in to Fox News and see Franklin Graham saying that Barack Obama "put people out of business because they were Christians." Be wary of the media: they have incentive to put provocative voices on the air. We can overlook how much competition there is for eyeballs. So we get Fox News which acts like a flamethrower with political issues all day and all night.
As a kid the totally idle nature of Christmas Day seemed natural to me. The older generation back then was temperate and restrained. Some were Republicans and some were Democrats, but there was a general sense of equilibrium. The extreme right wing was definitely out there - I'd see a ridiculous little leaflet sometimes - but it did not have a platform to get in our faces all the time. Today these voices get attention just because they are outrageous so much of the time. A "big name" like Graham goes on the air and says our last Democratic president was seeking to pick on Christians.
We have local religious zealots who would say that such statements are on the mark. They root for "religious freedom" but it's not what it seems: their freedom is the freedom to discriminate. Obama truly believed in the separation of church and state. So many of the Christian religious zealots can't get past their base emotions on such things.
You know who is paying attention to such things: the young generation. They look at Christianity and see it as not very benevolent - it seems rather the opposite. They don't wish to be so judgmental. We hear about the "nones" movement: those people who do not identify with a religious faith or with a denomination.
You can read the Bible to totally support a "progressive" viewpoint in a political sense. Try quoting that and you'll be shouted down. I think there's a reason why the "Christianity Today" piece appeared just before Christmas. Those Christians who agree with the skeptical essay toward Trump are worried. They are worried about the cost of associating Christianity with the current amoral president. And of course they get Howitzer cannons pointed at them once it's published. That underscores the problem better than anything.
The Christianity Today essay is an appeal to people like me who'd like to find reasons to cling to Christianity. Young people view the conflict in the U.S. Christian faith as reason enough to be wary of it. Life is tough for young adults today, and they are going to want to listen to people with progressive political ideas.
Frankly, maybe we have allowed the senior citizen class to get too wealthy. Just go to any church supper in the fall of the year and see all those nice older folks who don't bat an eye at paying the steadily inflating prices of the meal. No sweat. What a sea change, because in the days before Social Security, senior citizens tended to live life in fear. Something happened. And something could happen again.
The senior citizens who have decided to reject the nice mainstream churches of the ELCA should be cautious about how "in your face" they are getting with politics. Other segments of the population are going to learn how to use the political system too. In addition to the "nones," we have members of non-Christian faiths also. What are they to make of it, when they awaken on Christmas Day and wonder if there's any place open where they can do business, to get a pizza like I did? A nice basic Red Baron four-meat pizza.
I felt true Christmas joy being able to take that home and throw it in the oven. It was my only meal of the day, although I always drink a bottle or two of "Boost" nutritional supplement. I listen to some Christmas music from my laptop. I have colored lights on tree branches out in front of my place. I wish I could say "our place." But life has its phases calling for adjustment.
Merry Christmas? Not sure I'm willing to say that, really, not if Christianity was responsible for the election of our president. Just keep taking one day at a time. Again, God bless the Family Dollar store and its intrepid employee.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Monday, December 23, 2019
City of Morris should get a lump of coal
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| (MPR News image) |
I picked up news about the city's new water treatment plant some time ago. It sounded like a good thing. We'd see the plant itself on the east end of town. I was expecting at some time to get some form of official communication on how we were supposed to proceed. Nothing like that happened. Remember that to the extent anything appears in the newspaper, 1) the paper is not a part of government, and 2) many people do not buy it or do not see it.
The subject of the treatment plant and its ramifications for Morris (especially the latter) have been begging for more attention from the local news media. Now, I don't examine every page of each week's paper - I observe the paper at the library - so I can't make a flat-out statement that the paper has done little or nothing.
I would in effect suggest that this subject is begging for attention. In fact, it is begging for the kind of attention we expect from the "skeptical news media," a point of view where we don't automatically defer to government people and their spokespeople.
We have new owners of the Morris paper who in fact like to make statements seeming almost sanctimonious about their role in covering government. And yet, about a month ago, when the newspaper finally came out with pronouncements connected to the water treatment plant, it was embarrassing because the paper merely parroted what the city wanted to tell us. I have been skeptical whether Katie Erdman is really the kind of hard-nosed editor who has to risk getting her hands dirty on something like this.
Look, I might not have minded purchasing a new water softener if the process of transition had seemed more above-board. If I had it to do over again, I would have waited to receive direct instructions from the city, under threat of legal penalty. It looks as though that time is coming. I was merely trying to behave as a responsible citizen, to see what I might do in connection to the city's water transition.
I could have just kept buying my usual supply of salt. Frankly it was not a burdensome expense. The City of Morris is so phony now in how it argues about the advantage of using less salt. I realize there is one indisputable advantage: less chloride emission. And that is laudable. The "hassle" of buying salt was no issue for me as I still have decent physical strength for handling the sacks.
I go on Medicare with the first of the year. That means I ought to consider Medicare supplement insurance. But I'd be starting this on the heels of the pretty substantial expense of a new water softener. Once again - and I'm a broken record here - the expense would be easier to live with, had the city simply communicated better, or frankly communicated at all.
I feel humiliated. I feel I may have been "rolled" by a party here. At present I am not inclined to point fingers at the water quality company. I'll give the name because I am not being critical of them: Eco Water. They seemed credible, knowledgeable and caring. My thoughts about the City of Morris have become much less than charitable.
It's so easy for city spokespeople to simply say "hey, disconnect (your softener)." Let's emphasize that the city has a strong narrow incentive to say this: they are "under the gun" from higher government powers to get the chloride pollution thing solved. There appears to be financial incentive. They'd love it, if as many people as possible simply "disconnect," the faster the better. Period. Be wary of government designs.
Dissecting the language
I have heard two stories about our "new" City of Morris water: one, that it is softened to five grains of hardness, and two, that it is softened to five to seven grains of hardness. A city spokesman tells me the city now offers everyone "soft" water. I would suggest this is not accurate. Water softened to five grains is considered "moderately hard." It is in a category where some degree of extra softening is considered prudent. "Prudence" can of course be subjective.
Keep in mind though the desperation - that is not an extreme characterization - of the city to convince higher authorities that the chloride thing is being addressed. Fine and dandy, but the common citizenry has its interests too: taking care of one's property. Getting proper advice on this is paramount.
Above all else, the city should have demonstrated in the spirit of setting an example, that all of their top officials - council and staff - would immediately disconnect their softeners. And, be happy doing so and happy to proclaim it. Instead, city spokespeople strangely think it's a positive to tell everyone that "two" city council people have disconnected. The City manager has in fact gotten a new softener. This is not an idle expense.
I'm wringing my hands about this even though I'm one of those people who can make the purchase without going into hock. I simply find this whole process to have been rotten. And all the paper has appeared to do, to date, is to be a mouthpiece for the city. "The city council wants you to know. . ." Et cetera. It reminds me of the characters "Trout and Bugbaum" from the National Lampoon satire "Dacron Republican-Democrat," fun-poking at a typical mid-size city newspaper. The guys were a take-off on Woodward and Bernstein but they were hopeless, total suckers. They posed for their column head photo with champagne glasses. But all they did was get played by their sources.
The Anfinsons of the Morris paper don't wish to be like that, do they? Ah, "Trout and Bugbaum." (The "Republican-Democrat" always had a photo of a smashed-up car above the fold on page 1.)
Live and learn, eh?
Well Brian, welcome to the world of being suspicious about city hall. I'm now tempted to think of ways to "recoup" the $1500 by cutting some other things. Maybe I'll take six months off from going to church and skip making one of my usual $ contributions there. Each year I have an original Christmas song recorded in Nashville TN. Maybe I'll skip that next year. I can skip adding any more to the Williams family's University of Minnesota Foundation fund.
Yes, one can always come up with ways to economize. I attend an ELCA church, a synod that appears in steady decline. How unfortunate. And the main reason appears to be political. The ELCA embraces too many "progressive" views. It is a church where people who vote Democratic can feel comfortable. The non-Democrats might point fingers and claim we aren't Christian at all. Perhaps one must be a Trump supporter in 2020 in order to claim being a Christian.
We are on the verge of seeing a significant swath of Christianity begin to assert that Trump has divine qualities. Maybe Stormy Daniels will be considered the equivalent of Mary Magdalene. You're offended by that? Well I'm offended by you. If so many people can be fooled so easily, maybe Jesus Christ himself was a pretender, really just a demagogue of his time. Maybe a "wallpaper hanger," as the great WWII General Patton advised post-war (about the likes of Hitler).
I don't want to think in such terms re. Jesus.
I don't see how two ELCA churches can continue to exist in our community of Morris. Something will have to "give" soon, it seems.
From a letter from First Lutheran Church I received Saturday: "Because of shortfalls, in 2018 we spent two ELCA Mission Investment account funds that we were saving for a rainy day. We don't have more savings we can use to help us make ends meet. We are currently about $32,000 behind. We have not been able to pay out our benevolence to the Synod and ELCA."
Has the Walt Hokanson money all been spent? Can we be sure there's no more embezzlement out here in the ELCA? Do we need to keep supporting missionaries and Habitat for Humanity?
Continuing from the letter: "Our council is actively working to address these issues. We held a stewardship event in November called 'Consecration Sunday' and we are encouraged by the results. However, we won't see the actual results until 2020."
Indeed, it appears that the pro-Trump gay-bashing churches are winning. Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do. Memo to the fools and knaves: don't you understand that the social issues are just cover for what the GOPers really strive to accomplish, which is to consolidate ever more wealth in the hands of the richest sliver of the population? In the meantime they get you to eat from their hand. Those people don't lose any sleep over abortion, I assure you.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Saturday, December 21, 2019
More on the water treatment matter
A water quality employee here told me the response has been "slow" to the new city water treatment plant. This is not surprising at all. The path of least resistance is always easiest to follow. People in their busy lives don't wish to disrupt things a lot. Everything isn't always perfect, and our wisdom tells us just to leave well enough alone most of the time. It is simple prudence.
So what if we might be purchasing more softener salt than we might have to? We hear the hectoring talk of City of Morris officials, as they are actually resorting to legal threats. Our instinct is to not take this talk at face value. The threats came through a front page Morris newspaper article about three weeks ago. I don't have the article as reference now - I never expected to be writing more than once on the topic.
I don't buy the paper and can see it in three public places. Therefore I can stay abreast of everything happening in Hancock, what must be a real "going" community now, based on how much attention it gets in the Morris paper. Hancock had its own paper until not long ago.
I just assumed there would be some follow-up or clarification material on the water softener topic, in the week following the "threat" issue. The city council warned in stark terms that people still with "old" water softeners would be in violation of the law. Perhaps people saw this and thought it was a bluff. Keep in mind that a great many people do not buy and do not see the Morris paper. You might say most people "lead lives of quiet desperation." These people have had their water quality responsibilities handled just fine, therefore leave well enough alone. BTW I have seen no follow-up in the paper.
