Whither school days for 2020?

There is disarray in how school should be approached for fall. We can flail away some on this matter, as we're in June. The discord can be kept in the background. But June gives way to July and then August, at which time we could expect pre-season sports workouts and scrimmages. What are the odds of having normal sports seasons? Many people are probably more interested in this than the schoolroom stuff. 
I have seen baseball action resume locally. I can see the ballfield from where I live on Northridge Drive. 
We make note of the contradictions and confusion in the policies adopted to reduce risk of virus spreading. Some humor has been gotten from it. We can be a little lackadaisical here in Morris because there is no eruption of the health menace. Apparently it's negligible so far. 
Was in DeToy's Restaurant this morning (Sunday) and it was basically normal. Perhaps the turnout was a little less because in-person church has not resumed - the restaurant is a destination for after-church, I gather. Still, the place seemed pretty "alive" this a.m. I would not have guessed that restraint was called for. People were "themselves," pretty cheery and uninhibited. Coffee was free in honor of  someone's birthday. Guy's name was Randy. Well, happy birthday Randy.
We feel relieved every time we sense a "normal" routine these days. This is why the impatient states of the U.S. wanted to "open up": we were so frustrated and sad having restrictions imposed. Was it a case of just wanting to feel denial? Was it a case of just wanting to "roll the dice?" To roll the dice recklessly, in fact? Was it determination to follow Donald Trump's attitude about the whole thing? 
Oh, people have a right to their opinions. I have been flabbergasted at the reverence shown by so many toward Trump. Repeating the reasons for my umbrage would be futile now. His followers cannot be deterred. And there are so many here in the rural Seventh Congressional District. 
Today we learn the president shared or promoted a video of someone shouting "white power!" We suspected right along that Trump was a racist. His stance is most surely overt now. 
We got the revelation that Russia paid a bounty to the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers. If Trump knew about this and did nothing, he should be impeached (again) immediately. If he did not know, that is a scandal in itself - it would show that Trump is not commander in chief. 
 
So, what about school?
Closer to home, what is school going to look like, once we get to August and really have to start making decisions? A check of the news indicates there is discord on this, really all over. A Hancock parent friend of mine talked about three options A, B and C. Option A is fully normal in-person school. B is the hybrid thing and C is remote learning. Nice to have choices, but they are so wildly disparate. 
My friend showed a parent's wisdom in her befuddlement over option B: if in-person schooling is practical some of the time, why would it not be practical full-time? Risk is risk. 
Defining the nature of risk is a real poser now. We should have reached a consensus on masks by now. Instead we allow disagreement. Mike Pence talks about personal freedom ingrained in the Constitution - amen and hallelujah - but certainly the law allows for measures deemed essential for protecting health and safety. Isn't the Trump crowd pretty "pro-life?" 
Did you get that mailer from a Republican congressional candidate last week? It was one of those slickly-produced full-color cards - why not just simple text? "Tell us what you stand for." Anyway, this dude who I had not heard of before had "pro-life" as a chief priority. Is that what you deem a chief priority now in your lives, with all that is going on? Abortion is, and always has been a troubling and complicated issue, but it seems impractical to think of ever outlawing it. Besides, wealthy Republicans could no doubt still have a discreet back-door way of getting an abortion for their mistress. 
Pence talks about the primacy of individual freedoms as if these must be promoted even with hazardous consequences to many: spreading of the virus. Did you see this headline last week: how the virus is spreading in new and surprising ways across parts of the country? It has invaded the red states bastion of the Trump voter. Premature openings have laid bare the fallacious arguments of the Trump people. 
It's too late now, but an aggressive Federal response from the very beginning, even with some abridgement of personal freedom, could have contained this thing so we'd be closer to moving on. The Federal government has power to coordinate and support such an effort that the states do not have. But we saw Trump insist from the start that the ball was in the court of the states. Then he could pounce on various Democratic governors. Isn't that inspiring? 
The depressing norm pushes on and on. I cringe to turn on cable TV news yet again today (Sunday) and find the wheels spinning as usual: outrageous behavior and leadership by the president and his Republican sycophants, but no levers being pulled to rein it in. The sycophantic behavior is a truly astonishing phenomenon. 
Democrats and cable program hosts are not inhibited in pointing out the horrible dysfunction, but what does one accomplish by listening to this day after day after day? The Republicans have the primary power and they are not giving an inch. They respond to the critics with overt disrespect, even mocking. It becomes like "noise" over an extended time - no constructive responses. 
Let me share my assessment about school for fall: we have been seeing quotes from school administrators who have their own self-interest for getting school going "as usual." They know full well that when school drifts away from the standard setting in buildings, the more people will question why we need to keep fully funding that model. It's a model we have not questioned enough, because we have not really been presented options to it yet. 
A continued extreme shutdown will cause parents to do what comes natural for human beings: adapt. Families will increasingly want to escape the shackles of the established (legacy) education model, one in which the expansive campus is rather a prison. They will find in time that with the miracle of online, the traditional approach should no longer be etched in stone. And that means the whole class of education professionals will have their livelihood endangered. 
I'd be giddy to see a stake put through the heart of the teachers unions, a real boil on America. The promised land awaits. In the meantime, I enjoyed breakfast at DeToy's with an atmosphere that was nearly 100 percent normal. God bless.
 
I have a podcast message to share today as well, called "blessed by summer weather." We must count our blessings these days! Here's the link from my "Morris Mojo" podcast:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Blessed-by-summer-weather-eg23u9
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

"Lift Every Voice and Sing" for MACA?

Here's a suggestion for our MACA sports programs for the coming school year, to whatever extent we have something approximating a normal school year. Or, sports calendar. With the National Anthem having taken on controversial overtones, let's dispense of it, Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Ekren. Hey guys, consider how inspiring it would be for all of us to hear instead "Lift Every Voice and Sing," considered the "black national anthem." Wouldn't this be a gesture of solidarity with aggrieved factions in America now? I think it could cause some fans to tear up. To heck with the sugar-coated U.S. history so many of us have been fed. BTW I always enjoyed my contact with Mark Ekren who I'd tease a little about being a lookalike of Jim Kelly, Buffalo Bills QB.
 
Bud Grant had several distinct priorities as Vikings coach, one of them his insistence that players stand with regimented attention for the National Anthem. No one at that time read any contentious politics into this. It was admired from the standpoint of sheer discipline. No one could have predicted then that this song, judged an innocuous ritual, would ever end up in a morass of protest and conflict.
But it surely has, here in this summer of discontent, 2020.
The last thing I wish to do is give advice to racists, but they'd be too ignorant to pay heed anyway. I would suggest that President Trump's less than inclusive image is aggravating the conflict, like applying kerosene. People who have been fed up a long time over racist qualities in our culture are shaking off any inhibitions they might have had. There is much to be said for this, although extreme conflict always carries dangerous risk.
The alternative might be to continue a more temperate approach. Trump adds eggbeater to troubled waters everywhere. It's not the kind of deportment I'd associate with being a "conservative." I was taught long ago that conservatives like a certain stability and predictability. It's in line with just being "civil." Such a term seems rather the opposite of the president.
A true conservative might suggest that strenuous conflict over the National Anthem is more trouble than it's worth. The NFL is a private corporation. Just let them deal with it. The NFL probably rues the day when the tradition began of the anthem before games. Student-athletes are starting to resent being pawns in the raging discussion. A restrained discussion might be called for, and it probably should focus on whether we have the proper song as our anthem. This is not a new question or issue.
A valid issue with the established anthem has nothing to do with politics or imagery. It has to do with music itself: a very wide vocal range. When you sing it, you'd better begin on the absolutely precise first note. Use a pitch pipe to designate the first note or there's trouble ahead. Start on a note a little too high, you're toast. Our National Anthem should be far more comfortable, more user-friendly to sing.
"Meathead" on the old "All in the Family" TV sitcom objected to our anthem because it "glorifies war." That's a good point, though it would have landed with a thud with the "America, love it or leave it" older generation of my youth. (Rob Reiner played "Meathead.")
The Tulsa Athletic team in the Premier Soccer League has announced it's replacing the National Anthem with the terrific Woody Guthrie song with its folksy sound/theme: "This Land is Your Land." I'm reminded of the Bobby Kennedy presidential campaign of 1968 that used this song. The song gained traction as an alternative to the stuffy "God Bless America."
Many angles might be explored for nixing our current anthem, and the Tulsa people pointed to the obscure third verse. Ahem, "no refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave." Background: there was a unit of escaped slaves in the War of 1812 who helped British forces in their onslaught on the nation's capital.
 
