The photo you see is at Sarlettes, the local music hub. You know Del at right. People don't just buy stuff there, the music aficionados spend time to visit and reminisce. Reminiscing seems all we are left with, when it comes to marching band. Woell was the last of the directors when the program really had legs. He shepherded the program at a time when the concept of marching band was starting to face headwinds.
This was during the 1970s when, for one thing, girls got varsity sports opportunities. Sports seemed to have an ever greater allure for kids. Probably a good thing as long as it doesn't become a bridge too far. We hear over and over these days about the need for more $ for sports facilities/amenities. My online writing lately has cast a critical eye at the new "community softball complex."
We hear too about fundraising for a "new gymnastics gym" and this has puzzled me, because I thought that program basically owned the 1991 gym at the high school. Jim Morrison once wrote an editorial wondering if Morris was trying to become "the gymnasium capital of western Minnesota." If we achieved that, it still wasn't enough in terms of optimal sports facilities, I guess.
Be careful how you talk to sports parents about this - they seem insatiable with their demands - the status quo is never good enough. But we must be determined not to put aside the non-sports assets for our young people.
Woell ran quite the summer marching program in which kids were so devoted, they could be disciplined sharply sometimes, even kicked out of practice, and they'd want to stay in it. This during the summer, keep in mind. Amazing!
Today kids deal with the allure of sports camps and other summer outlets for action. So we must ask: at what point are things getting out of proportion?
Our City of Morris must have gotten its arm twisted to supply $150,000 for the softball complex, at a time when various sidewalks and streets need work. Look at Iowa Avenue going past the old Heartland Motors location. We have seen stop-gap fixes there but these are not holding. Maybe could throw off alignment with your car? Be careful.
We must keep in mind with new sports facilities, that the cost of getting them established is one thing, but then surely they will require maintenance and management. Opponents of the proposed Stevens County jail several years ago made this an issue, as they pointed out that the facility would require a manager and such a person would not work for free.
The girls high school fastpitch softball season does not last all that long - it is at the mercy of weather, and in order to play much beyond graduation-time, you have to win because it's the tournament. The softball complex is a pretty elaborate commitment for such a narrow sports cause: girls fast-pitch. I thought we had perfectly fine facilities up to now. Where do we stop?
I take no pleasure in coming off as crotchety about this. A scoreboard is already up with Mary Holmberg's name on it. Did anyone propose selling the naming rights for the field, a standard practice today? How about "Federated Telephone Field" or "Town and Country Field?" I gather the proponents are still looking for money.
Variety of "looks" for band
Note the three marching band uniforms hanging in the background of the photo that is shared here. Del and yours truly wore all three of those at various times in our school years. Let history document this and let history acknowledge Woell as having done yeoman's work keeping the program going until our youth culture changed to shift priorities.
Close your eyes and remember the MHS marching band tune "Marcho Vivo." Some of us would get misty! The value of marching band wasn't really in the music, as we tended to play the same tune or chart all summer. I guess it was just discipline and camaraderie. Those rewards were nothing to sneeze at.
Happy birthday, Melissa Yauk
Today, April 12, is the birthday of former Morris library director Melissa Yauk, now a resident of Boise, Idaho. She was the librarian during normal pre-pandemic times, times which I'm sure we took for granted. My birthday greeting for Melissa is in my "Morris Mojo" podcast episode. I invite you to click on permalink:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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