Some time ago, as I explained to council member Kevin Wohlers, I simply had the softener matter on my "list of things to do." I had no idea this would become a hair-pulling matter. Initially I called the company that made the softener that was in our basement. I am no expert and therefore I have to hire people. I guess we had one of those "old" softeners - "old" is an ambiguous term - and thus it could not be routinely adjusted. I paid about $100 for the visit even though nothing was done. I felt I was being a responsible citizen because I at least had it looked into.
The Kinetico rep did not "push" the idea of getting a new softener. I was later told by Eco Water that Kinetico would have quoted a price of $6000 for a new softener. I would not have done that even under threat of legal penalty by the City of Morris.
The people with "old" softeners have not done anything wrong. They had a system that was perfectly acceptable. An irony is that these people have softeners that are over-performing rather than under-performing. The new softeners are called "on demand" and they use considerably less salt. So the City of Morris proclaims this as some sort of huge advantage. That's terrific, all things being equal. Problem is, many people are going to be told they need a new softener. To which the city would say, just go softener-free. Disconnect.
I looked into that but did not feel confident at all doing the disconnecting process on my own. It's not like there was a simple plug-in, at least not one I could see. Instead I saw various hoses, tubes and valves. Heck, I'm not going to dive into that, any more than I would open the hood of my car and attempt a repair. There are many stories out there about disasters from people - almost all men, I'd suggest - who attempt their own car repairs. In the old days, mastery of auto mechanics or at least pretending of same, was a major badge of manliness. Today, take the car to the dealer and have them hook up the computer.
Here's a key question: Why hasn't the city made a clear and loud proclamation for everyone to simply disconnect their softener? Maybe because it has received legal advice not to. There's a good chance some people will allege there are still issues with water quality. I had no desire to start diving into this research. But let's delve in a little. This is an unpleasant complication in my life just before Christmas.
And here's another thought: If a substantial number of city residents are going to have to take some drastic action, the government simply needs to help more. The water treatment plant is a government project - I assume it certainly isn't private. So to help, assuming we want a government that helps us sometimes - questionable in light of how we're in such a "red" Republican congressional district - the government should offer vouchers to at least defray the cost of getting a new softener. Yes, a subsidy. A new softener can easily cost up to a couple thousand dollars. I have bitten the bullet and gotten it over with.
My deliberations on this revealed a conflict between the City of Morris and the water quality companies. Oh my, something is amiss. I shared concerns with Councilman Wohlers and he responded:
Hey Brian, what we're telling people is that the city is providing soft water. It is softened to five grams of hardness. [I believe Kevin means "grains" instead of "grams."] That being said, it is sort of a subjective thing. Some people can live with that while others can't.
Rather profound statement there from Mr. Wohlers, a long-time personal friend of mine. A lot is at stake here, the question of whether to spend a substantial amount of money on a new softener. And yet we get these notoriously gray area statements. "Maybe you'll like the new city water, maybe you won't."
Or, maybe the suggestion is that the new city water will be good enough for people on the lower end of the economic spectrum. "Let them eat cake" - oh that's an exaggeration.
Is the "five grains" pronouncement really accurate? There is reason to suggest it isn't. OK so let's look up a March 12 article on MPR News about our Morris water subject. Use "the Internet machine" as Rachel Maddow calls it. There's a big photo at the top, of City Manager Blaine Hill pushing buttons on his softener. I do not wish to know so much about softeners. A water quality business spokesman is quoted in the article saying the new plant "is expected to soften the water down to about five to seven grains of hardness, not remove all of the minerals."
We have Mr. Wohlers saying for the record it's five grains (not grams) flat. Is this important? Well it might be. The quantity of calcium and magnesium dissolved in water makes water "soft" or "hard." Hard water definitely creates issues. Typically, water that contains less than one grain per gallon is considered soft, while water with one to 3.5 grains per gallon is slightly hard. Water in these two categories is, by most accounts, soft enough that it does not require further softening. The grains per gallon for moderately hard, hard and very hard water are, respectively, 3.5 to 7, 7 to 10.5, and over 10.5.
So, if our Morris water is going to flirt with "seven" as the MPR article suggests it might, we'll in fact have "hard" water. Is this passable for the more well-to-do people in our community? Is it being passed off as "just fine" for the less well-advantaged? You have to wonder. Water at five grains would be "moderately hard." Yet Kevin said "the city is providing soft water."
I told him that I had this matter on my "list of things to do," to be handled routinely, and a quite opposite situation developed. I now have a new softener. But perhaps it's "lesson learned" and I ought to put up more defenses in the future to be more cynical and be more demanding of people in government. If I'm naive, I'm sorry. I will certainly strive to be less so.
It's nice having a new softener but the cost of $1500 was worrisome. Is this going to be imposed on a substantial number of Morris residents? We have the legal threat on the record from the city council via the front page newspaper article. I got Mayor Sheldon Giese to comment on that article. Yes you'll see a contradiction here: "Brian, I'm sorry that the newspaper took such a hard stance on that to scare people but I'm kind of glad that they did, because this is very important for the City of Morris."
Sheldon also shared the following with me:
We are watching the salt situation because we have to. The state deemed it appropriate to pay for approximately two-thirds of our water treatment system to eliminate or drastically reduce the chloride outflow to the Pomme de Terre River. If those numbers don't come down, and I'm pretty serious about this, we will need to enforce, and be sure that people are following the rules about water softeners and their salt usage. I think Blaine said it pretty appropriately that his new water softener will use, he's estimating, about one bag of salt per year. For anyone that has used a water softener in the past in the city of Morris, one bag of salt per year is a drastic reduction in cost let alone lugging the heavy bags to their softener from the store or paying a delivery fee to have them delivered. I'm a little bit concerned, no I'm a lot concerned, about the cost that is being levied by the water softener companies especially just to check the system - $100 to check your softener seems ridiculous to me. I'm happy for you that you were able to purchase a new more efficient water softener.
City Manager Hill has a new softener, yet the party line from the city is to just go ahead and disconnect. He proudly told me that two city council members have disconnected. But why just two?
Why do I ask questions like this? My friendship with some of these people is going to be eroded, probably already has. Very unfortunate. The worst part of the process was the confusion I was subjected to.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
So what if we might be purchasing more softener salt than we might have to? We hear the hectoring talk of City of Morris officials, as they are actually resorting to legal threats. Our instinct is to not take this talk at face value. The threats came through a front page Morris newspaper article about three weeks ago. I don't have the article as reference now - I never expected to be writing more than once on the topic.
I don't buy the paper and can see it in three public places. Therefore I can stay abreast of everything happening in Hancock, what must be a real "going" community now, based on how much attention it gets in the Morris paper. Hancock had its own paper until not long ago.
I just assumed there would be some follow-up or clarification material on the water softener topic, in the week following the "threat" issue. The city council warned in stark terms that people still with "old" water softeners would be in violation of the law. Perhaps people saw this and thought it was a bluff. Keep in mind that a great many people do not buy and do not see the Morris paper. You might say most people "lead lives of quiet desperation." These people have had their water quality responsibilities handled just fine, therefore leave well enough alone. BTW I have seen no follow-up in the paper.
Some time ago, as I explained to council member Kevin Wohlers, I simply had the softener matter on my "list of things to do." I had no idea this would become a hair-pulling matter. Initially I called the company that made the softener that was in our basement. I am no expert and therefore I have to hire people. I guess we had one of those "old" softeners - "old" is an ambiguous term - and thus it could not be routinely adjusted. I paid about $100 for the visit even though nothing was done. I felt I was being a responsible citizen because I at least had it looked into.
The Kinetico rep did not "push" the idea of getting a new softener. I was later told by Eco Water that Kinetico would have quoted a price of $6000 for a new softener. I would not have done that even under threat of legal penalty by the City of Morris.
The people with "old" softeners have not done anything wrong. They had a system that was perfectly acceptable. An irony is that these people have softeners that are over-performing rather than under-performing. The new softeners are called "on demand" and they use considerably less salt. So the City of Morris proclaims this as some sort of huge advantage. That's terrific, all things being equal. Problem is, many people are going to be told they need a new softener. To which the city would say, just go softener-free. Disconnect.
I looked into that but did not feel confident at all doing the disconnecting process on my own. It's not like there was a simple plug-in, at least not one I could see. Instead I saw various hoses, tubes and valves. Heck, I'm not going to dive into that, any more than I would open the hood of my car and attempt a repair. There are many stories out there about disasters from people - almost all men, I'd suggest - who attempt their own car repairs. In the old days, mastery of auto mechanics or at least pretending of same, was a major badge of manliness. Today, take the car to the dealer and have them hook up the computer.
Here's a key question: Why hasn't the city made a clear and loud proclamation for everyone to simply disconnect their softener? Maybe because it has received legal advice not to. There's a good chance some people will allege there are still issues with water quality. I had no desire to start diving into this research. But let's delve in a little. This is an unpleasant complication in my life just before Christmas.
And here's another thought: If a substantial number of city residents are going to have to take some drastic action, the government simply needs to help more. The water treatment plant is a government project - I assume it certainly isn't private. So to help, assuming we want a government that helps us sometimes - questionable in light of how we're in such a "red" Republican congressional district - the government should offer vouchers to at least defray the cost of getting a new softener. Yes, a subsidy. A new softener can easily cost up to a couple thousand dollars. I have bitten the bullet and gotten it over with.
My deliberations on this revealed a conflict between the City of Morris and the water quality companies. Oh my, something is amiss. I shared concerns with Councilman Wohlers and he responded:
Hey Brian, what we're telling people is that the city is providing soft water. It is softened to five grams of hardness. [I believe Kevin means "grains" instead of "grams."] That being said, it is sort of a subjective thing. Some people can live with that while others can't.
Rather profound statement there from Mr. Wohlers, a long-time personal friend of mine. A lot is at stake here, the question of whether to spend a substantial amount of money on a new softener. And yet we get these notoriously gray area statements. "Maybe you'll like the new city water, maybe you won't."
Or, maybe the suggestion is that the new city water will be good enough for people on the lower end of the economic spectrum. "Let them eat cake" - oh that's an exaggeration.
Is the "five grains" pronouncement really accurate? There is reason to suggest it isn't. OK so let's look up a March 12 article on MPR News about our Morris water subject. Use "the Internet machine" as Rachel Maddow calls it. There's a big photo at the top, of City Manager Blaine Hill pushing buttons on his softener. I do not wish to know so much about softeners. A water quality business spokesman is quoted in the article saying the new plant "is expected to soften the water down to about five to seven grains of hardness, not remove all of the minerals."
We have Mr. Wohlers saying for the record it's five grains (not grams) flat. Is this important? Well it might be. The quantity of calcium and magnesium dissolved in water makes water "soft" or "hard." Hard water definitely creates issues. Typically, water that contains less than one grain per gallon is considered soft, while water with one to 3.5 grains per gallon is slightly hard. Water in these two categories is, by most accounts, soft enough that it does not require further softening. The grains per gallon for moderately hard, hard and very hard water are, respectively, 3.5 to 7, 7 to 10.5, and over 10.5.