Racism at breakfast table
There is a flurry of anti-racist activity now vs. some longstanding symbols. We've all heard about "Aunt Jemima" and the Cream of Wheat guy. Calvin Griffith's statue got whisked away. Oh, and Land O' Lakes with the Indian maiden?
Again, Trump's language which is so contrary to racial/social conciliation, is pushing some nascent forces with this. It's like "we're not going to take it anymore." And we might be inclined to say "hallelujah" except we don't want long-simmering scars from this. A standard Republican like George W. Bush would be promoting the more measured approach, with the realization that healing is of some longstanding divisions. But, injustice is injustice. The current activists would apply a period with that, end of thought, now let's excise unacceptable symbols everywhere.
The National Anthem got in the circle of contentiousness with the Colin Kaepernick behavior. At first the player made no statement about what he was doing or why. So much for grandstanding. He only spoke up when asked. Should he get a shot at playing now? My intuition tells me he's been away from the game too long, his reflexes would fail him. Do you agree, "Ek?"
Kaepernick leaves a legacy far beyond what his on-field accomplishments would have been. No doubt he was spared some concussions - praise the Lord!
Think of the "Dukes of Hazzard" General Lee car. Long ago I made comments to friends about the "Lady Antebellum" name of the country group. As a Civil War "buff" it was obvious to me the singers were acknowledging the pre-Civil War South. It sure took time for the group to act on this, to remedy or to appease critics, probably the latter, although I question if "Lady A" is a proper substitute. It just reminds of the original name.
Our National Anthem was written by Francis Scott Key - you remember from elementary school, don't you? He was a slaveholder. He once said African-Americans were a "distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community." Slaveholders had to rationalize their attitudes, to even find support in subjective Bible verses. I once heard a talk radio host say he wouldn't continue conversations with anyone who quoted the Bible, because you can find verses to support anything.

No national anthem at all is a suggestion for sports events. Or maybe let's near "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the black national anthem. I'd also suggest having a national songwriting competition to come up with a new song. We can always pull "America the Beautiful" out of the stable, quite satisfactory.

Podcast supplement: My "Morris Mojo" podcast is up and running, and I invite you to click and hear a few random thoughts in addition to what is written here. Thanks.

https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/A-message-from-Morris-in-midsummer-of-2020-will-we-have-high-school-football-efttt3

 

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

Hector Lopez, "utility" and player of color

The initials "UT" in baseball stand for "utility." The term doesn't sound glamorous. It isn't easy to assign importance to such players. But the sheer versatility of the "UT" guys should command admiration. Sometimes these players, because of a team's need at a particular time, do get assigned to a specific spot over a prolonged time. They must be ready and mentally equipped for that.
The background here is to introduce Hector Lopez, major leaguer from the '50s and '60s. He was part of the roster of early '60s Yankees who captivated the boomer generation of boys. Billy Crystal was watching and he made the movie "61*" which focused on Roger Maris but presented many members of the cast.
Lopez was a player of color. The only player of color I remember being portrayed in "61*" was Elston Howard. Howard was in fact ground-breaking. I'm in the camp of those who feel Vic Power should have gotten the nod as first Yankee player of color. Seems ridiculous today to even talk about this: a simple door being opened for athletes of color. But my, the America of the mid-20th Century was such a different place. A place where we talked about "Negroes."
Neither Lopez nor Power were African-American. Lopez was Panamanian and Power was from Puerto Rico. Such distinctions should not have counted for anything. Today we have evolved into such a progressive place - some glaring exceptions naturally - it seems inappropriate to dissect players in terms of ethnic/racial background. The famous Alou family players were from the Dominican Republic.
The true African-Americans have drifted away from baseball, finding affinity instead with other sports. Truly baseball's loss. Players of color do abound though, and so many of their names are quite non-Anglo-Saxon. My generation as boys would have been perplexed at the non-Anglo names, would have been inclined to poke some fun at this. I'm being honest. A pox on us.
Even in the '70s us fans in Minnesota engaged in the shameful behavior of finding amusement in the name "Bombo Rivera." Garrison Keillor wrote a song. And now Keillor's reputation has been significantly tarnished because of regressive behavior in the #MeToo category. I only write about this stuff because I'm 65 and cannot forget a lot of our old tics or peccadilloes or whatever.
Hector Lopez got established in big league ball in the heart of the '50s, when you might say only token strides were really being made toward integration. The years passed and progress was halting.
Calvin Griffith, the owner of the Senators-turned-Twins, is having his memory soiled now by a background of racially insensitive, OK prejudiced on the face of them, comments, yet as team owner he had many key black faces on the roster, as if he had no aversion whatsoever. He even directed Sam Mele to play Panamanian player of color Rod Carew every day in Carew's rookie season of 1967.
We can be stymied trying to understand all this, to make sense of it. I guess race remains a fundamental hurdle for our nation to truly surmount. Why is Bubba Wallace having to fight so hard to achieve simple, no-brainer accommodative attitudes? Why should this even be "news?" Well, the issues are most surely still on the table. And we know which side has history on its side, has young people (generally) on its side.
The Deep South racists always lose. They'll rattle cages but they lose, guaranteed.

With K.C. Athletics

Lopez surely furthered the interests of non-white MLB players in the 1950s. He also represented as well as anyone the relationship between the Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees. It was as if K.C. was the top "farm club" for the Yankees, based on certain relationships among the "suits." Maris went through this. One of his kids in Crystal's movie bemoans having left Kansas City for the big city of NYC. (The Athletics were said to have "gaudy" uniforms but I liked them.)

1959: Lopez dons the pinstripes
Whether he was "called up" or traded to the Yankees, Lopez left Kansas City for the bright lights of NYC in May of 1959. This was after four-plus seasons of dedicated play with those non-contending Athletics of Kansas City. He developed mainly as third baseman. But he had tools for an array of positions.
The versatility might be said to be under-appreciated. The average fan probably has difficulty realizing how detailed are the obligations of each position on the diamond. There is more to playing in the infield than fielding grounders. (It was all I could do to try to field grounders in Little League!) You must memorize an incredible array of details related to situations, e.g. runners on first and third, one out etc. Where would I throw? Would I have to cover a base? Should I look for a cutoff man? Would a play at a particular base involve a force or a tag? Forget any one of the proper responses and you'll look pathetic with your play.
So Lopez met the challenge of playing an assortment of positions, but it began with emphasis on third base. Lopez batted .283 in what remained of the '59 season, now wearing the pinstripes. He hit to all fields and displayed power. In 1960, manager Casey Stengel in his last year with the Yankees put Lopez in the specific "UT" role. Lopez developed a resume with all four infield positions and all three outfield. Wow! That's impressive.
He spent an increasing amount of time in the outfield. Out there he could surely be upstaged by Mantle and Maris! In '60 he also appeared in 25 games solely as pinch-hitter. He batted .284 in 1960. Stengel was probably removed as manager due to the Yankees losing the '60 Series. The Yankees had a run of pennants starting in '60 and ending with some abruptness in '64. After '64 they became like a shadow of their former selves, but still with many of the familiar names.
The Yankees of 1960-64 endeared themselves greatly to my generation of boys. Billy Crystal served us well with his cinema talent. Lopez may not have been in "61*" but neither was Jim Bouton, a most prominent guy not only because of his pitching run, but his later notorious performance as book author.
The '61 team was the best. Lopez was clutch as he sported a .333 average in the Fall Classic. He produced all seven of his World Series RBIs in '61. He drove in five runs with a home run and triple in the decisive fifth game, a 13-5 Yankee romp (over Cincinnati). Ralph Houk had succeeded Stengel as manager.
 
