A new fall and the new MACA soccer!

There is rumbling from the sky overhead as I initiate writing this post. The weather has never settled down during this spring and summer. Our lawns never burned out. Everything has stayed so green and lush. Good news for wildlife, even the kinds we can find concerning. That is what I will remember most about this spring and summer. 

The calendar rolls onward as it always does. So the UMM young people are around. Labor Day weekend approaches, a time to appreciate the qualities of organized labor in the development of America, right? That comment is offered with levity. Organized labor tends to bond with the Democratic Party. It is almost dangerous to present yourself as a Democrat in these parts. 

Our congressperson attaches herself to Donald Trump in every way she can think of. But she needs a memo as of now. She has been so passionate about pro-life. But her hero/God Trump has changed his stripes on this. Now he presents himself as the champion of reproductive health rights. So he's pro-choice now. 

Dr. Scott Jensen went through the same kind of metamorphosis. With him it happened rather abruptly after the first poll came out and he was 19 points down. Then his campaign ran ads advising Minnesota women that they had full abortion access. Prior to that, Jensen's "brand" was being pro-life. So it is indeed fascinating to watch how people change. 

Time moves on and we're already seeing some high school sports. This is probably the most stimulating reminder of the change of seasons. Tennis is always an early-bird sport. It signals the advent of fall just like the upcoming welcome UMM picnic. But the most significant event of late in our community is the advent of high school soccer. 

It is about time! We can look for our beloved Hispanics giving a big push to this. And I hope the interest is also high among the non-Hispanics. 

Looks like our Morris school board continues to sponsor the sport of football. It would be nice if football were to fade. We can hope participation is going down. We can hope that soccer would push that trend. I don't know what the numbers are. Already there have been a couple deaths around the USA as a direct result of football's intensity and violence. 

A manly sport? In past times it was perceived as such. Or maybe it was a means to get young men ready for the rigors of military service. George W. Bush was a war monger president. He challenged us to be tough, patriotic and unyielding - you know the lingo - whereas the new Republican Party rejects that. Foreign wars are bad, we are now told. Ideally as U.S. citizens we should all make up our minds about that. No intimidation. 

Historically we have been led along too easily. Face the pain of football and "be a man." It's a dated outlook. Good health ought to be the overriding objective. Soccer is not totally without physical risk. I guess there's a thing called "heading." But I can't imagine this practice is as bad as the plethora of football's dangers. 

Life goes on and we will indeed have football again at Big Cat Stadium. St. Cloud State erected a new football stadium in 2004 and since then has followed the wise course of cancelling football. Just because you have a nice stadium does not mean you cannot do the wise thing. Change can be a cumbersome process. 

But change comes to our Motown in the fall of 2024 with the thrill of real official high school soccer! The coach is Juan Cid Ghadarrama. 

I was with the Morris newspaper when UMM began its soccer program. I was quite aware of the historical quality of the moment. 

I wrote the kind of articles that projected the sense of historical significance. You might say I over-dramatized things some, which was actually a trait that I was known to show over time. I remember seeing the late coach Jill Willis at a function of some kind and she smiled/laughed immediately. The fresh edition of the Morris paper had a headline that suggested that Willis' Chokio-Alberta Spartans were looking like a "team of destiny." A little hyperbole, yes, but why not? 

A fair number of people did not like my approach sometimes. I think it's fun to inject an air of drama when writing about our student-athletes. Try to be just like ESPN I guess. I did all my writing before "Stephen A." came along. I do remember Chris Berman being current. When Moe Williams of the Vikings caught a pass, Berman would go "why I oughtta. . ." Roy Firestone was current, he of the Keith Jackson impression. 

There's always a big new story in sports. Look at Caitlin Clark right now. Look at the tremendous growth of women's basketball. And here at the micro level of Morris MN we have the most exciting new chapter of boys soccer. Yes I would absolutely be "over-dramatizing it" if I were still in the local commercial media. I smile. I would have fun doing this. Isn't that what life is all about? 