So, if our Morris water is going to flirt with "seven" as the MPR article suggests it might, we'll in fact have "hard" water. Is this passable for the more well-to-do people in our community? Is it being passed off as "just fine" for the less well-advantaged? You have to wonder. Water at five grains would be "moderately hard." Yet Kevin said "the city is providing soft water."
I told him that I had this matter on my "list of things to do," to be handled routinely, and a quite opposite situation developed. I now have a new softener. But perhaps it's "lesson learned" and I ought to put up more defenses in the future to be more cynical and be more demanding of people in government. If I'm naive, I'm sorry. I will certainly strive to be less so.
It's nice having a new softener but the cost of $1500 was worrisome. Is this going to be imposed on a substantial number of Morris residents? We have the legal threat on the record from the city council via the front page newspaper article. I got Mayor Sheldon Giese to comment on that article. Yes you'll see a contradiction here: "Brian, I'm sorry that the newspaper took such a hard stance on that to scare people but I'm kind of glad that they did, because this is very important for the City of Morris."
Sheldon also shared the following with me:
We are watching the salt situation because we have to. The state deemed it appropriate to pay for approximately two-thirds of our water treatment system to eliminate or drastically reduce the chloride outflow to the Pomme de Terre River. If those numbers don't come down, and I'm pretty serious about this, we will need to enforce, and be sure that people are following the rules about water softeners and their salt usage. I think Blaine said it pretty appropriately that his new water softener will use, he's estimating, about one bag of salt per year. For anyone that has used a water softener in the past in the city of Morris, one bag of salt per year is a drastic reduction in cost let alone lugging the heavy bags to their softener from the store or paying a delivery fee to have them delivered. I'm a little bit concerned, no I'm a lot concerned, about the cost that is being levied by the water softener companies especially just to check the system - $100 to check your softener seems ridiculous to me. I'm happy for you that you were able to purchase a new more efficient water softener.
City Manager Hill has a new softener, yet the party line from the city is to just go ahead and disconnect. He proudly told me that two city council members have disconnected. But why just two?
Why do I ask questions like this? My friendship with some of these people is going to be eroded, probably already has. Very unfortunate. The worst part of the process was the confusion I was subjected to.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
No tidings of joy with Wed. Trump rally
Donald Trump is having a "Merry Christmas rally" tonight (Wednesday). So, this is evidently the Christmas of impeachment where, like it or not, we are fixated on the idiosyncratic president.
"Idiosyncratic" has always been the best thing we could hope for. "Dangerous" is a more worrisome word. We might whistle past the graveyard, in effect, figuring that however stupid and vain this man might seem - a man who assumed his high office with no experience in government or the military - he hasn't planted the seeds for anything truly cataclysmic to happen to this country. My inclination is to think he may have actually planted these seeds. We just haven't seen detonation yet.
An example? Well, it might be the undue pressure he has put on the Federal Reserve. This is a no-no in Washington D.C. circles. "Don't fight the Fed." His supporters can chortle about how he was elected to "reject the establishment." Well fine and dandy, congratulations on your throwaway cliche. He rejects "the establishment" so much, he gets on the phone at the end of a day where the Dow goes down 800 points and negotiates with the big Wall Street bankers.
The "bubble" in the economy has to be kept inflated, you see, with the bottom line being: "Keep the stock market high, albeit artificially, as long as possible." Trump can prop up the illusion of a booming economy even though "the stock market is not the economy," as we always hear. It gets propped up through stock buybacks which should be illegal.
The central bank is a major puppetmaster. Is it just buying time? Does Trump know it's just buying time, continuing the illusion of prosperity long enough for him to be re-elected? And heaven help us all if he gets re-elected and no longer has to be worried about the voters. Surely you don't trust this man to guide the ship of state. Before long we will all be rooting for the "deep state," the people who realize there really ought to be rules. They know there's some sausage-making involved in the process. But the ship of state rolls forward.
Trump's bizarre rallies like the one he had in Minneapolis merely appeal to an ignorant element of the populace who have a general sense of grievance about their lot. These people feel threatened by changes in our society. They are irritated by a more diverse culture. They are in denial about the lot of the poor. They think all the unemployed or underemployed people should just go out and get jobs or work harder. It's a vague American principle.
Well, let me tell you: there is an underbelly of simply "holding a job" like in main street heartland America. I have been there. Some of my detractors might smirk and say I deserved ending up jobless 13 years ago. Actually I have regretted not leaving the job sooner because my parents could have used more focused help. Let's be crystal clear here: anyone who has worked for years at a typical main street type of business in "real" America knows it can be daunting, just getting by with a sense of stability and predictability. In the digital age, with the tremendous disruption and automation going on everywhere?
Those of us with real world experience can tell stories of people who come and go at their places of business, people who "just didn't work out." They were not bad people. They had an attitude of wanting to succeed. But it can be tough. And yet Trump preaches about "the dignity of work" as if this is grounds to justify cutting hundreds of thousands of people off food stamps. As if all these people simply needed to get their act together. In Trump's fantasy world, such a thing is tenable. We'd have to get his focus off porn stars for a while.
Trump has never had to go out and pull himself up by the bootstraps. He has never had the wolf at his door. As president he doesn't "work" because it has become known that he spends most of his time watching Fox News.
The late Ed Schultz once spoke naked truth in his MSNBC career, when he said "people get fired from jobs all the time." We miss Mr. Schultz who did his media work as a true advocate for the struggling common people of America, rather than do what his MSNBC bosses really wanted which was to focus on "cultural flashpoints." It's not sexy or sensational to talk about the kitchen table issues of middle America. Keep in mind the quote "the majority of people lead lives of quiet desperation."
Trump has no connection to that reality. We all know he's a charlatan when he tries to connect himself to the most zealous forms of Christianity. I guess it's the "evangelicals," the people who feel certain the "end times" are coming soon, therefore we needn't concern ourselves with climate change. I don't want to live my life as if the world as we know it is going to end. If it does end, it might be because we have a bull in the china closet - Trump - dealing in international relations. But he has the extreme Christians eating out of his hand.
We have churches in our Morris MN area where I'm sure the parishioners vote 100 percent Trump. Leading evangelicals bow down at Trump's feet. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, has taken this a step further, saying that the likes of yours truly, critics of Trump, are motivated by the devil. Many shallow people out there are going to buy this. If I'm motivated by the devil, should I not be allowed to celebrate Christmas this year? I think Trump and the crescendo of impeachment has actually cast a pall over Christmas. We are whistling past the graveyard.
We in Morris are dead center in alignment with Trump country, at the very heart of it. We have a Democratic Party congressman in Collin Peterson who probably should change parties like that Benedict Arnold in New Jersey. Peterson is scared of Donald Trump. Years from now, assuming we're all still here, how will he reflect on this? Will he be proud of himself? He says the impeachment process is too political. What does he think he is, a politician?
Sue Dieter has to speak for him now. Actually she seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. She liked the power and prestige of running the Morris paper for that Fargo corporation. Maybe that corporation is getting a bad rap. Seriously, I do know that for whatever they lacked in local sensitivity, they made up for with full benefits for employees. Such as 401K, "Cobra" and other stuff. We got visits from a human resources department person a couple times a year. Hey, even with "powerpoint." Far out. (What if Abe Lincoln had given the Gettysburg Address using powerpoint?)
To what extent do the new "hero" owners of the Morris paper provide benefits? I looked at the new Morris paper yesterday (Tuesday). It looks impressive, no doubt. But I wouldn't buy it. We are all less reliant on the local newspaper today.
The paper was used as a channel for the City of Morris to issue a threat recently, about continuing to use old water softeners. I think that was chickens--t, maybe not on the part of the paper but on the part of the City of Morris. The city has cover, in that they can claim, as the city manager did with me, that "we don't write the newspaper articles." OK so it's not an official source for anything. The City of Morris could put out a direct mailing. Then I could deal with them.
Many local people are saying rather loudly that there's too much Hancock news in the paper. Gee I've never heard that before. But who cares?
We used to get a cash bonus at Christmas from the Morris newspaper owner. Seems quaint I guess. The Fargo corporation put money in our 401K or something equivalent to it, because we didn't have the option of simply saying no to something like a 401K. When I left the Morris paper, I actually got a nice little payout of money that had built up. Interesting. Does the new Morris paper ownership offer health insurance to its employees?
Addendum: Carr's Tree Service came to my neighborhood last spring to trim branches that were judged too close to power lines. A matter of following regulations I'm sure. The neighborhood residents were not charged for this. It must have been contracted by Agralite Electric Co-op. They took responsibility.
Now that we have the City of Morris making legal threats to people who have "old" water softeners - lack of clarification on "old" - it is apparently going to be up to a great many local residents to purchase a new water softener.
It is a maddening question whether the "new" city water, minus a softener, will be good enough. One hears various things. I think the city manager should have set an example by simply disconnecting his softener. But instead he had an on-demand softener put in. He says he did this because of being offered a trade-in, otherwise he would not have done it. But if it's 100 percent fine to disconnect, why did he bother installing a new softener? It really makes you wonder. And, only two city council members have chosen to simply disconnect. The council too, needs to set an example, if they are going to preach to everyone about how you're simply supposed to disconnect.
Disconnect or you're "in violation of the law." That's the word expressed through a page 1 newspaper article. The writer of the article doesn't live in Morris. I bought a new on-demand softener. I could live with this easier, if I felt I had been dealt with in a more forthright way through the whole process. Now I feel almost violated. I'm 64 years old and never before have I felt enmity toward the city council or city hall. Now I do. It tarnishes Christmas. Just like Trump holding his rally.
People will likely say "Brian, you'll really like your new softener." Yes and I would also like a brand-new Chevy Camaro, but I'm not going to go out and buy one tomorrow. What else can the City of Morris force me to do?
Addendum: The Wednesday Trump rally is in Battle Creek MI. I discovered a few years ago on the Internet, a church choir in that city that was performing a composition of my father's for Easter Sunday.
Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
"Idiosyncratic" has always been the best thing we could hope for. "Dangerous" is a more worrisome word. We might whistle past the graveyard, in effect, figuring that however stupid and vain this man might seem - a man who assumed his high office with no experience in government or the military - he hasn't planted the seeds for anything truly cataclysmic to happen to this country. My inclination is to think he may have actually planted these seeds. We just haven't seen detonation yet.
An example? Well, it might be the undue pressure he has put on the Federal Reserve. This is a no-no in Washington D.C. circles. "Don't fight the Fed." His supporters can chortle about how he was elected to "reject the establishment." Well fine and dandy, congratulations on your throwaway cliche. He rejects "the establishment" so much, he gets on the phone at the end of a day where the Dow goes down 800 points and negotiates with the big Wall Street bankers.
The "bubble" in the economy has to be kept inflated, you see, with the bottom line being: "Keep the stock market high, albeit artificially, as long as possible." Trump can prop up the illusion of a booming economy even though "the stock market is not the economy," as we always hear. It gets propped up through stock buybacks which should be illegal.