Twins fans would wince
Any mention of utility players brings to my mind the 2002 season of my Minnesota Twins. That's because in the team celebration "pile" at the conclusion, our UT player Denny Hocking got injured and was out of further action. Fans might have been inclined to think "it was no big deal" because, well, Hocking was a "utility" player.
Maybe the problem is the term itself: "utility." Sounds like "barely adequate," doesn't it? Think of the word "utilitarian." But utility players are most surely vital.
Lopez stands as an exhibit for that, and for perseverance by non-white players in an earlier Neanderthal time. A time we might not even want to talk about.
You know, "white" people aren't really "white!"

Visit my podcast please
As a supplement to today's post, you might listen to me recite some paragraphs from Bobby Richardson's autobiography which was published in the 1960s. He played second base for the Yankees. I recite some paragraphs of reflection on the Yanks' stupendous 1961 season.
The podcast is of course a new and totally novel thing. It is practical now because it is totally free to set up. Didn't used to be that way. So, to hear me speaking from my residence on beautiful Northridge Drive:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Supplement-to-my-blog-post-re--Hector-Lopez--June-23--2020-efqohh
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Looking to the fall: what's going to happen?

It is Saturday, June 20, amidst a time in our lives we never could have predicted. Are we dealing with it? Four months ago we could not have fathomed it. But we accept it because we have to.
Some of our normal institutions are hanging on in a vestigial way. Shortly into this predicament, we saw the ballfield lights turned on as a gesture. It was a reminder that we aren't forgetting the institutions that enrich us. But it's certainly empty, isn't it? Merely symbolic? So if the virus "second wave" develops as is feared by many, will we start to get weary of such gestures, heartening as they are intended to be?
Churches hang on with a discouraging online presence. It had a sort of novelty value at first, right? Just as all the endless online tools have great novelty value when first we notice them. Heck, my generation grew up in the analog world of three TV networks dishing out homogeneous entertainment. And rotary dial phones. "Did you call Hooterville?"
The first couple of online-only church presentations seemed interesting. "Gee, can this work?" Of course it can work because anything can work online.
So we come to the subject of school. I took one of my long walks yesterday (Friday) and passed by the public school campus. Seems awfully large and sprawling. An auditorium, a concert hall and three gymnasiums? You might not even know about the 1991 gym, tucked away on the far end and not used for events with appreciable fan turnout. The K-12 campus with all its toys, bells and whistles might wow us some. If it didn't seem excessive to me before, it does now.
The current circumstances have pushed kids toward online or remote learning much faster than would have been the case in normal times. So much has been trending online anyway. The newest online "miracle" I have discovered is free podcasting. On and on the improvements and refinements churn away, getting cheaper as well as better. I have read that you used to need a real expensive microphone. Now I speak and my laptop records. Someday all such tools will be taken for granted. They will have utilitarian value but will no longer fascinate us on the face of it.
I grew up in the world of the three TV networks - Johnny Carson's monologue at 10:30 p.m. - and will always feel fascination with the new stuff.
My podcast is about 80 percent set up. It's not as easy to establish as my (free) blogs were, but with patience it'll get done. I will link to a podcast from a blog post, hopefully soon. Maybe the first good try will be "no sweat." A deceased former work colleague of mine once pointed out that the young take to all the new systems so easily because they "just do it" - they don't feel the need to master a whole lot of details.
School institutions of all kinds must be feeling tremendous stress right now, trying to map out what is doable come fall. Alas, we probably cannot assume they will show the best judgment. C'mon, these people will pull all strings trying to get the standard routine established. They have a survival motive. The longer families have to adjust to the dormant school situation, the more they will make progress without all the established or legacy "bells and whistles." Families will covet freedom and flexibility. Their kids belong to them and not to the school. Another old co-worker of mine, extant, said once in kind of a huff: "I think they (the school people) are working for me." Sort of makes too much sense, doesn't it?
As parents discover more and different options for the development of their children, the arguments for sustaining our clunky educational systems will be more strained. Perhaps with an air of desperation? It's not that bad yet. But just think: We're only about three months into our current constricted lifestyle. The restrictions have lifted just a little, not enough to relieve us of our considerable angst.
I had breakfast sitting down inside DeToy's this morning. It felt nice but we'd better not get too comfortable. Restrictions may come roaring back at us. And then if our big brick school campuses become closed long-term, what's to become of that whole high-overhead system? A system that includes dispatching the orange school buses around to pick up kids and drop them off? Do we even have enough students to justify such a large campus? Does the opulence of the campus really impress us any more, or are we more inclined to think "man, how much does all this cost us?"
School officials may well want to "sell" us this thing called "hybrid learning." Fine, I think. But the expensive legacy resources of the bricks and mortar campuses - could be confused with prisons - will be deemed more of an issue.
The economic toll of the pandemic on a number of fronts will create pressure to inflate property taxes, don't you think? Will the back get broken at some point? Not yet, mind you, but anxiety and pressures will grow if our normal life stays elusive. What about high school sports? What about band and choir? If the scythe gets applied to a lot of this stuff, what becomes of the money allocated for it? 
  
Let's be suspicious, vigilant
School officials will be defensive and perhaps not real forthcoming about the reality. School people top to bottom, with the exception (largely) of the school boards, covet nothing more than money. Once the systems are in place for gorging themselves on money, schools will say it's all necessary and essential, heavens. "We did it for the children," they'll intone as a trump card in discussions. I have been exposed to the machinations of teachers unions long enough to see the broad truth.
There's so much talk now about coming down hard on police unions. From the political left and the political right. Well congratulations, knaves, you're making the same discovery as I did about teachers unions. FDR never intended for public employees to even be in unions.
A former Morris school board member was once reported to say in the midst of a funding question: "If you give us the money, we'll just spend it." Bravo on this unusual dose of candor which you can only expect from a board member, not from employees who are like hungry little gremlins. I think the teachers are more civilized than they used to be. I think highly of many of them.
But the current circumstances of our lives will no doubt bring contentiousness as we sift through options. The hybrid model? Well fine, or how about pure remote learning? The digital world has pushed aside so many conventions, it just never stops. Think you can adjust to the new detached type of learning, in which kids everywhere can learn from the best possible teachers and systems, not necessarily local of course? Well, if you can adjust to my voice on a podcast, maybe anything is possible. But seriously, things could get unpleasant for a while.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Marching band: big chapter in Morris history

The "glory days" of the Morris High School marching band are represented in the framed photo being displayed. John Woell Jr. and wife Marcia are at left. John Jr. is the son of the man who directed the celebrated program for a long time. Marcia is the former Marcia Dalseth, native of Morris. Father Gerald Dalseth was one of the reasons I often felt affinity with the Catholic Church. Marcia was an accomplished trumpet player in a time when females were not commonly seen playing it. Gender associations with instruments are foolish, aren't they? I chose the French horn initially and then was rather stunned to see nothing but females play the instrument. Why? I took up trumpet for marching band purposes and then stuck with it ongoing. John Jr. was a trombone master. John Sr. was a trumpet man. Certainly you recognize the gentleman at right in photo: Del Sarlette of Sarlettes Music where of course the photo was taken. The framed photo had been in John Sr.'s possession and now he's transitioning to assisted living. Del is thinking that the high school band program would want the picture on display. The kids might ask "gee, why is this program buried in history now? Why is it gone?" Well, such is reality. We must never forget the excitement brought by both this program and the ensembles that performed for the Morris Centennial in 1971. There's nothing like that now. The Killoran stage is just a big empty hulk at East Side Park. Very strange. Does anyone care? I guess I do but what is my standing? What do I know?