I saw so many dour and humorless Tiger sports fans through the years. Remember, the 1980s were nothing like what Tiger sports projects today. Night and day. No more pompous academics saying "sports is secondary." The faculty has lost considerable power from what it once had. No more pompous lectures on how "wins and losses" are not important. Well it sure is important to strive for wins. 

 

Hillcrest 7, Tigers 1

Alas the MACA soccer team did not win its debut. In this instance I will agree that "wins and losses are not important." The program has gotten off the ground. The Tigers were defeated 7-1 by Hillcrest of Fergus Falls. We scored our lone goal just one minute and 30 seconds into the game. 

Rod Jensen, coach of the Comets, was quoted on Craig Olson Sports saying: "I applaud and congratulate Morris High School and coaching staff for launching a MSHSL program - this was their first game ever. This old coach remembers the challenges and work to develop and build a new program!" 

Thanks for the thoughtful words, coach Jensen. 

I can close my eyes and imagine the kind of spread I'd do in the Morris newspaper, replete with some hyperbole and a sense of history. Just like I did for the then-new UMM soccer program. I remember our first women's goalie, Katie Riba.

The Olsen twins were featured in a soccer movie! Back when VHS tapes were a thing, my mom and I would watch some of the Olsen twins' movies. I don't think we watched this one. Name any sport and you'll probably remember an appealing movie. With wrestling, I remember "Win Win."
 

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

Again, the "heroin" of low interest rates

(image from youtube)

Quantitative easing, again? It happens so regularly: the absolute drumbeat from high places saying we need lower interest rates, rock-bottom interest rates. The lower the better. Is this always the universal fix? The impatience is, well, palpable. 

The voices have been ever so strident over the past week or two. Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve is having his arm absolutely twisted. How firm or resolved is Mr. Powell? That is a good question because he only recently talked like he was the absolute caretaker of the U.S. I mean, he actually talked about how inflation hurts the poor and middle class. What a benevolent soul. But then the arm-twisting takes over. Billionaires and their ilk absolutely salivate over rock-bottom interest rates. 

We hear J.D. Vance characterized as a "Wall Street investor" as if this is his defining feature. So we're looking to him to help lead the way for creating prosperity? Well, he definitely will help create increased prosperity for the well-off. And Kevin O'Leary trumpets that "there's nothing wrong with being rich." He too purports to be leader or example-setter for us all. I looked him up and he's "Canadian." 

Piers Morgan gets quoted prominently and he's certainly not American. He's really an entertainer. And doesn't O'Leary oversee "Shark Tank?" Is being on TV your ticket to being a widely-quoted VIP? Really? And how did Donald Trump get his name established? Through the entertainment media and television, right? We are being led along by such folks. 

And no one should think there is "anything wrong" with being rich. How do we define "rich?" AOC has said "no one needs to be a billionaire." Stop and think about how much a billion dollars really is. 

Jerome Powell has absolutely telegraphed an interest rate cut at the next meeting for such things. He sounded so resolute yesterday (Friday) that I wondered why the Fed didn't call an emergency meeting. After all, the Wall Street heavy-hitters are waiting for their next heroin injection. 

And we the common people just observe this with nary a questioning eye. 

Vance didn't need much if any talent to do well in the investing community, not over the recent past when interest rates have on the whole been incredibly low. He could ride the wave with his fellow Scrooge McDucks. 

You have a 401K? So maybe you're receptive to the whole scenario: lower interest rates signal stock market erupting to wildly higher heights. Is prosperity that simple? There is no free lunch. "Free money" does not just create unbounded happiness for all. 

Most commentators are now foreseeing a whole succession of interest rate cuts, extending through not only 2025 but 2026 as well. Some experts are trying to ring warning bells, like for example an "inflation spike" as early as January. Should this be concerning? We have seen plenty of inflation in contemporary times. I have been very surprised to not hear more concern voiced about it. 