The central bank is a major puppetmaster. Is it just buying time? Does Trump know it's just buying time, continuing the illusion of prosperity long enough for him to be re-elected? And heaven help us all if he gets re-elected and no longer has to be worried about the voters. Surely you don't trust this man to guide the ship of state. Before long we will all be rooting for the "deep state," the people who realize there really ought to be rules. They know there's some sausage-making involved in the process. But the ship of state rolls forward.
Trump's bizarre rallies like the one he had in Minneapolis merely appeal to an ignorant element of the populace who have a general sense of grievance about their lot. These people feel threatened by changes in our society. They are irritated by a more diverse culture. They are in denial about the lot of the poor. They think all the unemployed or underemployed people should just go out and get jobs or work harder. It's a vague American principle.
Well, let me tell you: there is an underbelly of simply "holding a job" like in main street heartland America. I have been there. Some of my detractors might smirk and say I deserved ending up jobless 13 years ago. Actually I have regretted not leaving the job sooner because my parents could have used more focused help. Let's be crystal clear here: anyone who has worked for years at a typical main street type of business in "real" America knows it can be daunting, just getting by with a sense of stability and predictability. In the digital age, with the tremendous disruption and automation going on everywhere?
Those of us with real world experience can tell stories of people who come and go at their places of business, people who "just didn't work out." They were not bad people. They had an attitude of wanting to succeed. But it can be tough. And yet Trump preaches about "the dignity of work" as if this is grounds to justify cutting hundreds of thousands of people off food stamps. As if all these people simply needed to get their act together. In Trump's fantasy world, such a thing is tenable. We'd have to get his focus off porn stars for a while.
Trump has never had to go out and pull himself up by the bootstraps. He has never had the wolf at his door. As president he doesn't "work" because it has become known that he spends most of his time watching Fox News.
 |
| Ed Schultz RIP |
Trump has no connection to that reality. We all know he's a charlatan when he tries to connect himself to the most zealous forms of Christianity. I guess it's the "evangelicals," the people who feel certain the "end times" are coming soon, therefore we needn't concern ourselves with climate change. I don't want to live my life as if the world as we know it is going to end. If it does end, it might be because we have a bull in the china closet - Trump - dealing in international relations. But he has the extreme Christians eating out of his hand.
We have churches in our Morris MN area where I'm sure the parishioners vote 100 percent Trump. Leading evangelicals bow down at Trump's feet. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, has taken this a step further, saying that the likes of yours truly, critics of Trump, are motivated by the devil. Many shallow people out there are going to buy this. If I'm motivated by the devil, should I not be allowed to celebrate Christmas this year? I think Trump and the crescendo of impeachment has actually cast a pall over Christmas. We are whistling past the graveyard.
We in Morris are dead center in alignment with Trump country, at the very heart of it. We have a Democratic Party congressman in Collin Peterson who probably should change parties like that Benedict Arnold in New Jersey. Peterson is scared of Donald Trump. Years from now, assuming we're all still here, how will he reflect on this? Will he be proud of himself? He says the impeachment process is too political. What does he think he is, a politician?
Sue Dieter has to speak for him now. Actually she seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. She liked the power and prestige of running the Morris paper for that Fargo corporation. Maybe that corporation is getting a bad rap. Seriously, I do know that for whatever they lacked in local sensitivity, they made up for with full benefits for employees. Such as 401K, "Cobra" and other stuff. We got visits from a human resources department person a couple times a year. Hey, even with "powerpoint." Far out. (What if Abe Lincoln had given the Gettysburg Address using powerpoint?)
To what extent do the new "hero" owners of the Morris paper provide benefits? I looked at the new Morris paper yesterday (Tuesday). It looks impressive, no doubt. But I wouldn't buy it. We are all less reliant on the local newspaper today.
The paper was used as a channel for the City of Morris to issue a threat recently, about continuing to use old water softeners. I think that was chickens--t, maybe not on the part of the paper but on the part of the City of Morris. The city has cover, in that they can claim, as the city manager did with me, that "we don't write the newspaper articles." OK so it's not an official source for anything. The City of Morris could put out a direct mailing. Then I could deal with them.
Many local people are saying rather loudly that there's too much Hancock news in the paper. Gee I've never heard that before. But who cares?
We used to get a cash bonus at Christmas from the Morris newspaper owner. Seems quaint I guess. The Fargo corporation put money in our 401K or something equivalent to it, because we didn't have the option of simply saying no to something like a 401K. When I left the Morris paper, I actually got a nice little payout of money that had built up. Interesting. Does the new Morris paper ownership offer health insurance to its employees?
Addendum: Carr's Tree Service came to my neighborhood last spring to trim branches that were judged too close to power lines. A matter of following regulations I'm sure. The neighborhood residents were not charged for this. It must have been contracted by Agralite Electric Co-op. They took responsibility.
Now that we have the City of Morris making legal threats to people who have "old" water softeners - lack of clarification on "old" - it is apparently going to be up to a great many local residents to purchase a new water softener.
It is a maddening question whether the "new" city water, minus a softener, will be good enough. One hears various things. I think the city manager should have set an example by simply disconnecting his softener. But instead he had an on-demand softener put in. He says he did this because of being offered a trade-in, otherwise he would not have done it. But if it's 100 percent fine to disconnect, why did he bother installing a new softener? It really makes you wonder. And, only two city council members have chosen to simply disconnect. The council too, needs to set an example, if they are going to preach to everyone about how you're simply supposed to disconnect.
Disconnect or you're "in violation of the law." That's the word expressed through a page 1 newspaper article. The writer of the article doesn't live in Morris. I bought a new on-demand softener. I could live with this easier, if I felt I had been dealt with in a more forthright way through the whole process. Now I feel almost violated. I'm 64 years old and never before have I felt enmity toward the city council or city hall. Now I do. It tarnishes Christmas. Just like Trump holding his rally.
People will likely say "Brian, you'll really like your new softener." Yes and I would also like a brand-new Chevy Camaro, but I'm not going to go out and buy one tomorrow. What else can the City of Morris force me to do?
Addendum: The Wednesday Trump rally is in Battle Creek MI. I discovered a few years ago on the Internet, a church choir in that city that was performing a composition of my father's for Easter Sunday.
Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
What's good for the goose and gander
Morris legend has it that the Super 8 Motel came into being because of a particular incident. Cannot confirm that it's true although it seemed credible. Super 8 is located along that northern stretch of highway that now seems so challenged, what with the very pregnant (obvious) vacated Shopko building, and a hospitality establishment that does not seem to be humming. Vicissitudes of the business world obviously.
Every "old" building has a story that begins when it was new and vigorous. Anyway, Morris lore has it there was a phone inquiry at a Morris hospitality establishment many years ago. It was from a farmer or agriculture professional. I guess FFAers don't really want to be known as "Future Farmers" anymore, it's just "FFA." Fine and dandy. The word "agribusiness" came into vogue at one time.
So, this ag person was calling about getting lodging in connection to the famous Wulfs' sale. I went to high school with Jerry Wulf, class of '73. At one point in the phone exchange, the hospitality employee laid out options, perhaps based on whether a particular facility might be full. Mention was made of a basic motel in Morris, what one might describe as an economy option, the kind of place we saw at the end of the movie "Fargo" where the bad guy character was trying to make his escape.
Such a motel would seem quite sufficient - certainly by my standards it would be. I remember once staying in a $9 hotel room on St. Cloud's main street the night before classes would begin at St. Cloud State. Switched on the TV that night and Joey Bishop was guest-hosting "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." Me and a friend decided that such circumstances represented the epitome of being "down": "a nine-dollar hotel room and Joey Bishop."
Bishop got a bad rap as a guest host who basically underwhelmed. This was the meme anyway in Hollywood circles. He was a "rat pack" guy who was actually known as a genius comedian. He had a flair for making you laugh if you were just with him, it was said. I remember hearing the same about Jonathan Winters.
So, the agriculture guy is on the phone checking out options for accommodations for the Wulfs' "Opportunity Sale." Some quite prestigious people came for that. I heard one year, the actor who played Rocky Balboa's opponent in a movie came. He was African-American if that helps you pin down who it was.
We all revere the memory of Leonard Wulf. I remember covering the big event more than once for the Morris newspaper. And, Leonard Wulf got philosophical as he addressed the assemblage. He proclaimed that God placed the domestic animals in the world for our benefit, all a part of God's plan. Stuck me as credible.
So the ag guy on the telephone says to the hospitality receptionist that the economy motel might not be up to the desired standards of the party in question. Morris lore has it that the receptionist said "oh, it's good enough for farmers."
Well, umbrage was taken, word no doubt circulated and wheels were put in motion for Super 8 to come into being. And now we have Grandstay too. When my family first came to town, there was nothing out there. The bypass and the bike trail didn't exist either. Main street was where you went to shop. One night every week the stores would be open. It was a social occasion.
We loved dining at the old Del Monico Cafe which occupied a part of the now-vacated Thrifty White on the west side. When you stepped on the ramp there, you were entering the old Del Monico space. The Del Monico included the Colony room where the Morris Kiwanis held its meetings. I'd sit on a stool and often ordered a chocolate malt. Shorty's by the movie theater was another restaurant hangout. Pinball available. Hot beef sandwich for the noon special.
Why am I thinking of the old Super 8 story today? I guess it's social class consciousness. What prompts this? I guess it's thinking about the new City of Morris water treatment plant. I have about pulled out my hair lately focusing on this. Why hasn't the City of Morris done better communicating with the citizenry about how to respond to the plant? It seems puzzling until you realize the realities, then it's obvious.
If the City were honest it would have to say this: "The City due to the new plant can offer everyone water which is sort of decent but not perfect. We think the decent water will be good enough, or ought to be good enough, for all the common anonymous folks out there. But for the more well-to-do, well, they might want to take steps to still have ideal water. You all know who you are, what category you fall in."
So the city says nothing, and just lets us sort of fill in the blanks ourselves. A friend suggested to me that the new plant was implemented not with the basic city residents in mind, rather it has to do with the water mains and mineral residues or something like that. Also, as I learned previously and reported on this blog, the city is seeking government money to cover the cost of the plant but needs to show that the chloride level is going down in the river (polluted).
That incentive is not the same as taking care of the regular city residents and their interests, get it? You might say the residents are an afterthought in the process - we'll get by somehow as we always do. Is the water good enough now? Well it's good enough for the common folks. Maybe.
I broke down and bought a new on-demand softener a week ago. Yes, a financial drain just on the doorstep of Christmas, not an ideal thing to have happen. Yes I was upset. You can try to fight city hall but you have to roll with the punches too. Someone at McDonald's told me he had a friend who watered her plants with the new city water and the plants died.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Every "old" building has a story that begins when it was new and vigorous. Anyway, Morris lore has it there was a phone inquiry at a Morris hospitality establishment many years ago. It was from a farmer or agriculture professional. I guess FFAers don't really want to be known as "Future Farmers" anymore, it's just "FFA." Fine and dandy. The word "agribusiness" came into vogue at one time.