The early settlers on the Upper Midwest prairie were shocked at how intense the wind could be. Seems like an apt thought on this dreary mid-June day of 2020. The slowdown in our lives has barely abated. Restaurants are allowed to let a few people sit down. Uncertain to what extent they'll enforce any guidelines. Would actual cops make the rounds? This might not be the time for such a heavy-handed presence, eh?
There is a stillness to life, kind of a suspended animation.
So I think back to the summers of my growing-up years. The atmosphere of Morris was enhanced considerably by the sounds of marching band. Robert Schaefer was the guy heralded for really making that institution special. He was worthy of the praise. He was succeeded by a guy who kept standards very high, but for some reason has not been lionized in the same way. This individual was John Woell who remains extant - still with us. He retired long ago and like so many important people of the 1970s, has faded in the collective memory.
Woell was the director at the time of the Morris Centennial. I don't know if he was paid in commensurate fashion but he had his heart in it. He took on a period "look" like so many of the local residents. Morris had its origins in the late 19th Century. It was in the immediate post-war years with the war in question being the Civil War. The railroad got us established. We were a modest "ten town" at the start.
Director Woell directed a most ambitious marching band program over a long time. The kids accepted the demands and the discipline even when the latter could get a little harsh! We always came back for rehearsal. The uniforms were largely black in theme and heavy. So yes, we'd get hot, probably good for losing a few pounds. Again we were willing to accept the adversity.
You no doubt sense that our culture of today is different. The willingness of Morris families to even "stick around" in summer is limited. Thus the burden of continuing Prairie Prairie Days became too much. It is amazing we could not sustain that, because it was judged a big step forward for the community when it was created.
Alas, has "community" become a trite term? Is it "every man for himself" or "every family for itself" now? Our current social isolation is probably cementing such values. Would families even be enthused about sending their kids back to school? I mean, even if the pandemic concerns were to vanish? Oh, but they are not about to vanish.
 
Bright sounds of summer
A Morris resident in the early to mid-'70s would hear the very bright sounds of the MHS marching band in practice. I know this could be an issue close to the hospital - Woell told us about it.
Our society is such today, I wonder if neighborhoods everywhere would have members who'd vent issues about the "sounds." Let's not say "noise."
I remember from when I was too young to be a member yet, the band played a tune called "Marcho Vivo" under Schaefer. You just couldn't forget that tune. The little signature line was performed by the trumpets. Over and over I'd hear "Marcho Vivo."
You know you're a Morris old-timer if you can say you played under Schaefer. Yours truly did, but only in junior high. He moved on, I believe to Brookings SD. Then on came Woell who I understand had been in Herman. Did he have to pull strings to extricate himself from his contract there? Seems that story has floated. Herman continued taking care of itself just fine and we got Woell.
The summer of '71 was truly a festive time with Woell and his "period" look joining the atmosphere. It's an atmosphere that would seem alien to this community now. There is nothing special in the summer even without the pandemic. A good source who was not in a good mood about this, told me there are a number of Morris people in leadership positions who aren't fond of spending time here in summer. Being more direct, let's just say these people are always eager to "go to the lake." So to heck with keeping Morris a relevant place in summer. Yawn.
The sounds of the marching band merely echo in our memory, at least for "old-timers." The Litchfield marching band has been known to come here for a couple days of rehearsal. I did a feature article on the Litch band visit for the Morris paper. The Irondale marching band which is "not your father's marching band" has done thrilling exhibitions here at Big Cat Stadium. Their purpose is to rehearse but they've been generous in putting on a loose concert. I have been fascinated watching this group and its avant garde style. Not sure I could have cut it in my younger days. I'm the type who would just want to play the "Washington Post March."
My, we traveled far and wide for marching commitments in summer. How could the ambitious regimen be sustained? Well, first and foremost I think was the fact we were the baby boom generation. There were so many of us! The numbers meant that our society on the whole wanted to celebrate young people. Our parents were the World War II generation. They had also been through the Great Depression.
 
Not universally loved
How valuable, really, is marching band? There is some contentiousness here, as a pretty big chunk of the academic music world has wanted to pooh-pooh it. When the great Jim Carlson came back to Morris, Ron Lindquist at the paper said "great, now we'll have a pep band at Cougar games again." Well, no. Carlson I guess was not inclined to see pep band as a plum, an attitude right in line with skepticism about marching band.
Is there a rebuttal to this? There is a rebuttal to everything. I could suggest that marching band and pep band are not intended to be fine art. You might argue that the Irondale band is in fact inclined that way, but not your garden variety marching band. We might say "so what?" to the critics of such endeavors.

John Woell's favorite saying

Kids eventually got pushed to be more serious about sports. Thus we saw the explosion of popularity of sports camps. Yes, marching band could get pushed aside. Schaefer was director before girls varsity athletics began, thus it was easier for him to keep the attention of the girls. Woell was director when girls sports got established and then developed exponentially. This factor, added to the depletion of student numbers and the more self-centered nature of Morris residents, eventually caused the end of summer marching band.
Sad to note? Well I suppose so. Certainly there is nothing - zero - at the present time in Morris MN to duplicate the sheer "rush" of hearing the brassy sounds of a marching band rehearsal.
Speaking of school-related sounds, remember when we knew fall was here when we heard Duane Kindschi's voice emanating from the pressbox at the old Coombe Field? His voice floated over a considerable distance. There's the story about how he laughed real hard once when he thought his microphone was off! The museum does not preserve such trivial things. It is important we never forget!
Here's a toast to the memories of the old MHS marching band with both Schaefer and Woell in charge! Cheers!
 
Addendum: Woell in his standard band rehearsals had a way of reprimanding kids who might be speaking out of turn, not paying attention or whatever. He'd sternly point at that student and say:
"You. . .a quarter." So it was a fining system, I presume on sort of an honor system because I doubt he could compel payment. We seemed to comply albeit with some natural annoyance. I'd suggest that if a teacher attempted this today, he'd be shot right out of the saddle.
 
Addendum #2: One of the most famous or notorious episodes in Woell's tenure was when he kicked a student of very good reputation out of a summer evening practice. I have written a whole blog post about this in the past. I have been advised not to write any more about it. Another episode was when Peter Timmons got left behind in Clara City. Woell had to drive back to get him and was accompanied by Peter's father.
 
Addendum #3: Big Scott Groth was a drum major and Lorie Torgerson was the lead majorette. Hope I spelled Lorie's name correctly. Sadly she is deceased. I had a crush on her. Scott had a gag with bass drummer Ken Johnson that was set up by someone shouting "ducks!" Ken pounded on his bass drum while Scott faked he was shooting a shotgun. I remember once when my bus pulled up to another in front of us and we could see Ken in the back mouthing the lyrics to "In the Year 2525," the hit song by the one-hit wonder group "Zager and Evans." We knew Ken's bus had on the same radio station as ours. Nothing could ever duplicate the hit songs of the 1960s. If only we could erase the Vietnam war from that era. There was a flag crew of girls at the front of the MHS marching band. Today I don't think we would be gender-specific. Different times then.
 
Addendum #4: A trombone player on our Winnipeg trip was absolutely glued to the TV in his hotel room for every available free moment. I asked about this and was told the boy was from an Apostolic family, was not allowed to watch TV at home.
 