Paul Volcker

The USA once had to put Paul Volcker to work attacking inflation, pulling it out by its roots as if it was nasty weeds. He guaranteed us a recession. We got it. Surprisingly Americans got through it all in a happy state. I mean, just look at the popular entertainment we consumed through the 1970s. Aha, "Laverne and Shirley." Anti-intellectual fare yes but also fun. 

Today we have the Internet as a foundation to our lives. Generally speaking the Internet is a meritocracy. But I am surprised that more voices aren't breaking through to warn us about what another wave of "QE" might do. Will inflation come along and "break the camel's back?" 

The Roman Empire collapsed because of inflation. Inflation of Germany's Wiemar Republic led to the rise of the Nazis. Panic sets in and then people look for a "wallpaper hanger." That was Hitler in Germany. And right now in America, who do you suppose looms as Hitler redux? Who has all the qualities? Well of course it's Trump who stays so incredibly prominent in our national conversation despite his notorious and criminal background. We just don't seem to care. 

Many people now are assuming that the Democrats with Harris at the fore guarantee the end of Trump-ism as a national threat. It absolutely does not. Trump hovers as much as ever with his new partner Vance, he of the Wall Street rarefied air world where everything comes up roses due to rock-bottom interest rates. 

Jerome Powell is not subtle. He is quite up front in suggesting that the Fed is going to satisfy the restless interests of the investors, the billionaires. They have made known to this thing called "the Fed" that they are desperate for the heroin of quantitative easing. And isn't it certain they'll get it? You know how money talks, right? 

You get attention when you have money or if you give it away. Any organization will fawn over you like you're a total VIP if you give them some money. I hope and pray that the day will come when we in America will see there has to be some nuance with this, some reasonable perspective. 

There is no free lunch. Reject the heroin. You'll have to persuade J.D. Vance and Doug Burgum about all this, of course. It may be impossible. Heaven help us.

 

On to basketball

What a day in Minnesota! It's Saturday and a marquee day for the hoops sport 'cause Caitlin Clark will be here. Game-time is 7 p.m. from Target Center. I quote here from an email I sent to my fellow UMM advocate Warrenn Anderson this morning.

 

"CC"

Hello Warrenn - Well it's Caitlin Clark day in Minnesota. She has been so incredibly refreshing on the national stage, and usually when someone gets that famous we start to learn about their human failings. This has not happened with Caitlin yet, and maybe that amazes me more than anything. She just seems "perfect" all the way around.

I heard very interesting commentary on women's basketball this past week. It registered with me because I have noticed the same thing. The women's basketball players of today are more feminine-appearing than in past times. The commentator said the players of today are "snow bunnies," not "dikes." I have seen a fair number of the latter through the years. But look at Lexie Hull of the Indiana Fever. Fit for magazine covers. There are many others. Cameron Brink is a looker. Caitlin ranks high on that scale herself. Like I said, she's perfect.

- Brian W.

Let's welcome boys soccer into the mix

Time flies by faster as one get older. We proceed from one significant event on the calendar to the next. We keep our orientation. We know what to expect. So we've put the county fair behind us. 

Advancing years also makes me aware of what seems to be concerning inflation. I meandered around the fairgrounds and did not hear concerns about the price of everything. Well I'm 69 years old, will turn the page to my 70s in January, God willing. 

Inflation was an up-front topic in the 1970s, the decade of disco music and "Smokey and the Bandit" movies. Jackie Gleason was willing to play a sheriff who came across as so foolish. Whereas today, our pop culture encourages us to have respect for law enforcement. 

The law enforcement that was present at the U.S. capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was not worthy of so much respect. We read of at least one U.S. Congressperson who refused to shake hands with capitol police after that event. 

Our world can be "Alice Through the Looking Glass" at times. So in the future we might look back with some amazement. We look back now at the many years when we were sold on the escalation of the Vietnam war. Remember the movie "The Green Berets?" Yes we look back in amazement. 