So, this ag person was calling about getting lodging in connection to the famous Wulfs' sale. I went to high school with Jerry Wulf, class of '73. At one point in the phone exchange, the hospitality employee laid out options, perhaps based on whether a particular facility might be full. Mention was made of a basic motel in Morris, what one might describe as an economy option, the kind of place we saw at the end of the movie "Fargo" where the bad guy character was trying to make his escape.
Such a motel would seem quite sufficient - certainly by my standards it would be. I remember once staying in a $9 hotel room on St. Cloud's main street the night before classes would begin at St. Cloud State. Switched on the TV that night and Joey Bishop was guest-hosting "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." Me and a friend decided that such circumstances represented the epitome of being "down": "a nine-dollar hotel room and Joey Bishop."
Bishop got a bad rap as a guest host who basically underwhelmed. This was the meme anyway in Hollywood circles. He was a "rat pack" guy who was actually known as a genius comedian. He had a flair for making you laugh if you were just with him, it was said. I remember hearing the same about Jonathan Winters.
So, the agriculture guy is on the phone checking out options for accommodations for the Wulfs' "Opportunity Sale." Some quite prestigious people came for that. I heard one year, the actor who played Rocky Balboa's opponent in a movie came. He was African-American if that helps you pin down who it was.
We all revere the memory of Leonard Wulf. I remember covering the big event more than once for the Morris newspaper. And, Leonard Wulf got philosophical as he addressed the assemblage. He proclaimed that God placed the domestic animals in the world for our benefit, all a part of God's plan. Stuck me as credible.
So the ag guy on the telephone says to the hospitality receptionist that the economy motel might not be up to the desired standards of the party in question. Morris lore has it that the receptionist said "oh, it's good enough for farmers."
Well, umbrage was taken, word no doubt circulated and wheels were put in motion for Super 8 to come into being. And now we have Grandstay too. When my family first came to town, there was nothing out there. The bypass and the bike trail didn't exist either. Main street was where you went to shop. One night every week the stores would be open. It was a social occasion.
We loved dining at the old Del Monico Cafe which occupied a part of the now-vacated Thrifty White on the west side. When you stepped on the ramp there, you were entering the old Del Monico space. The Del Monico included the Colony room where the Morris Kiwanis held its meetings. I'd sit on a stool and often ordered a chocolate malt. Shorty's by the movie theater was another restaurant hangout. Pinball available. Hot beef sandwich for the noon special.
Why am I thinking of the old Super 8 story today? I guess it's social class consciousness. What prompts this? I guess it's thinking about the new City of Morris water treatment plant. I have about pulled out my hair lately focusing on this. Why hasn't the City of Morris done better communicating with the citizenry about how to respond to the plant? It seems puzzling until you realize the realities, then it's obvious.
If the City were honest it would have to say this: "The City due to the new plant can offer everyone water which is sort of decent but not perfect. We think the decent water will be good enough, or ought to be good enough, for all the common anonymous folks out there. But for the more well-to-do, well, they might want to take steps to still have ideal water. You all know who you are, what category you fall in."
So the city says nothing, and just lets us sort of fill in the blanks ourselves. A friend suggested to me that the new plant was implemented not with the basic city residents in mind, rather it has to do with the water mains and mineral residues or something like that. Also, as I learned previously and reported on this blog, the city is seeking government money to cover the cost of the plant but needs to show that the chloride level is going down in the river (polluted).
That incentive is not the same as taking care of the regular city residents and their interests, get it? You might say the residents are an afterthought in the process - we'll get by somehow as we always do. Is the water good enough now? Well it's good enough for the common folks. Maybe.
I broke down and bought a new on-demand softener a week ago. Yes, a financial drain just on the doorstep of Christmas, not an ideal thing to have happen. Yes I was upset. You can try to fight city hall but you have to roll with the punches too. Someone at McDonald's told me he had a friend who watered her plants with the new city water and the plants died.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Friday, December 13, 2019
Society evolves: St. Cloud State cuts football
Some of the most significant changes in our society happen slowly. Many of these changes don't shock us once they fully become reality. There should be no confusion here: such changes happen because society comes to reason that there are new ways of doing things, looking at things. We in effect shrug.
Remember the B-52s song "Funplex" all about the wondrous place known as the USA shopping mall? Malls will stand out as a significant feature in U.S. cultural history. I happen to think they were wonderful. Because of various economic forces, they have gone into steep decline. No longer are they a chief feature of the cultural landscape. Indeed, "dead malls" are profiled in many ways for us to appreciate.
All this is a lead-in to understanding another cultural earthquake, still in development. We saw a headline Wednesday in the West Central Tribune of Willmar: "St. Cloud State cutting football." Huh? Back about eight years ago when the SCSU president floated the idea of cutting football, I wrote a blog post suggesting it was just posturing in order to get certain levers pulled for funding. That post gave me a lesson on how much reach the "blogosphere" could have. I ended up getting an email from the institution's president, the now-deceased Earl Potter.
Certainly I appreciated that my writing found a considerable number of eyeballs. I was just trying to share some sincere thoughts, albeit cynical. My interpretation was right at the time: I suggested that the "moon was more likely to fall out of the sky" than for SCSU to cut football. SCSU was this behemoth institution in Central Minnesota which in my young days attracted massive waves of boomer-generation kids to its campus.
The school developed a "party" image which sorry to say was not myth. The institution should have worked sooner to employ any means to extinguish the image. Potter had that agenda and did everything he could. So committed was he, he called for the cancellation of Homecoming. Of course, that measure itself had questionable consequences as it impressed on everyone how serious the problem had become.
I swear I never lit a dumpster on fire when I was a student there. Jerry Witt would tease me about my background there which might include some foolishness. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
For years we reacted in a spirit of levity when hearing of SCSU's reputation. Gradually we all got more serious, at the same time that society cracked down on drunk driving. Just as the shopping mall has faded, so too is our understanding of excess alcohol consumption as prompting smiles. I became an adult when society considered alcohol consumption a badge of maturity. There were always some outliers on this, of course. But the societal consensus was that any adult might blow off steam with alcohol and it was really quite permissible.
By the same token, we came to worship at the altar of football. Sorry, I never developed an interest in football at St. Cloud State. I didn't see any reason why. It didn't seem relevant to why I was there. If I were interested in college football I'd follow the Gophers on TV or radio. Why should a small college football team interest me?
We can look at our own UMM Cougars in the same way. There was a tremendous local bandwagon for UMM football here in the 1970s. The players conducted themselves with bravado like "big men on campus." You can't blame them because society was eager to show such adulation.
Let's peruse the headlines about football today. Let's see, "Catastrophic injury raises questions about whether coaches followed protocol." And, "Material for safer football helmets may reduce head injuries." Oh, "may reduce." Why such acceptance of risk for our young men who are engaged in an activity with no obvious benefit for them? To the extent they learn teamwork and discipline, these attributes could be gained in many other organized activities.
The obvious brutality of football seems to be registering with people more now. Why is the sport so dangerous that helmets are required in the first place? Consider the objective of the sport: slamming an opponent down to the ground in an obviously violent way. What does this prove? The non-head injuries have always been concerning enough. The head injuries bring in a whole new dimension.
St. Cloud State is done with the sport, thank goodness. At the same time, we learn of the U of M-Crookston taking the same step. A year ago we heard about Ridgewater of Willmar cutting football. This wave or trend would have been considered absurd to contemplate as recently as five years ago. But it is indeed a trend, belated as many trends tend to be. And it proceeds like the death of the American shopping mall and the thumbs-down on drinking culture.
Obviously some people will howl. A few years ago the howling from alums and others would cause backpedaling on these decisions. And, isn't it absolutely absurd that St. Cloud State has a still-new football stadium on campus? It opened just in 2004. What was the cost of that? Is it practical to re-purpose such a place for soccer? Will we be asking the same questions here in Morris? My, we have the still-new Big Cat Stadium. Our community was bursting its buttons when it opened.
Is it fair now to say the cancellation of UMM football is inevitable? Right around the corner? We are now being upstaged by St. Cloud State, in that the Central Minnesota party school has beaten us to the announcement. UMM is supposed to be more progressive, or at least I've always heard we attracted smarter students here.
Government and largesse are bedfellows. That spigot is always so easy to turn on. So, the war in Afghanistan was a total waste, as we're now learning! Well it was just government money. But hey, we now have to cut hundreds of thousands of people off food stamps.
SCSU is in the Minnesota State system, formerly the State University system - and why in hell was the name change necessary? - and I'm sure the whole system is in duress. It is overbuilt and sooner or later that will have to be addressed. It is overdue now. We might need something like a "base closing commission."
The salad days of the boomer generation are retired into history. There are fewer young people out there. Increasingly they look for ways to avoid accumulating oppressive college debt. They look for resources to guide them into adult life without the onerous expense of college, and I don't blame any of them.
We wish the best for our UMM, yes. Maybe UMM administration could suggest to us its timetable for ending the Neanderthal sport of football here. It's about time.
Addendum: Remember when, not long ago, the MIAC was getting shamed by the sports media for appearing to be "scared" of University of St. Thomas football? St. Thomas was perceived to be too strong and thus discouraging for the rest of the conference. So the Tommies were shown the door. Ah, shame. That's the sports media talking, an institution disconnected from the reality of what these small colleges are doing. What we realize fully now, in light of the cutting news, is that small colleges are not worried about "upgrading" or investing more in football. The colleges are grappling with the decision to CUT football! A pox on the sanctimonious sports media.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Remember the B-52s song "Funplex" all about the wondrous place known as the USA shopping mall? Malls will stand out as a significant feature in U.S. cultural history. I happen to think they were wonderful. Because of various economic forces, they have gone into steep decline. No longer are they a chief feature of the cultural landscape. Indeed, "dead malls" are profiled in many ways for us to appreciate.
All this is a lead-in to understanding another cultural earthquake, still in development. We saw a headline Wednesday in the West Central Tribune of Willmar: "St. Cloud State cutting football." Huh? Back about eight years ago when the SCSU president floated the idea of cutting football, I wrote a blog post suggesting it was just posturing in order to get certain levers pulled for funding. That post gave me a lesson on how much reach the "blogosphere" could have. I ended up getting an email from the institution's president, the now-deceased Earl Potter.
Certainly I appreciated that my writing found a considerable number of eyeballs. I was just trying to share some sincere thoughts, albeit cynical. My interpretation was right at the time: I suggested that the "moon was more likely to fall out of the sky" than for SCSU to cut football. SCSU was this behemoth institution in Central Minnesota which in my young days attracted massive waves of boomer-generation kids to its campus.
The school developed a "party" image which sorry to say was not myth. The institution should have worked sooner to employ any means to extinguish the image. Potter had that agenda and did everything he could. So committed was he, he called for the cancellation of Homecoming. Of course, that measure itself had questionable consequences as it impressed on everyone how serious the problem had become.