Addendum #5: It was Woell who introduced jazz band to the MHS music scene. Interesting, though, how it was called "stage band" and not "jazz band" because of a fear that part of the public would think "jazz" to be an unseemly word or whatever.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

John Woell oversees another musical performance by his MHS charges for the Centennial in 1971. This was by the iconic "alfalfa arch" which re-created a defining chapter in Morris history. Does anyone care now? John Jr. is the trombone player at left. The trumpet player at right is the virtuoso Terry Rice. Photo by the late Florence Sarlette.

Inescapable cloud hangs over colleges

Will our campus be abuzz for fall?

It's happening: a buildup of concern about how colleges will handle the usual opening for fall. Life on a tenterhook? Such is the anxiety that may be building.
It is unpleasant to wonder how our community of Morris will fare if UMM's activities are substantially scaled back. Or scrubbed? Who wants to talk about that? No doubt there is talk occurring behind closed doors, just to consider the contingencies.
I have sought to "feel out" my UMM-oriented acquaintances. I have basically heard nothing. This is a very serious matter. The pandemic has afflicted all our institutions. Morris has already gotten a taste of UMM being idle. Graduation would normally have been such a big weekend. We got the lazy, hazy days of summer instead. If you like quiet, you may well relish the months lying ahead.
Hoping for something better is admirable. Miracles can happen? Maybe, but those contingencies must be weighed. The health scare is the most obvious factor. But a side effect of this is finances, the mother's milk of our hallowed institutions. The slowing economy means less revenue for state governments to spend on higher education.
Don't forget that U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentuckian, has mentioned the possibility of "punishing the blue states." Minnesota has a Democratic governor. We have the unusual situation of a divided legislature. Burgeoning local property taxes might make people less enamored of public education.
The romance about ivy-covered institutions will wane. We already know that all those leafy campuses of the "Minnesota State" system represent bloat now - it's undisputed, and that was the verdict before the pandemic.
Our UMM? It's the "jewel in the crown" of the esteemed University of Minnesota, a cut above surely. But to what extent can we assume stability? Yours truly might be expected to shed tears because my focus is music, an endeavor highly threatened due to the nature of making music. Wear masks? Oh no. No point in crying, ever. We confront reality.
Our intuition tells us that "remote learning" via one's Internet device isn't even close to duplicating those leafy campuses. Kids can pick a college because "I like the campus." Surely our UMM has attributes in that regard, quiet and safe to be sure. It's a historic campus with renovated old buildings from a long history. Ahem, let's put aside the science auditorium, no doubt a product of a spell of avant garde thinking. Who needs 90-degree angles?
Students frolicked at our campus even when amenities were minimal. Makes me wonder about the incessant lure to build bigger-better. College administrators strive to get those "new toys" in sort of an arms race. Might that race be completely over now? Was it ever really prudent or justified? UMM students thrived even through the considerable period of nothing on campus approximating a student center. Wow! And really, what does a student center have to do with quality of education?
I have often wondered if the model of a "utilitarian" campus might come back. Nothing fancy, no glittering new stadiums for sports exhibitions etc. St. Cloud State once had the quite satisfactory Selke Field. Then, up went a new football stadium in 2004. And now, SCSU has cut football! Lordy.
Can't blame the public for keeping an eye on the pricetag for higher education. Man, I can remember when UMM football was at "P.E. Miller Field." I watched some football from the upper floor of the then-music building, now the multi-cultural place.
Will we see college long-term go back to just the core purpose and eliminate a lot of the "experiential" stuff? Good question, I'd say. And with "remote learning" as an ever more likely option, we're not talking experiences anyway. So, college might just fulfill its assigned function? No more "climbing walls?" Actually that's one thing I think UMM does not have.
We must confront the germane question: Will our students and their families pay for the "virtual" college experience, same as if the leafy campuses were fully functioning? I think I know what way our intuition will lean for that.
UMM may be one of those colleges that opens its doors cautiously. It's done with the idea that a reversal could be quickly called for. The virus could well dance around more.
I'd suggest that colleges are profoundly worried that remote learning will bring evolution toward learning without having a paid instructor holding your hand. The nature of the Internet is that it enables you to learn about anything. Such an obvious blessing, but one which casts clouds over our legacy education models, and hey this includes K-12 too. The professionals are trying to hold on to what they have.
Toward that end, I have learned from a good source that in the recent shutdown with K-12 kids learning "remotely," 80 percent of the kids are completing assignments, 20 percent are not, and all kids are getting passed through. The education establishment is trying to cling to what it has. Let's call it their monopoly, certainly for K-12 education. And whither colleges and UMM? It's mid-June so we can buy some time before dealing with the possible ugly reality.
This is tough for yours truly as I root for UMM and have put money where my mouth is. The institution has meant everything for my family. But as a personal philosophical matter, partly because of the lumps I took in school myself, I root for the Internet-based model. To be more specific, I root for the model that is not reliant on the pros, those people with tenure who frankly can be arrogant. I don't want to get into unions.
Except I love the music department: that's a sore spot because how on earth can any music department function now? Will it all be put in mothballs, the cellos and pianos and such? Lordy.
What will be our mood in mid-August? The rubber will have to hit the road sometime, n'est-ce pas? Perhaps our morale could all rev up if we listened to the "UMM Hymn."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Rev. Lowell Larson departs this life

(Claremont Courier image)