Again I will use a quote out of its intended context: "We are so human an animal." 

Now I am getting to my main point in this post, prompted by the realization of how time flies. We look at the calendar and my goodness, summer is fading. And that means we have the signaling by the Donnelly Threshing Bee, Labor Day weekend and the start of fall high school sports activity. And I am so happy to note we have boys soccer in the mix of offerings, finally. 

A favored activity by the Hispanics? Well yes, that's the word out there, and it's a happy thing. But it would be nice to see enthusiasm from the other boys as well. This would include boys who would normally go out for football. I'd say "hooray" if football fell off to the point where our school board would consider just canceling it. Wishful thinking I suppose. 

The endless sea of easily accessible information on the dangers of football to its participants puts up a warning signal. You may enjoy watching football. You may enjoy watching it so much, you'll be resentful about the tone of my commentary here. But of course we need to put the entertainment value of football aside. And I realize that is hard to do. 

I just consumed a couple podcasts about pro players who became highly damaged by injuries that were either physical or brain-related or both. These players: Carson Wentz and "RGIII." They are dealing with conditions that will almost certainly haunt them the rest of their lives. And there are plenty of similar stories, including stories ending in death, about males who never made it to the pro level. 

Carson Wentz

Wentz had a pounding concussion. Plus, an ACL tear that a teammate reported was "affecting his back." 

Wentz is now a backup at Kansas City. If you were to see him trot out onto the field, you would expect him to look like when he was in his prime. We don't even want to think about the affects of extreme injury. We sit comfortable in our own lives, just wanting to enjoy watching football. 

Remember the ghastly injury that Teddy Bridgewater had when he was with the Vikings? It was reported that the bottom portion of his leg almost came off. 

So you say you're bored watching soccer? Well, learn to like it. It is a stupendously popular sport around the globe, inspiring riots even. 

Soccer means there is a net increase of student activities at our Morris Area High. In athletics we are "MACA" but we're still the Tigers. But never forget the Spartans! I see Neal Hofland on many mornings at DeToy's Restaurant. He made famous the toss-sweep play when he coached Chokio-Alberta. 

 

Is it time?

The steady growth in extracurricular makes me want to repeat a suggestion: Let us open up Wednesday night for student activities just like the other weekdays. I'll remind you of the problem: Wednesday is considered "church night." Is this proclamation by law or what? 

I say open up Wednesday night 100 percent. Why not? The Christian faith has become bastardized anyway, at least in many places. Most places, actually. We have seen reports of ministers getting complaints from their members about quoting from Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount." It's amazing. Jesus' own words. 

So maybe our Lord and Savior could sometimes sound receptive to a little collectivism? Are people so influenced by Republican politics? By Republicans of the MAGA stripe thee days? And amazingly it reaches the point where many people who call themselves Christian have more respect for Donald Trump than for Jesus Christ our Lord. This appears literally to be true. 

Jesus had a little Bernie Sanders in him. Let me remind you, since so many of you appear clueless, that all advanced industrial nations are a combination of free market enterprise and socialism. Yes, socialism. If you cannot accept that, please stay home on Sundays. 

So because of the highly political nature of so many of our Christian churches today, I implore our public schools to treat Wednesday like any other day of the week. I have always heard that school music programs have a hard time getting their concerts shoe-horned into the schedule. I heard of one school that "put its foot down" re. this, deciding that a couple days were to be absolutely set aside for humanities events in spring, no matter how many sports "makeup games" were piling up. 

I applaud that. 

It's important this coming fall for us to get out and support soccer. Cheer for the Hispanics and the non-Hispanics in this more gentle sport compared to the barbarity of football. Why did Carson Wentz allow himself to be put in position to be hurt so badly? Or RGIII? 