I swear I never lit a dumpster on fire when I was a student there. Jerry Witt would tease me about my background there which might include some foolishness. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
For years we reacted in a spirit of levity when hearing of SCSU's reputation. Gradually we all got more serious, at the same time that society cracked down on drunk driving. Just as the shopping mall has faded, so too is our understanding of excess alcohol consumption as prompting smiles. I became an adult when society considered alcohol consumption a badge of maturity. There were always some outliers on this, of course. But the societal consensus was that any adult might blow off steam with alcohol and it was really quite permissible.
By the same token, we came to worship at the altar of football. Sorry, I never developed an interest in football at St. Cloud State. I didn't see any reason why. It didn't seem relevant to why I was there. If I were interested in college football I'd follow the Gophers on TV or radio. Why should a small college football team interest me?
We can look at our own UMM Cougars in the same way. There was a tremendous local bandwagon for UMM football here in the 1970s. The players conducted themselves with bravado like "big men on campus." You can't blame them because society was eager to show such adulation.
Let's peruse the headlines about football today. Let's see, "Catastrophic injury raises questions about whether coaches followed protocol." And, "Material for safer football helmets may reduce head injuries." Oh, "may reduce." Why such acceptance of risk for our young men who are engaged in an activity with no obvious benefit for them? To the extent they learn teamwork and discipline, these attributes could be gained in many other organized activities.
The obvious brutality of football seems to be registering with people more now. Why is the sport so dangerous that helmets are required in the first place? Consider the objective of the sport: slamming an opponent down to the ground in an obviously violent way. What does this prove? The non-head injuries have always been concerning enough. The head injuries bring in a whole new dimension.
St. Cloud State is done with the sport, thank goodness. At the same time, we learn of the U of M-Crookston taking the same step. A year ago we heard about Ridgewater of Willmar cutting football. This wave or trend would have been considered absurd to contemplate as recently as five years ago. But it is indeed a trend, belated as many trends tend to be. And it proceeds like the death of the American shopping mall and the thumbs-down on drinking culture.
Obviously some people will howl. A few years ago the howling from alums and others would cause backpedaling on these decisions. And, isn't it absolutely absurd that St. Cloud State has a still-new football stadium on campus? It opened just in 2004. What was the cost of that? Is it practical to re-purpose such a place for soccer? Will we be asking the same questions here in Morris? My, we have the still-new Big Cat Stadium. Our community was bursting its buttons when it opened.
Is it fair now to say the cancellation of UMM football is inevitable? Right around the corner? We are now being upstaged by St. Cloud State, in that the Central Minnesota party school has beaten us to the announcement. UMM is supposed to be more progressive, or at least I've always heard we attracted smarter students here.
Government and largesse are bedfellows. That spigot is always so easy to turn on. So, the war in Afghanistan was a total waste, as we're now learning! Well it was just government money. But hey, we now have to cut hundreds of thousands of people off food stamps.
SCSU is in the Minnesota State system, formerly the State University system - and why in hell was the name change necessary? - and I'm sure the whole system is in duress. It is overbuilt and sooner or later that will have to be addressed. It is overdue now. We might need something like a "base closing commission."
The salad days of the boomer generation are retired into history. There are fewer young people out there. Increasingly they look for ways to avoid accumulating oppressive college debt. They look for resources to guide them into adult life without the onerous expense of college, and I don't blame any of them.
We wish the best for our UMM, yes. Maybe UMM administration could suggest to us its timetable for ending the Neanderthal sport of football here. It's about time.
Addendum: Remember when, not long ago, the MIAC was getting shamed by the sports media for appearing to be "scared" of University of St. Thomas football? St. Thomas was perceived to be too strong and thus discouraging for the rest of the conference. So the Tommies were shown the door. Ah, shame. That's the sports media talking, an institution disconnected from the reality of what these small colleges are doing. What we realize fully now, in light of the cutting news, is that small colleges are not worried about "upgrading" or investing more in football. The colleges are grappling with the decision to CUT football! A pox on the sanctimonious sports media.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Minnewaska wrestlers No. 1 at Big Lake
They lived up to the lofty status Friday in the Big Lake Invitational. It was a big ten-team affair and it saw the 'Waska boys prevailing. They came on really strong in the weight classes of 152 and higher. They took the team title with their score of 214.5. The host big Lake squad was No. 2 (184). Then came Albany (150.5), Minnetonka (137) and KMS (111).
The "little guy," Nick Ankeny at 106 pounds, went 2-2 for a fifth place showing. Hunter Laage occupied 113 pounds and he went 0-3 but was awarded sixth. Mason Schiffler vied at 120 pounds and he had an 0-2 day. Then at 126 pounds, Jacob Blair carried the banner for 'Waska and he went 2-1 for second place.
Easton McCrory vied at 132 pounds and he picked up a third place showing at 3-1. David Lilienthal was the 138-pound warrior and came out on the short end in two bouts. Mason Blair was the Laker 152-pounder and he garnered champion honors at 3-0.
As we get into the heavier weights, the Lakers really bore down to excel. Max Reichmann went 3-0 to pick up his champion honor at 160 pounds. Ryan VanLuik turned back all challengers for No. 1 at 170. Tyson Meyer had a 3-0 day for No. 1 at 182 pounds. Tyler VanLuik garnered No. 1 with his 2-0 showing at 195. Dylan Jergenson took the crown with his three wins at 220.
"Big guy" Jakob Swalla was No. 1 in his weight with three wins (285 pounds). Congrats to the surging Lakers of Minnewaska Area.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Monday, December 9, 2019
Who to listen to, in regard to our softeners?
It is not my intent to come off as some sort of populist railing against "city hall." I have viewed the city as being more or less innocuous through my years in Motown. Recently I gradually developed the sense that the city was at least confusing us relative to the big step of having the new water treatment plant constructed.
The big non-descript building is pretty visible to the many joggers, walkers and bicyclists just east of the city. The building appears to be causing complications for people now. At the very least, the City of Morris has not been communicating well enough. And in cases where communication is clearly insufficient, maybe something more troubling is happening underneath.
As always we must look at motivations. Government mandates, perhaps? The mayor tells me "the state deemed it appropriate to pay for approximately two-thirds of our water treatment system to eliminate or drastically reduce the chloride outflow to the Pomme de Terre River. If those numbers don't come down, and I'm pretty serious about this, we will need to enforce, and be sure that people are following the rules about water softeners and their salt usage."
When government gets "very serious," I guess we all need to drop what we're doing. One city official in remarks to me acted like he wanted no association with the newspaper article Tuesday about this. The article's language jumped out at me as I sensed an onerous tone. Might something like "the Gestapo" be coming after us, if we're still using our old water softeners? And I ask again: How old is old? When you get legal about all this, as the mayor is projecting, you'd better come forward with specifics.
The mayor shared concern with me about what some water quality companies are charging for a simple visit. The mayor's "anger" isn't going to resolve the issue.
I thought at the start of all this, or I assumed, that the city would have people ready to send out in an official capacity, to make sure we'd do the right thing. Otherwise we are at the mercy of the water quality companies which our esteemed mayor seems to feel might have predatory inclinations. There's a crux of the problem: the City of Morris vs. the private water quality companies.
At present I have purchased an on-demand water softener and I had mixed feelings at the time of installation. The cost was $1500 for which I could have bought many sacks of salt, as I told the city manager. I don't wish to suggest any less than virtuous motives by anyone involved in this process. But there are clearly contradictions. I'm inclined to wrinkle my forehead as I review the first sentence of an email I received from the city manager a few days ago. "I'm not sure what to tell you."
If I can't get background of an authoritative nature from this source, I'm rather agitated. The city manager continued: "If the Eco Water person told you that you couldn't get by without a new softener, that was not correct. It was a sales pitch."
Wow, so unequivocal and finger-pointing. Now we're getting into "controversy" territory. Might the water quality company consider a lawsuit based on this clear aspersion? Well, I subsequently called the water quality company in a frame of mind to be confrontational with them, the type of thing I am not inclined to do. I got a very passionate person on the other end of the phone who struck me as credible and sincere. She gave me her name and told me to call back if I had any more questions or concerns.
Right now my "gut" is telling me to trust this company and that person, rather than the city. That's unfortunate.
I'm suspicious about something else in the email I received from the city manager. Here goes: "Two city council members have disconnected their softeners." Really? If the city is so unreservedly telling everyone to just disconnect their softeners, why have only two council members chosen to do this? We can't resist thinking that the city is just desperate to get the chloride levels down, never mind that some issues might be created for homeowners.
The city won't take responsibility for the newspaper article that suggested the Gestapo might be coming. The paper is not part of government, it is a private business that makes money selling advertising. It's probably best to disregard the newspaper and go straight to people within the City of Morris. They are the ones responsible for confusing us so far.
If it was such a total no-brainer for everyone to just disconnect their softener, why didn't they just start yelling this from the rooftop some time ago? Then I would have just asked a water quality company to come to my house and disconnect, and could disregard any opinions they might want to have. Or to use the city manager's words, the "sales pitch."
People in government must be careful about disparaging local private businesses. The businesses have more incentive to be responsible than the government. So why isn't the city shouting from the rooftop as it were? It would make so much sense. And the newspaper should not carry the mantle with this, it should be the city itself.
Maybe the city has legal counsel advising that the government not give such a clear-cut directive as to ditch your softener. Maybe there's a legal risk because if people notice water quality problems - something which the water quality companies seem to be assuming will happen - people will allege being misled. Water quality is quite connected to our quality of life. We have dishwashers, showers, hot water heaters etc. If you have "perfect" water now, as I was told my family did, do you want to risk being dropped down a notch or two? Are you ready for those consequences, really?
As I went through my process of confusion, I had a Kinetico rep come and do absolutely nothing. He merely said we had an old softener and he couldn't properly evaluate it. That was it. And then I paid him about $100. And I was ready to stand pat with doing nothing until I saw the newspaper article with such sharp and threatening language. This is no way for the City of Morris to deal with its constituents.
I blogged on this topic Saturday on on my companion "Morris of Course" site. This morning I was pleased to get some feedback from a treasured friend, a Central Minnesota newspaper publisher. He writes:
So greatly enjoyed your work - "work" that should have been what the newspaper folks write in your town - on the water treatment issues in Morris. I am sitting here just dumbfounded - here in tiny Brooten we are in a house with no water softener. Our water heater is 38 years old and still working like a charm (as best as a 1981 model could work). We did replace a coil 4 years ago and it is cranking out hot water like no one's business. Our portable dish washer did bite it about a year ago, and we can be sure it is because we have no water softener. So we're back to manually washing dishes (something my 8 year old daughter does with ease). I cannot imagine the bull s--t that was in that "news" article. I have no idea why the water treatment in Brooten would be superior to what you have in Morris. It would behoove a newspaper crew in your town to do some research on that issue!
I responded to my friend by reporting on what it's like these days with my online journalism. Here's a portion from my perspective:
Below is a link to my "Morris of Course" post of Saturday re. the water treatment plant. Happy holidays and Merry Christmas to all!