What a full life lived by The Reverend Lowell Larson. The Reverend was a mighty important person in Morris MN in the 1950s. He was the pastor at First Lutheran throughout. This was the last decade of the West Central School of Agriculture, before UMM would sprout.
With the birth of UMM came The Reverend Clifford Grindland to serve First Lutheran. Meanwhile Pastor Larson took his considerable talents to Northridge, California, where he served a church with the same name of First Lutheran. His tenure there was long too, from 1960 to 1974. During that time he made a memorable return to Morris for a special event. He was the preacher for the Centennial program at the fairgrounds in 1971.
What a grand event the Morris Centennial was! Dick Bluth was in charge. Seems that everyone was more attuned to "community" then. Seems a contrast with today when we have allowed Prairie Pioneer Days (PPD) to basically die. That's a head-scratcher. People seem different today compared to 1971. We're cocooning, defensive, absorbed in online, whatever. Our PPD left the summer months where it really had a grand run. A festive air on Sunday afternoon in particular - everyone loves a parade! Or, they did.
Our outstate Minnesota communities just seemed to have more, well, texture in the earlier time. We celebrated "people" more, even while recognizing our differences and struggles which could be considerable. There might have been a "Peyton Place" element. No era is perfect.
Nationally we had not extricated ourselves from the Indochina conflict. Scars of that would persist. We hadn't yet gotten to the scenes of people clutching helicopters at the fall of Saigon. That would come in 1975, a year after Richard Nixon resigned the presidency. We are never too separated from adversity. Our current circumstances in 2020 most definitely underscore that. We show concern and yet seek the best happiness and joy we can.
Happiness and joy were certainly the currency of Morris in the summer of 1971. One hundred years for our community! We began as a little "tent town" that came with the railroad. The railroad made obsolete the primitive Wadsworth Trail. How endless the prairie of these parts was, when development began. The history shows there were no permanent Native American settlements. So let's say it was the burrowing owls that reigned "for time immemorial," as the late cartoonist Del Holdgrafer would note.
The first baby steps of civilization were when the U.S. Civil War was ending. The headlines of today make the Civil War seem not necessarily that remote. This very day, the re-naming of military bases is being bandied about with our president loudly denouncing the idea. He wants to see the Confederate names remain. What a strained issue in the first place. In other words, it would be a no-brainer to just erase the Confederate names. Just do it. Does everything have to become a conflict in the eyes of this president? Is that the whole point? Can't we do anything about it?
Hard to believe it was 49 years ago that Morris marked 100 years. Forty-nine years ago! So that means we're on the verge of the - practice this word - sesquicentennial. Maybe you won't have to practice the word if there is no celebration, just like there's no real Prairie Pioneer Days. The pandemic probably means there will literally be no PPD. It was scaled down to one day, as if our Chamber of Commerce is trying to tell the whole world that Morris is going to heck.
PPD at its peak (of several years) was a total plum for our community. Ditto for the Centennial of 1971, in spades in fact. Anyone who was there would readily confirm. Our high school band director John Woell was very active leading his musicians in various aspects. An ensemble played under the genuine "alfalfa arch" re-creation of this iconic Morris symbol. Hope the museum keeps the memory alive, both of the original arch and the re-creation. And for that matter, let's remind that our FFA chapter did a wonderful job putting up a small-scale arch for several years of PPD!
Woell also put together a smaller group which he called a "German band" - a hint as to his ancestry? - and this had a "wandering" quality to it. Reportedly it even sneaked into the Met Lounge and played a tune with members not of age. We just played music. A member looked at an old f--t on a stool wearing a straw hat and said "Is that Jerry Koosman?" Jerry's stardom in baseball inspired the name "Met Lounge."
Lowell Larson was the ideal choice for sharing inspiring spiritual words for the afternoon program. Years later, yours truly noticed his name in the announcement of an upcoming funeral at First Lutheran. Larson would preside, and in the fellowship hall afterward I talked him into posing for a photo with four of the attendees. I thought it important to share this visual reminder of church past in Morris. The photo was appreciated. It was an honor to take it for the Sun Tribune.
And now we have the news to report of The Reverend leaving us for his reward in heaven. I could say "sad news" but the gentleman had lived as full a life as was possible. He passed on May 10 from natural causes at age 95 in Claremont CA.
He was a great-grandfather. He was born in Lac qui Parle County in 1914. He graduated from high school in Appleton. Then it was on to Augsburg College and Luther Seminary in Minneapolis. He came to First Lutheran in Morris in 1948. Did the warm climate of California beckon? Who knows, but he had a fruitful stretch in Northridge after which he returned to the "theater of seasons" here in Minnesota, to Willmar. He was pastor at Vinje Lutheran Church until his retirement to Pilgrim Place in Claremont in 1989.
His wife Helen died too soon of a stroke in 1993 when she was 74. The two were married in 1946 and raised a family of five children.
Lowell was an avid duck hunter. While in Claremont he'd return to Minnesota for about four months each year to the family cottage near Willmar. He took several trips to Norway. He had a reputation of being open-minded and a good listener - oh my how we need those qualities in the U.S. now. He enjoyed Shakespeare as a hobby and passion. He was the father of Ted, Thom, Carol, Eric and Evan.
Memorial services will be held in Claremont and Willmar when the pandemic restrictions allow. Which raises the question: why not some special gesture here at First Lutheran, Lowell's first call and where he invested so much of his precious energy and dedication?
Lowell Larson, RIP. Thank you for enriching us in 1971.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

In "period" attire: director John Woell with his H.S. musicians under "alfalfa arch" for Morris Centennial in 1971. Photo by the late Florence Sarlette.

How can the U of M fare in the fall?

Joan Gabel, U of M president

Well it's a beautiful summer day anyway, June of 2020. I say "anyway" in light of the turbulence we're all confronting. First it was the virus. Not that that has gone away, but we now see the turbulent protests all over the place.
Such wide-scale universal unrest would not be expected in response to just a single incident, in this case the death (alleged murder) of George Floyd. So there must have been lots of discontent simmering all over, now brought to a head with the catalyst being Floyd's tragic death.
An obvious response is that our U.S. president could have behaved as a healer, from the get-go, admitting there were problems, or as they say "systemic" problems. The president has not been inclined that way. He also did not marshal the overwhelming resources of the federal government to immediately deal with and attack the virus at its outset. He pathetically tried putting the responsibility on the shoulders of governors who do not have those resources, and who cannot act in a truly coordinated way.
It's June so we're looking at the chances of college starting in some sort of reliable way come fall. That's a real poser. There are a bevy of questions and issues.
We look to Joan Gabel with the University of Minnesota. I remember when she came for her first visit to UMM. She was under consideration for U president then. The cold of winter was sharp as I rode bike out to campus. I had not gotten any heads-up on parking permits being waived, but surely they must have been.
I did a little homework re. Gabel's background in case I had the chance to meet her. I did! This was at the Turtle Mountain Cafe. I had fallen in with a group of three for the gathering, joined by two others with a long background with the institution, thus we knew each other well. Name-dropping: Sandy Olson-Loy and Warrenn Anderson. I'm getting older and not as likely to know many of the current important people.
Being out of the corporate media for several years has also isolated me some. It's nice to break bread with people with whom you have shared memories. I was present for the first-ever UMM commencement in 1964.
Having done a modicum of research re. Gabel, I pointed out to her that coming here to Minnesota from South Carolina would relieve her of dealing with hurricanes! I also found fodder in Gabel's background as a philosophy major. That's a unique crowd, one quite in the mainstream with UMM's historic thrust.
We can be philosophical right now about Mr. Trump, can't we? A comment like that is still good for a chuckle here and there - the scary thing is when it ceases being funny, a prospect which may be bearing down on us. Are we there now? Is there really any line he can't cross? Maybe not here in the Seventh Congressional District.
We have Republican state lawmakers too. Those guys love UMM for the economic asset it represents in their district. I doubt either of them loves UMM's historic liberal arts focus - too enmeshed with liberal politics. They might say otherwise but I demur.
Gabel got the job to lead the august U of M. She visited our fair community a second time for a pleasant little gathering at the LaFave House. It's nice to be at the LaFave House when it isn't crowded. I'd like to have a nickel for every time I've heard someone say "excuse me" in there.
A group of President's Club members joined Ms. Gabel.
It would seem the announcement of the Williams Fund at UMM was not timed well, so soon before the cloud of doubt began hovering with the pandemic. This past academic year got chopped off as we'd be going into the home stretch of spectacular music events on campus. The choir almost "made it" for their planned Peru trip, and the odds were supposedly 50-50 on the morning after the send-off concert directed by Brad Miller. I heard the 50-50 estimate and personally felt skeptical, knowing as I do how these things can go. Unfortunately I was right.
And then we were all deprived of the slate of climatic music events that would have been presented in the concluding months.
And on top of that: graduation! Lordy Lordy.
 
No music maestro please?
Music is what the Ralph and Martha Williams Fund at UMM is all about. The cloud or specter that hovers over the U in light of the unpredictable virus, is worse for music than for anything else, it would seem.
Maybe some enterprising minds can overcome that. I don't see how, though. Music ensembles have students sitting or standing shoulder-to-shoulder and emitting moisture particles. If you think that's an exaggeration, allow me to speak as a former brass player and remind you that we let "spit" out of our horns. There's a little button that allows you to do that. Maybe you don't wish to know this elucidation.
College administrators are trying real hard to make something approximating standard college practicable for fall. Can't blame them for trying. Optimism is an admirable trait. I wish Gabel and others well. We want to see the wheels turning at our UMM. But it won't be in the fully standard way. Can it work out at all? Sadly I do not expect a resounding "yes" to that question.
Could things get as bad as to see all campus activity scrubbed? Well, we can't rule something out just because it's unpleasant. We must be ready for anything.
The U might even have to deal with the economic fallout from our nation grappling with the pandemic - the ripples in so many directions. I doubt that state and local government can expect much relief from the federal level, not with two-thirds of the federal level controlled by the Republican Party. The Republicans have even floated the possibility of "punishing" the blue states, and we in Minnesota have a Democratic governor.
Republicans rule the Senate which means we have to take the likes of Tom Cotton seriously. Yes, "send in the troops" for dealing with mass protests. I'm reminded of when the late author Tom Clancy was on a talk show, possibly Larry King, and threw cold water on the idea of U.S. troops at the border with Mexico. Clancy reminded that soldiers are not trained in law enforcement. That's a different bag. More graphically he noted: "Soldiers don't arrest people, soldiers kill people."
Cotton is from Arkansas. We are letting people from the Southern states have too much power these days. Remember that the South lost.
 