RGIII refused to allow himself to be taken out of games. It was all because of this tragic allure of football, how stadiums get filled with people screaming out of their minds. All I can do is continue to try to warn y'all.

 

It's still summer

Before all the fall excitement begins, consider getting out to the biking/walking trail to "commune with nature." Now there's a romantic notion. It has allure but can be misleading. That is because nature can be a foreboding place. Yes, even out by our Pomme de Terre River you could come in contact with "nature" that would not be welcome. I write more about this in my current "Morris of Course" post. I invite you to read and thanks:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2024/08/i-thought-i-saw-fisher-cat-maybe-not.html 

 

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

Is there hope for evangelicals now?

Remember the essence

Long ago I typed "beware false prophets" as an advisory about what was going on politically. Not that I'm such a wise person but perhaps I am prescient. Prescience means it would take time for others to catch up to me. I'm defensive on this because I don't wish to come across as saying "I told you so." 

What do I get out of this, anyway? I write because it has always been a chief aim in my life, a guiding aim. And I can reach an audience now thanks to all the new tech - reach an audience without spending a penny. I would be online anyway. 

Some components of that have worked out better than others. I made one attempt to sign up for online banking with one of my banks. On and on I went through their process - could there be no end? Multiple passwords or pass-phrases that I had to submit. No, certain aspects of my money management would continue to be done the old standard way. 

My aborted online banking experiment was with a bank which once had a physical presence in Morris. But that then changed as things often do with a bank. That bank is today known as U.S. Bank. They do have a branch in Alexandria. I started these accounts with State Farm Bank. State Farm eventually decided it was not practical to operate a bank. 

I have gone through changes also with the bank now known as "B-Mo." Well, that's Bank of Montreal, a Canadian flourish! Globalization indeed spreads its effects. With a shrug I've decided to trust a Canadian institution. "Adapt or die." My accounts there were set up when the institution was Bank of the West. This bank in Morris traces its origins all the way back to the old Citizens Bank! 

Citizens Bank was the classic small town bank of its time. So was "Morris State Bank" on the other side of Atlantic Avenue. Just to be different I went with "First Federal Savings and Loan," later to be "First Federal Savings Bank." And this institution has morphed into Riverwood. Businesses were not lined up to sponsor my graduation photo in the Morris newspaper back in '73. So my photo appeared with First Federal no doubt because I had an account there. 

This was truly "the old days" when young people got lectured on how important it was to "save money." The piggy bank principle. Then you'd get "paid interest" at the bank, and to really make progress there was "compound interest." One of my favorite economic commentators has observed that the reason so many boomers (like me) got situated so well for retirement is that when younger, they took advantage of "compound interest." 

So what happened to this advantage? This virtue? It vanished. Everyone got entranced by the stock market. Businesses set up 401Ks for their employees. Forum Communications set up something like that for me even though I expressly said I didn't want it. I found out about it when I inquired about our annual Christmas bonuses which up until then were done with cash. That was so nice. Some nice crisp bills to cover random costs in one's life. 

Instead we had to deal with some sort of "account" that had been set up for us. A business making financial decisions for its employees? Can we trust our employers to do this? As a matter of instinct, I'd say no. But life goes on. 

Our thinking about finances evolves, just as our religious life can get turned on its head. So all these years after I first warned about "false prophets," other people, after some head-scratching, seem to be saying there's something to that. My comment was of course directed toward Donald Trump. I didn't see anything Christ-like in him at all. Quite the opposite. 

I felt rather alone out here in rural western Minnesota where we have a congressperson now who thinks pro-life and Second Amendment are the only things on our minds. Michelle Fischbach survived a challenger who was actually to the right of her. This is our norm for the time being. 

Michelle Fischbach

However, is it possible that some smelling salts are finally being applied? There are signs Trump is a very bad, very selfish person. He crosses the line into criminality. Fischbach is proud to be an ally. 