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
The big non-descript building is pretty visible to the many joggers, walkers and bicyclists just east of the city. The building appears to be causing complications for people now. At the very least, the City of Morris has not been communicating well enough. And in cases where communication is clearly insufficient, maybe something more troubling is happening underneath.
As always we must look at motivations. Government mandates, perhaps? The mayor tells me "the state deemed it appropriate to pay for approximately two-thirds of our water treatment system to eliminate or drastically reduce the chloride outflow to the Pomme de Terre River. If those numbers don't come down, and I'm pretty serious about this, we will need to enforce, and be sure that people are following the rules about water softeners and their salt usage."
When government gets "very serious," I guess we all need to drop what we're doing. One city official in remarks to me acted like he wanted no association with the newspaper article Tuesday about this. The article's language jumped out at me as I sensed an onerous tone. Might something like "the Gestapo" be coming after us, if we're still using our old water softeners? And I ask again: How old is old? When you get legal about all this, as the mayor is projecting, you'd better come forward with specifics.
The mayor shared concern with me about what some water quality companies are charging for a simple visit. The mayor's "anger" isn't going to resolve the issue.
I thought at the start of all this, or I assumed, that the city would have people ready to send out in an official capacity, to make sure we'd do the right thing. Otherwise we are at the mercy of the water quality companies which our esteemed mayor seems to feel might have predatory inclinations. There's a crux of the problem: the City of Morris vs. the private water quality companies.
At present I have purchased an on-demand water softener and I had mixed feelings at the time of installation. The cost was $1500 for which I could have bought many sacks of salt, as I told the city manager. I don't wish to suggest any less than virtuous motives by anyone involved in this process. But there are clearly contradictions. I'm inclined to wrinkle my forehead as I review the first sentence of an email I received from the city manager a few days ago. "I'm not sure what to tell you."
If I can't get background of an authoritative nature from this source, I'm rather agitated. The city manager continued: "If the Eco Water person told you that you couldn't get by without a new softener, that was not correct. It was a sales pitch."
Wow, so unequivocal and finger-pointing. Now we're getting into "controversy" territory. Might the water quality company consider a lawsuit based on this clear aspersion? Well, I subsequently called the water quality company in a frame of mind to be confrontational with them, the type of thing I am not inclined to do. I got a very passionate person on the other end of the phone who struck me as credible and sincere. She gave me her name and told me to call back if I had any more questions or concerns.
Right now my "gut" is telling me to trust this company and that person, rather than the city. That's unfortunate.
I'm suspicious about something else in the email I received from the city manager. Here goes: "Two city council members have disconnected their softeners." Really? If the city is so unreservedly telling everyone to just disconnect their softeners, why have only two council members chosen to do this? We can't resist thinking that the city is just desperate to get the chloride levels down, never mind that some issues might be created for homeowners.
The city won't take responsibility for the newspaper article that suggested the Gestapo might be coming. The paper is not part of government, it is a private business that makes money selling advertising. It's probably best to disregard the newspaper and go straight to people within the City of Morris. They are the ones responsible for confusing us so far.
If it was such a total no-brainer for everyone to just disconnect their softener, why didn't they just start yelling this from the rooftop some time ago? Then I would have just asked a water quality company to come to my house and disconnect, and could disregard any opinions they might want to have. Or to use the city manager's words, the "sales pitch."
People in government must be careful about disparaging local private businesses. The businesses have more incentive to be responsible than the government. So why isn't the city shouting from the rooftop as it were? It would make so much sense. And the newspaper should not carry the mantle with this, it should be the city itself.
Maybe the city has legal counsel advising that the government not give such a clear-cut directive as to ditch your softener. Maybe there's a legal risk because if people notice water quality problems - something which the water quality companies seem to be assuming will happen - people will allege being misled. Water quality is quite connected to our quality of life. We have dishwashers, showers, hot water heaters etc. If you have "perfect" water now, as I was told my family did, do you want to risk being dropped down a notch or two? Are you ready for those consequences, really?
As I went through my process of confusion, I had a Kinetico rep come and do absolutely nothing. He merely said we had an old softener and he couldn't properly evaluate it. That was it. And then I paid him about $100. And I was ready to stand pat with doing nothing until I saw the newspaper article with such sharp and threatening language. This is no way for the City of Morris to deal with its constituents.
I blogged on this topic Saturday on on my companion "Morris of Course" site. This morning I was pleased to get some feedback from a treasured friend, a Central Minnesota newspaper publisher. He writes:
So greatly enjoyed your work - "work" that should have been what the newspaper folks write in your town - on the water treatment issues in Morris. I am sitting here just dumbfounded - here in tiny Brooten we are in a house with no water softener. Our water heater is 38 years old and still working like a charm (as best as a 1981 model could work). We did replace a coil 4 years ago and it is cranking out hot water like no one's business. Our portable dish washer did bite it about a year ago, and we can be sure it is because we have no water softener. So we're back to manually washing dishes (something my 8 year old daughter does with ease). I cannot imagine the bull s--t that was in that "news" article. I have no idea why the water treatment in Brooten would be superior to what you have in Morris. It would behoove a newspaper crew in your town to do some research on that issue!
I responded to my friend by reporting on what it's like these days with my online journalism. Here's a portion from my perspective:
One of my best local "tipsters" on community news has
decided he should put some distance with me. The background: I wrote
skeptical views of UMM's "40-year anniversary" of the "UMM concert
choir" and my concern was that my father directed the choir program
prior to that. My view is that my father ran the program within a nice
limited budget but then certain people wanted it to have more of a
flourish, traveling etc., and my father was near retirement anyway. So
he took early retirement in 1978 and had a long and very happy
retirement. Everyone should be so fortunate as my parents, as to have
such long and comfortable retirements. The choir director who succeeded
my father of course wants to blow his own horn now. No conflict with
him, actually he sang with the choir in the funerals for both my
parents.
Interesting:
I gave $25,000 as a memorial for both my parents to benefit UMM music,
and now some of the people close to that program are ostracizing
me. I was never a good fit with UMM, and that just continues now.
My
father way back in 1960 was instrumental in even getting UMM going. He
took the men's chorus to the 1962 Seattle World's Fair where it opened
the Minnesota Day program, so he had quite a career. You should see his
scrapbook from the 1950s.
I enjoyed working in "PDQ Bach" with my recent writing! All his stuff is of course on YouTube now.
Again, thanks. I regret that I have developed a skeptical, cynical view of our City of Morris now.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Four 3's by MacKenna Kehoe in 71-33 win
The complexion of the game was fully set by halftime. Coach Dale Henrich had to be smiling halfway through as his team was up 41-14. We outscored the Falcons 30-19 in the second half. The success pushed our record to 2-1.
Scoring balance was a feature for the orange and black. Malory Anderson topped our list with 19 points. MacKenna Kehoe thrilled with three-point shooting as she made four such shots. She was second-high in scoring with 13 points. Then came LaRae Kram with 12 points and Emma Bowman with 11. Three other Tigers put points in: Kylie Swanson (8), Kendra Wevley (6) and Meredith Carrington (2). Bowman made a 3-pointer.
Diamond Picotte was a bright spot for the host Falcons as she scored 14 points including three 3-pointers. She was the only Falcon to make a '3'. There wasn't much productivity to back up Picotte. Jeana Denton scored six points, Shayna Hobson five, and Rachel Wilner and Daniela Parker four each. Hobson worked the boards to collect seven rebounds. Denton picked up five assists. Hobson and Wilner each had three steals. Denton and Hobson each had a blocked shot.
Boys hockey: Storm 6, W-DC 0
Boys hockey had an upbeat showing for MBA on Tuesday. The MBA cause picked up a 6-0 triumph over Wadena-Deer Creek. Chase Engebretson worked capably in goal and picked up 30 saves. Fans of the Storm enjoyed this shutout success at our Lee Center.
We gained momentum as the game progressed as we scored one goal in the first period, two in the second and three in the third.
It was Jack Riley getting our scoring going with the first period goal at 15:32. Tyler Buss assisted. Zach Bruns got into the scoring picture in the second period. Bruns scored a power play goal at 7:34 with an assist from Will Breuer. Then it was Riley scoring again to make the score 3-0. This Riley goal came at 14:27 and had Bruns assisting.
The first of our three third period goals was by Brady DeHaan and it had Matthew Tolifson assisting at 1:07. Then it was Riley putting the puck in the net unassisted at 8:56. Riley scored our last goal which was at 11:42, assisted by Breuer and Bruns. Josh Dykhoff was the W-DC goalie and he had 29 saves in 35 attempts.
Boys hoops: 'Waska 57, Tigers 43
The season opener brought defeat for the MACA hoops boys versus Minnewaska Area. This was the Lakers' second game of the season. Both have ended in wins. The Thursday story was a 57-43 win for the 'Waska crew. 'Waska enjoyed a 15-point bulge at halftime with the score 35-20.
Three of our Tigers each made one three-point shot: Durgin Decker, Brandon Jergenson and Cameron Koebernick. Our offense was rather anemic with just one Tiger scoring in double figures: Jackson Loge with 13 points. It's pretty thin after that with the rest of the list as follows: Decker (6), Jergenson (5), Koebernick (5), Toby Gonnerman (5), Cade Fehr (4) and Riley Reimers (2). Note: These individual totals are from the West Central Tribune and they add up to 40 points, not the team total 43.
Loge had the team-best nine rebounds. Three Tigers each produced two assists: Jaden Maanum, Jergenson and Gonnerman. Jergenson and Gonnerman each had a steal, and Loge blocked three shots.
'Waska's offense was powered to a large extent by Grant Jensen who scored 22 points. Aaron Ver Steeg scored 12 points and Peyton Johnsrud 11. The list continues with Brady Hoffman (6), Drew Nelson (3) and Luke Barkeim (3). Nelson, Ver Steeg and Barkeim each connected for a '3'.
Ver Steeg and Sam Hested each had six rebounds. Johnsrud and Jensen each had two assists. Hested and Barkeim each had two steals. Hoffman blocked three shots.
A pickle with water treatment plant
We're tempted to scratch heads, I feel based on experience, with how to react to the development with the City of Morris water treatment plant. Hard to know what to make of it all. Would be so simple if everyone just got the word: "Hey, just unplug your softener." Then either do it yourself, if the procedure seems obvious, or have the "water treatment professionals" come but they wouldn't have the option of selling you something expensive. Or just confusing you.
The Tuesday Morris paper was a problem because the words in the front page article were so sharp, ominous and maybe even threatening. If you have an old softener and just decide to sit on it a while, well I guess you'll get in legal trouble.
I pulled some strings and tried to address my own situation. But I ended up rather upset and sent a lengthy email to a city official, who I won't specify here. But I will share the email. Read, because all this could be relevant to you sometime soon.
Hello (name withheld):
I'd just like to communicate on the water
treatment plant and the burden it's imposing on lots of people. I am
quite sure there are many Morris residents who have "old" water
softeners. At my house, my parents had ours installed and I can't tell
you when it was put in. There is nothing wrong with old equipment or
assets if they work well.