We're not out of the woods
My skepticism regarding normality for college is supported by the strong chance of a "second wave" for the virus.
Right now there's so much talk of an expanded re-opening, albeit not a 100 percent re-opening. We'll be giddy as this starts to happen. I'm scared to think about the reaction if a complete shutdown happens again due to the second wave of the virus. We won't even have the summer weather to make us feel better. How could we possibly have football? Lordy.
Everyone's favorite national doctor, that Fauci fellow, who had to stand beside Trump for the surreal daily updates - drink Clorox maybe? - said in April that "we will have coronavirus in the fall - I am convinced of that." Dr. Fauci was among "many leading voices," according to "Marketwatch," to predict an inevitable second wave in the fall or winter which - emphasis here - "could be even worse than the first."
Poor Dr. Fauci is forced to operate in a politically-tinged, I would say toxic environment, as toxic as drinking Clorox. Fauci tried modifying his original statement earlier this month, to add that the second wave might not be seen as "inevitable."
The "Marketwatch" article noted the contradictory nature of Fauci's statements, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist or brain surgeon to suggest that the doctor got his head placed in a vise, metaphorically speaking, and had to manufacture some optimism. After all, the powers-that-be would say that's good for the stock market. Which is: the most important objective, right? More important than God and Jesus? I would say certain churches in our Morris area consider Trump's fortunes to be more important than God and Jesus. Ah, the "Russian witch hunt" and "fake news."
People seemed more intelligent when I was younger. Maybe I've stepped into a "Twilight Zone" episode. Maybe I'm the only normal person around, and you wouldn't want to insult me for saying that - because, the Williams family is a UMM benefactor. Eat your heart out.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

The late Ralph E. Williams directs the UMM men's chorus at the New York World's Fair, 1964.

The broader message of 1986's "Hoosiers"

Gene Hackman starred

Think back to when you first saw the movie "Hoosiers." It came out in 1986. It's receding back in time a fair bit now. The movie itself took us back to the early 1950s. It seemed in many ways to be a paean to that era of American life.
Shall we say bucolic? Comfortably post-WWII, white bread and uncomplicated in many ways.
It was uncomplicated partly or largely because we'd be uncomfortable tackling many issues. The "town drunk" in the movie was seen (through the lens of the time) as a person with character failings. "You're embarrassing your son," Gene Hackman tells the man. When he cracks up because of the untreated and misunderstood nature of his malady, it is pathetic and hard to watch. You'll remember Dennis Hopper played that role.
Hopper's stock as an actor jumped considerably. As for Hackman, he was always a natural in front of the movie camera. His character seemed identical to the one he played in the classic "Mississippi Burning." That movie like "Hoosiers" was a look-back. Hackman's characters were both driven and conflicted, as if some turmoil was stirring inside.
Only a grouch would want to be down on "Hoosiers." So endearing were the story and characters, you may not have initially noticed the over-arching theme with the whole flick. That is forgivable. It happened with me. The nostalgia, maudlin at times, can sort of drug you.
"Hoosiers" was all about second chances in life. The coach had nearly been thrown out of his profession. "Coach Dale" had to retreat for a few years, and this he did in the Navy, before dusting himself off, as it were, and finding an avenue where his past would not haunt him. So we get the tiny town of Hickory in Indiana where basketball is king or so the folklore holds. I'd say basketball is pretty big everywhere.
Nostalgia pulls us so hard, we can forget that states with the one-class post-season tournament system were horribly negligent and careless. The system screwed the small schools, naturally. We had this in Minnesota up until I was in my late teens, as I recall. And the new two-class system seemed hardly to erase the unfairness.
"Hoosiers" was inspired by the real-life Milan, Indiana. In Minnesota we had the comparable story with the little town of Edgerton. I smile as I relate that Edgerton had none of the dramatic backstories and conflict that we saw in "Hoosiers."
The public was entranced by stories like Milan IN and Edgerton MN. We might want to shed tears of happiness.
The worst hyperbole was to bring up "David vs. Goliath." Wait a minute, I did that in the Morris newspaper once, after a volleyball invitational in Morris in which we took fourth behind three teams whose combined school enrollment was less than ours. (I remember putting "combined" in italics.) I was reprimanded internally but that blew over. A parent of one of the players called to thank me.
The Morris school had a lot of significant issues that reached a head in the late '80s, and these did not go away completely in short order. I refer to the school and not specifically "school sports," because I maintained throughout that time that our school's problem was one of underlying culture.
The press people in the movie "Hoosiers" were completely incidental, off to the side, and to the extent we see them, we notice the big bulky old type of cameras. "The press corps" reminded me for an instant of the press guys in the parody movie "Airplane." "OK boys, let's get some pictures," remember that?
Connecting the "Hoosiers" storyline to my own personal storyline, maybe I was in position too for getting a "second chance" with my newspaper career. I had the talent to be a positive contributor all along. The school district-centered issues that reached a head in the late '80s resulted in my being pushed away from the mainstream. The mainstream was largely uncomfortable with the conflict - hardly surprising for any small community. The group of very well-intentioned "insurgents" never climbed to where they would represent the consensus. I'd argue they came close.
Merlin Beyer would later win a write-in campaign for mayor. But he and others, from my perspective, could never escape a certain taint from the conflict. And I was one of the "others." As with any small community conflict, sometimes sub-conflict even develops within a certain group. This is especially true if the group fails to obtain "victory" - perhaps "victory" is too blunt a term.
I worried that consensus was going to be elusive. And it would be elusive because of politics and friendships, a scenario that vaguely echoed the 1973 movie "Walking Tall" (Joe Don Baker).
So, taking the long way around the barn, I'm suggesting without seeking to show chutzpah that a character like me could have been woven into "Hoosiers." OK, I guess it's chutzpah. Give me a break, I've been pretty anonymous in this town since 2006. A writer and photographer with some egg on his face who rises to the occasion and delivers a dynamic, outstanding product worthy of everyone's scrapbooks! Hooray!
In my case, I'd still be derided in a knee-jerk way by certain good old boy types. The good news is that I think the Morris school is run in a totally constructive way today, near as I can tell, no insidiousness caused by cliques and such. So congratulations all. This isn't to say all our MACA coaches are God's gift to coaching - surely they are not - but we feel basically comfortable and happy with the system. Yes I have far more distance from it today. That's my assessment though.
 