"Evangelicals for Harris" is out there now. It was the evangelical movement in America that got Trump elected president in 2016. Footnote: Hillary Clinton actually got three million more votes than Trump. A mere quibble I guess. So we got the court-packing and the assault on women's reproductive health rights. Now we'll need a concerted effort to try to reverse that. It will not be easy. 

Abortion is women's health care. 

An "Evangelicals for Harris" ad denounces Trump as false prophet. Oh my, the sheer stupidity and mendacity out here on the otherwise blissful prairie where we have so many "conservative" churches full of Trump and MAGA people. There may be some fissures in all that now. It's a slow process and we're by no means done. 

Yahoo! News reports "a group of evangelicals is hoping to convince their fellow Christians not to fall for Donald Trump's lies once again." Declaring Trump a "fake prophet" is based on the Bible verse that reads "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." 

It is believed that if 20 percent of evangelicals turn away from Trump, the Democrat will win, democracy will win and be preserved. I say that just in case you care about democracy. You'll miss it when it's gone. And if it leaves us, do not assume the political right will necessarily keep the advantage. Politics will become like organized crime: people who are capable of seizing power will simply seize it. 

In our Morris there are three churches that resist the hard-right political trend of so much of Christianity. We have First Lutheran (my church), Faith Lutheran and Federated. Of the three, I would say Faith is doing the best and that's because they are riding the crest of a popular minister. But of late the rumors have been bouncing all over the place that Pastor Emmy's days here could be numbered. 

Pastor Emmy

So her husband got a job in Minot? That was the initial word, but of late we have heard that he has arranged for online-only work? Really? Well maybe he has. But if this was in the cards right from the start, why did the family even have to mention "Minot" to anyone? Minot is a nine-hour drive from here. If the job is online-only they would not have had to say anything. Life would just go on. 

So I'm wondering if maybe it's a matter of time before they'll want to leave, to get closer to Minot which would seem to be a natural impulse for an ambitious professional person. 

Why am I concerned? It's hard enough for one of the two ELCA churches in town to find a new pastor. My First Lutheran is in search of a permanent pastor. If Faith falls into the same situation, something drastic may have to happen like forced consolidation. Whew, a heavy lift. What building would be closed? 

All ELCA churches have been challenged in the age of MAGA. We do not buy the "false prophet" of Trump. I am concerned that so many have fallen for him. But that's our world. "Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do."

Never lose sight

 

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

Prices at fair didn't faze people

Prices for concessions at our county fair struck me as high. I say hardly anything about this because I clearly sense that people out and about don't care. So that's fine if they don't care, really, and we ought say congratulations if their personal $ fortunes are so good. 

We had severe inflation in the '70s and people most definitely talked about it. Our political leaders felt it was an issue. If it's an issue now it does not  seem to rank very high. Kamala Harris tried talking about it in the past couple days. "Tried?" People out here with the strong "red" political inclination would not listen to her for a second - they would only comment on what she says in the context of disparaging her. 

A guy came into DeToy's the other morning and referred to the Democratic nominee as "Camel Hair." Ha ha. That's the attitude around here. It's just reality and I must navigate it. 

In the '70s we heard the term "inflation psychology" as if the phenomenon grew out of our own missteps. So if we just changed our attitude? Balderdash, I would suggest. It was our president Gerald Ford who helped unveil the "WIN" button. Ahem, "whip inflation now." So I guess it was incumbent on us the public to tamp down inflation, through our own resolve. 

Ford also wanted to go back into Vietnam with our military but Congress said "no, we're not giving you the money." 

Is there anything more quaint than to remember the 1976 presidential campaign? Ford vs. Carter? How civilized and congenial it was? There was a harsher tone for the Carter vs. (Ted) Kennedy race for the Democratic nomination in 1980. Those were the days when people in western Minnesota would have taken the Democratic candidate seriously, not seen that individual as nothing more than some kind of boil. 