I
think maybe the City could have communicated better about the kind of
obligations people were going to have, due to the new plant. I have felt
considerable confusion. I remember several months ago getting a
postcard that had the look of an official government communication, oh
but it was from Culligan. I thought it was deceptive. The card said
they'd be happy to come and inspect and they could do this with any make
of softener.
I have
nothing against private business but of course it has incentive to make
money. Our softener was Kinetico. I say "was" because yesterday I had a
new one put in by Eco Water. Although I did not like this whole process,
I give a grade of A-plus to Eco Water, very nice and professional
people.
Why did I finally
act? Well, it was because of that front page newspaper article with a
very ominous, almost threatening tone, about how people with old
softeners would be "in violation of the law." Sheesh. So, is the city
going to send people with law enforcement credentials around? Really?
Just because some people might not want to immediately shell out four or
five thousand dollars for a new softener?
It
is condescending for the City or the newspaper to preach about how
great it will be to not have to buy so much salt. Granted, but you'll
have to buy a new softener for a considerable sum. I told Blaine Hill I
could buy a lot of salt sacks for the $1500 I spent on the new softener.
The only reason I spent as little as $1500 is that I told Eco Water
that I live alone and don't use much water. I got to thinking later:
what if I suddenly marry a divorcee with four kids, well that would
surely change things. You smile but I'm making a serious point. I guess
I'll have to rule out getting married now.
The
newspaper is not part of the City of Morris. We shouldn't have to rely
on any newspaper articles. If the water treatment plant is a city
project, with consequences for all of us, the City should communicate
comprehensively from the get-go.
Let
me review: at the start I asked Mohr Plumbing if they might inspect our
softener. This was when I arranged for my annual fall furnace check.
They said no and this is understandable. What if a company were to tell a
resident that they don't need a softener anymore, and then in a few
months that resident's hot water heater went to hell, and there's
evidence that the water wasn't that good after all? The resident could
sue.
I had a Kinetico rep
come one day, cost $100. He looked at the softener and said it was too
old for him to really evaluate. He was non-commitall about what to do so I
finally suggested I just leave everything as is. He did not dispute
that. Later when the Eco Water people were here, they said a new
Kinetico softener would have cost about $6000. Oh, and they have a name
for Culligan: "Call again" (for the allegedly bad service).
So
I stood pat without doing anything for a while, until I saw that cotton
pickin' front page newspaper article with the legal threat. So I called
Eco Water and at first I thought maybe they could just disconnect the
softener. That's what I asked for. Their service visit was going to be
"free" and that should have been a red flag. When the guy got here I
asked if the water would be good enough with the softener simply
unhooked, and he said no, and he cited potential problems with the hot
water heater. I have had to deal with the hot water heater being
replaced in the past - no picnic.
Well,
everything developed just the way I should have feared, with me in a
position of simply having to get a new softener. And I feel no
consolation having to "buy less salt." In my case, my checkbook could
handle the obligation but not everyone would be so fortunate.
If
I were the type of person who never looked at the paper, I might not
even know about the water treatment plant. Is the City ready to punish
people who simply may not know what's going on?
I
really wish I could have just had the softener unhooked - that was the
most desirable resolution. I would be very surprised if the City doesn't
start getting a lot of complaints about this.
Click on the link below to read a full post I wrote today on the City of Morris water treatment plant and confusion it has caused. This post is on my "Morris of Course" companion blog, and as always thanks for reading.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
So many fine years of music at UMM
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| Edson today (KMRS-KKOK image) |
It doesn't seem UMM is much disposed to doing encores today. Today, one notices that the estimated length of the concert, e.g. 50 minutes, is announced in advance. Not sure why that's necessary except maybe to impress on people to plan on whether they should fully empty their bladder first. Kinda kidding on that.
A recorded voice advises us on how to make a quick escape in case of disaster. I have seen concert programs with a notice on how we ought to suppress coughing, and I think that's rather limiting for some people. All of this is in the proper spirit of course, and in line with today's highly regulated society with the endless i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed.
Edson Hall was a real focus for campus activity in the days before the HFA. I used to type the name of the latter as "HFAC" to denote "Humanities Fine Arts Center." Then in the course of my newspaper work, someone was incredulous about that and asserted, as if it were obvious, that it should be just "HFA." Eventually I found old memorabilia from when the building was inaugurated. The literature had "HFAC." So perhaps I'm not such an idiot.
The Edson Hall salad days coincided with the old "P.E. Annex" being a hub also, including for basketball games in the days before the P.E. Center. The Annex building was considered a big deal when it was first built for the antecedent WCSA. But as we got into the 1960s, time had to take a toll on the building's image, indeed. I am reminded of the old Annex when I see the basketball scenes in the Fred MacMurray "Flubber" movies.
The games at our Annex were memorable, and the times overall were memorable. UMM had to fight early-on for its very existence. I think the institution was blessed having someone with my father's credentials come here for the launch. I don't think that's bragging, I think it's true. He already had a terrific resume before coming here. Having now had time to go through scrapbook material and memorabilia, I am even more impressed.
Any successful composer can taste immortality in a way because the music goes on being performed. I was excited in the early years of the Internet to discover various compositions of my father being performed at churches around the U.S. Battle Creek MI. Allentown PA. A church showcased a tune for Easter Sunday.
I don't wish to emphasize too much the men's chorus chapter of UMM history. Granted it's significant in terms of the attention gained for UMM. And granted the group was thrilling to hear, a given. Their renditions were powerful at Edson Auditorium, over and over. Ah, "John Henry."
But given all that, we must acknowledge that from today's perspective, a men-only ensemble has question marks for propriety. My father who grew up in the hardscrabble 1930s would probably need to be schooled on rising standards of "political correctness."
Trotting out the men's chorus in our retrospective here might cause one to overlook the other significant vocal groups. At the outset, my father organized the University choir, band, orchestra, men's chorus and chamber singers. Quite the full plate and one in which the men's ensemble was just part of the mix. It was a high-profile part as demonstrated when it opened the Minnesota Day program at the 1962 New York World's Fair. The recruiting value of this was not just for the overall fair crowd which was from all over. The recruiting value from that standpoint alone would be limited. UMM was joined that day by other musical groups from around Minnesota. Musicians became most aware of UMM and what our music offered.
I'm sure the University choir was the equivalent of today's UMM concert choir. Sometimes we see promos of UMM music wherein we can easily get the impression that UMM vocal music - heck, maybe the whole music department - began in 1979. Well, 1979 was quite far down the road from where UMM started. And, from where UMM music started.
Everything evolves. My very use of the "UMM" initials might show I'm (again?) missing the boat. It seems that "UMN Morris" has taken over. I hope "UMM" will always pass muster.
My father first visited the local campus way back in 1928. Babe Ruth was in his prime. Wouldn't it be the next year when the great stock market crash happened? So in 1928, when my father performed in the district music contest at the auditorium later to be named Edson, the "roaring '20s" were on. He was a young man from Glenwood, son of Martin and Carrie Williams who I never met. Martin died young of cancer in 1933. Carrie passed on in 1949.
My father returned to our campus in 1931 to play a trumpet solo with the West Central Minnesota Symphonic Orchestra. This performance was at the then-new gymnasium which later got the "Annex" name. He was quoted saying that by the standards of 1931, the Annex building was considered quite top-notch. I remember that in my days with the newspaper, I covered the opening of a time capsule from the place. Today the grand science buildings occupy the spot, dwarfing what was once there.
My father got his baccalaureate and master's degrees in education from the University of Minnesota. His undergraduate degree was in 1939. He had a most interesting story to tell from the 1940 Armistice Day blizzard. This is a reason I once wrote a song about the famous blizzard. Betty Waage had a story about the blizzard in Morris, published in a book.
The years 1941 and '42 saw my father teach at Washington High School in Brainerd MN. Should I assume it was one academic year? When interviewed for the job, the school board asked him if he was prepared for a long-term commitment. My father, thinking on his feet, pulled out a pair of rolled-up socks from his pocket, held them up and said "I'm prepared to stay!" And he actually might have stayed longer but there was a complication: World War II. He joined the Navy as gunnery officer.
We won the war and then Dad got back to music, teaching at the U of M St. Paul School of Agriculture. Such schools were heading into the home stretch of their existence. The need was diminishing as we saw here in Morris with the phasing out of our WCSA. I personally have memories of the St. Paul days as I was in pre-school.
We came to Morris thanks to WCSA Dean Rodney Briggs, and I started kindergarten.
A lament, surely
I probably didn't attend any of my father's concerts after about the fifth grade. Probably that's because I had self-esteem issues that made me feel embarrassed and awkward to be at any public place. Being at UMM would put me around people so brilliant, people so much more brilliant than me. Maybe I could blame school where I was put on the defensive and scared constantly, scared of failure and humiliation.
I had social anxiety disorder to the point where I had a hard time acquiring clothes. I wore hand-me-downs and clothes that were one or two sizes too small. I don't think alternative schools existed then. Maybe I should have gone to some sort of reform school and most certainly, be put on behavior medications, full dose or even more than full dose.
Yes I sound here like the Robert Stack character at the end of "Airplane": "I was never happy as a child, Striker."
Oh to go back in time and put aside so many of the anxieties. To not care if a teacher yelled at me or kicked me out of class for some reason. What's the worst that could happen? They couldn't execute me, could they? I should have been happy being an extension of my parents' careers and identities, to help them in any manner possible and to exude pride as a Williams. School in the industrial age beat kids down, sucked pride out of them. A real shame.
We the Williamses were "in the arena." That position can bring incredible ups and downs for anyone. We wouldn't want it any other way, would we? So when UMM implies that its vocal music program didn't begin until 1979, as it has clearly done, even fooling Garrison Keillor who is not stupid I assure you, it's sort of a "down" for my father and his memory.
We all have to take some bad with the good, n'est-ce pas? Oh to have all of life be composed of "ups." The stuff of our dreams only. I sit here alone in our family's house, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, being reminded of times past both in connection to UMM and personally. And on the whole it's most gratifying. So feel the peace on Earth.
Addendum: My father had to feel like he was "living a dream" as virtually the only music faculty in UMM's first year. OK, "UMN Morris." He had already been through such exciting chapters of his music life, among them directing the heralded Minneapolis Apollo Club male chorus. (There's that gender exclusivity again. Sigh.) I have found some old concert programs in our house from UMM's first year. Such a comprehensive music program, such exciting concerts! And Dad ran the whole show! Eventually of course UMM spread its wings and the landscape changed, getting only better. We saw the jazz program develop under Jim Carlson. There was jazz before and after that, but no one would dispute Carlson's distinctive stamp. He sang in my father's men's chorus for the Seattle trip.
Addendum No. 2: I did not have the opportunity to try to out-bid Helen Jane Morrison on the Edson Auditorium improvement project. That would have been an interesting proposition. Helen Jane has aged so gracefully. She and her late husband Ed were ground floor people with UMM too. They were newspaper mavens.
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| (image from "behance") |
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