A theme that reaches high
So, 1986's "Hoosiers" is all about second chances. It's a given, however I'd like to suggest this quality is more far-reaching than you think. I think it was all about a "second chance for America!"
Huh? I have long felt this, that "Hoosiers" was a strong statement that "conformity was back" in America. Really truly: consider that the heroic coach Dale constantly stressed that "my word is the law." And, "don't speak unless I ask you to."
The latter statement is especially shocking when you consider the backdrop of the late '60s and early '70s in America. I attended a state college in the mid-'70s when people like me got hopelessly enamored with the heroic cloak worn by "the press" in Watergate. Oh, and we were the principals in getting the U.S. out of Vietnam too, right? Actually I think we were. We en masse decided "the government is lying to the people" about Vietnam. So we became totally non-conformist. Combatively non-conformist. We would give no ground.
We weren't going to be fooled by "Tricky Dick's" sheep-dip. A virtual cauldron was brewing.
And the very schoolteachers across America whose job, it would seem, was to promote conformity (so we could all live together in a civilized way) began literally telling kids "it's not important to conform."
The realization by the mid-1980s was that America in spite of its warts was a commendable project or concept - let's embrace it. And toward that end, maybe we could press re-wind and just go back to the '50s with all its supposed "innocence." Never mind that it's largely a fairy tale, we just have to feel good about ourselves! To repeat: "we just have to feel good about ourselves!" Whatever it takes. America had made mistakes so we just had to move forward.
So let's embrace this fairy tale story about a small-town basketball team in 1950s America, nothing but charm abounding, wherein a troubled coach "with a past" overcomes all. So "Hoosiers" was about this big "second chance" for America, and could we pass the test? Based on all that is going on now in 2020 America, month of June, we really have to wonder.
 
Addendum: Just as we didn't get to know any press people in "Hoosiers," we were completely separated from the cheerleaders who most surely were there. They appear in fleeting scenes. Not one line spoken. Notice that? Did it bother you? Subliminally there was projection of women as complimentary players in American life, maybe? Surely the Barbara Hershey character struck everyone as an enigma. She had such a talent for having that kind of persona, mysterious and maybe not very pleasant like in "The Natural" with Robert Redford. Were you bothered by the doubt that swirled at the end of "Hoosiers" over whether Hackman/Hershey formed a permanent relationship? One second the two make eye contact amidst the celebration, then Hackman looks away rather grim-faced. That mean something? And why was Hershey so devoted to following the team after the little speech she gave in the school hallway that just seemed to diss small-town basketball?

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

"Tennis shoes," not real "athletic shoes"

Wells Park will afford some normality

Here we are on the second day of June, our weather having suddenly become ablaze with heat. We won't complain, based on the seemingly interminable nature of winter.
The doldrums of winter can put us in a trance. We don't even appreciate the months of March and April enough. I have concluded we are tempted to "under-dress" for those months as part of a subconscious desire to put the harshest of winter behind us. So we under-dress and find that the March and April weather is really not that pleasant for taking walks etc. So starting this year I have resolved to keep wearing winter stuff into early spring, including my "mad bomber" hat, so to get outside and relish the fresh air.
But now, holy cow, summer is practically assaulting us Minnesotans. The temperature at the Williams home got up to around 100 yesterday. My friend Bryce informed me at the Willie's parking lot this morning that June 2 is going to be just as intense if not more so. Maybe this is the day I can make my first trip to Wells Park and shoot some hoops at the very nice little basketball place there.
I remember the last time doing this last fall. I remember thinking to myself: "Well, it will be a long time before I come back here - I wonder what all will transpire with the news etc. before I come back."
Holy mackerel. Look at what all is going on. I am an early riser and like to switch on cable news as soon as my cup of instant coffee is prepared. Bless our old microwave oven, such a simple and durable machine. Some dark chocolate squares might complement the coffee. And then, what comes forth from my "television device," as "Mork" of the old "Mork and Mindy" sitcom would say?
Provided you don't watch Fox News, you'll get pretty nonstop coverage suggesting directly or indirectly that we have a total crisis of leadership in Washington D.C. And even Tucker Carlson of Fox News was assailing Nikki Haley of all people last night, based on totally innocuous comments by Haley seeking to calm our national mood. What's up with Fox News starting to attack certain Republicans? Haley has been floated as possible VP replacement for Pence under our clown prince president.
Serious criticism of Trump is now pointless. We can digest such thoughts for at least three hours every morning, often very persuasively/eloquently, and where do such thoughts land? There's no need to try to persuade people like me, i.e. "preaching to the choir." Trump's Republican Party has become essentially deaf to rational arguments. It is subservient. They are enablers and as such are increasingly dangerous. No, don't preach to the choir you all, you have to attack the pathology: Republicans in denial, or Republicans who figure there's always enough of a "base" out there that you can thump your chest and celebrate re-election so we can keep hearing the same hopeless rhetoric.
It drones on and on. And the criticism of same drones on and on but in such a futile way.
There is no turning point, no tipping point.
Need we even comment on Trump's behavior yesterday (June 1)? Is it worth our time, even?
I concluded we're at the point where Trump is just going for the most base theatrics now. He is literally just "trying to get attention" which fills a psychological need. He pulls strings to ensure he'll be the focus for commentary through the next news cycle. For example, he chose a Friday to proclaim that all churches across the U.S. were to immediately resume services. Yeah, 'cause churches were "essential."
On Friday he would set the wheels in motion for all the news/discussion shows on TV hashing it over in the most predictable way: what basis does Trump have for declaring it? What legal imprimatur is there (none really)? Could Trump actually follow through on his threat to "override governors" if they aren't responsive?
Conservatives are not supposed to like a high-profile government. They like government to be subdued and in the background so people can take care of themselves. There is a certain degree of merit in that. But Trump puts himself forward not as a helpful leader but rather as a circus barker type of person. "Look at me, look at me, I'm holding a Bible."
No more preaching to the choir, we need to get through to the likes of the Apostolics in the Morris area. I was out walking to the west of my residence a few days ago, on a dirt road, when here comes a pickup toward me with flags on both sides in back, flapping furiously. I caught a glimpse of one of the flags and it had "Keep America Great" (instead of "Make") for Trump. I watched as the truck proceeded to the east, then I saw it pull into the driveway of a known Apostolic family.
Religious differences are fully legitimate. We respect those. But the political leanings of the more conservative churches are becoming hugely problematic. Is Trump really "conservative" as he stands by while the deficit explodes? Is he really conservative on "moral" issues? When you consider his personal behavior with porn stars and Playboy models? When you consider his hush money paid to a porn star? Setting a moral example? Wouldn't you say Barack Obama was diametrically the opposite on a real "moral" scale.
If I could hear just one Apostolic talking in respectful tones about Obama, it would make my day.
 
Don't look for the obvious
If Trump is finally going to descend in his fortunes, how might it happen? Any leader can meet his political Waterloo. But silly rabbit, it might not happen because of the most anticipated or obvious reasons. Let's consider the rioting happening right now. A wise politician would give boilerplate-type speeches about the need for calm and understanding, including at least some understanding of the grievances at the heart.
And why would this be so productive? There is a moral basis, yes, but also the underlying basis of preventing the rampant destruction of property! And what "special interest" would be at the core of this matter? Hey, the insurance industry of America! Insurance can frustrate us sometimes but it really is part of the bedrock of America. It's all about protecting and preserving property. And it is a lobbying force - don't underestimate that.
You can cheer for Trump talking about "law and order" - George Wallace redux. I know all about it. But it's more important to try to bridge gaps in our society so we can "all get along," as Rodney King implored. And, to protect property everywhere!
So, Trump could begin to fall for a less-than-obvious reason. I'll make a constructive comparison: Joe McCarthy did not fall because of any moral outrage that was building up. The outrage has become something like mythology or maybe an ideal, something we'd all like to live up to. "Have you no shame, sir?"
And that's commendable but it doesn't give a full explanation. Hey, what really brought "Tail Gunner Joe" down was politics: he alienated the U.S. Army! The Army turned on him.
We can hope that something analogous is happening with Trump. It's scary because we cannot predict the future.
 
Addendum: Going to Wells Park today (Tuesday) might not be so practical 'cause I see dark storm clouds. I might not have to water the zinnias this evening! Rain might also wash out the planned sit-in at the county courthouse which was supposed to be 1-4 p.m. "Indivisible Morris" is a counter to the Apostolics. As I get set to post this, Trump is on TV again talking about "law and order." Flashback to 1968 and the George Wallace independent presidential campaign.
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com