Republicans are making waves now in states where they have full control: get pornography off the Internet. I remember Rick Santorum making statements about this years ago. South Dakota now appears to be on the verge of taking steps. 

And of course any time you begin protests against "pornography," you get into a thicket of complications. How to explain? I'll just cite the famous quote from someone who I think was a judge: "I can't define pornography but I know it when I see it." 

Does an image of the naked human body by itself constitute pornography? Do we really need to plunge into this morass again? Support felony convictions for librarians who are suggested to have "porn" in their building's materials? Such efforts always break down. The alternative would be to be generous to First Amendment-protected expression. 

Easily accessible porn? You know about "Pornhub," right? Want to see it disappear? Republicans posture on "moral" questions such as this because they realize they can get a certain segment of the public to vote for them. "Protect children." Well, how can anyone argue against that? 

I am going to be especially blunt here, strive for candor. I am recognizing the wisdom included in Bernard Goldberg's most significant book in which he observed "people are notorious for lying about their sex lives." By the same token, people lie when they say they think pornography is disgusting. How unclean and immoral it is etc. 

It is the point of view which maybe we should aspire to. In the recesses of our private thoughts, we are programmed much differently. People enjoy sexual feelings. But what about protecting kids? Here's where I'll venture into raw frankness. Buckle up. I have no problem with kids discovering a site like Pornhub and spending time there, because: they will find in a short period of time that it becomes boring. They will become "desensitized." 

This happens with adults all the time I'm sure. And I'll argue it's a good thing because it takes our minds off sex. The horrible moral stigma of sex can cause great distress. And maybe this is especially true with kids/boys. Let the boys "get over it." Don't make them desperate to find naked images of women. Don't make them feel out of their minds guilty if moms discover evidence of sexual interest. 

I won't be more explicit re. "evidence of sexual interest. " So Maybe I'm not being so frank after all. Even I have limits. 

Let kids see some porn and they will not view sex as this huge foreboding forbidden forest as it were (for lack of a better description). 

Did I deal with anxiety from all this in my own youth? Well yes. I will reflect no further.

 

More on our county fair

It's in the books now: the 2024 Stevens County Fair. Concessionaires have totaled up their profits. 

I have a sense that the 4-H foodstand is slipping some. I think people are gravitating to the other end of the grounds around where the Cattlemen and wrestling program do their thing with concessions. There's a big top tent and picnic tables there, quite inviting. 

I do sense some basic erosion with the 4-H foodstand. I hope they do not continually raise profit targets, because a chief purpose of the 4-H foodstand is public relations for that wonderful program. 

I do not take in any of the special entertainment at the fair. A friend shared with me the following:

I heard that the featured performer in the grandstand show Friday night wasn’t very good - lots of complaints on the Facebook today.

 

The newspaper this week 

I shared with the friend who is quoted above:

 

Went to library this afternoon, looked at fishwrap. Big featured photo at top of page 1, whole width of the page, of the Friday night entertainment which you indicated was mediocre. I too have heard some comments about this. Not a great subject to feature on page 1. I would have sought a photo that showed kids' involvement at the fair, specifically 4-H where there are always photo ops.

 

The school referendum

Everyone is so happy about school referendums. And it's "referendums" and not "referenda" - I looked it up. They always pass in Morris, right? Well, was not so easy or routine this last time. It passed but by a tight margin. So let's unload some wheelbarrows-full of $ for the school again. I don't want to come off sounding like a curmudgeonly older person who gets skeptical about school spending. 

I did not vote - would have voted "no" if I had. You "yes" people needn't be upset with me - you got your money, good luck. I reflect on the referendum in a post that appears on my "Morris of Course" site. Here is the permalink, thanks for reading:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2024/08/school-referendums-no-longer-slam-dunk.html 

 

As a follow-up I share further from an email I sent to my musing correspondent:

 

Wow, I just went to kmrs site. I was skeptical they'd even have a report on referendum because it's not like the old days with Marshall. But it was reported there! And I was surprised at how close the vote was - very close. Based on this, I'm surprised I didn't hear more "talk on the street" leading up to it. I guess I should have voted. I would have voted "no" but I figured that all referendums are slam-dunk for passage these days. Just think back to the 1960s.

At church coffee Sunday, Mike O. was at my table and I noted how part of the money will be for "seating at the tennis courts." He confirmed that. Then I said "what we really need is seating at the softball complex - that's more important." He didn't respond. Well, maybe for the next referendum. I'm sure the school can come up with a new list. They will. But now it looks like referendums cannot be assumed for passage.

Someone on the "no" side should have submitted a letter to the editor. Remember how Warren Luebke and Ken Johnson tag-teamed on this once? They failed but they worked hard to educate us. Remember the referendum for the "new elementary school?" But it wasn't just for an elementary school, as it included a lot of other stuff like new varsity gym, band room and choir room. Wanda sure has the band room decorated nice. I hope she has a lot of returning talent.

 

My friend responded:

 

Bri -

There already is some seating at the softball complex, but none at all at the tennis courts. Lots of people come to watch the tennis matches.

I, too, am surprised at the closeness of the tally. It’s a good thing that not enough Scrooges voted. There was very little publicity on either side of the coin – just the flyers mailed out. No letters to the editor (not that anyone reads the paper any more), no “Community Connection” on KMRS (not that anyone listens to that station any more), and no “social media” blitz from either faction. I’m surprised anyone showed up to vote at all.

 

Our discussion continued with me sending the following missive:

 

The problem with the small section of aluminum bleachers at Holmberg Field is that only from the very center can you see the whole field of action. So it just does not seem like a professionally planned layout at all. Of course I investigated all this before a game was ever played there. I am an outlier. Ironically the secondary field has a little better seating for fans. And then there's the third field which is the one most recently completed. I walk by the place almost every day and have not seen much game action there. I have written from the start that the batters face the sun too much at that field. This is on the same spot as the old UMM softball field, which was actually planned well with sun angle in mind. 

The old UMM softball field had fences that an adult of average height could easily look over. The new place [Holmberg Field] is terrible. If you sit on the first or third base sides, you are having to look through the fence at an angle. And you have to bring your own chairs. Many people choose to put their chairs down out by the outfield fence. I see this all the time. Not desirable. And then the fans are looking right at the outfielders' butts. 

One theory I have is that all new fields of this type have to stress safety so much - protect fans from foul balls, especially with fans looking down at their phones. Remember the old school art deco auditorium. I still regret that we razed that. But it had the "drop-off" at the front of the stage which would be a real hazard now.

The way the softball complex was originally announced, I really expected it to be super-duper. And it just is not. And they promised us a paved parking area. You have to watch what these schools are up to.

I wonder if Tiger sports will make progress toward getting more timely game review information online in various places. The paper coming out once a week absolutely doesn't cut it.

The radio station website has already had its "heyday." That's too bad.

- BW

 

Watch the Tigers!

We're close to high school fall sports. This always starts soon after the fair. We're welcoming soccer as a fall sport. Reportedly very popular among the Hispanic youth. Congratulations to them. I hope the appeal goes beyond that demographic. We must try to expedite the end of football. Too bad it is taking so long. I am not impressed by this Pope guy who coaches. I'm not talking about his coaching ability. 

I write more about the clarion call posed by repetitive head trauma in football in my Aug. 8 "Morris of Course" post. Here's the link, and again, thanks. 

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2024/08/you-can-learn-teamwork-in-band-and.html 

 

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

Addressing history in a small community

Moving from one community to another has become such a routine thing. Far fewer, if any, emotions attached to it. We adjust and can easily get into a new circle of friends. Join a new church if church is a "thing" for you. 

This phenomenon has been widely commented upon: our more mobile society. In line with this is the ease of commuting. I am amazed at the extent some people do this. To each their own, of course. I remember a Morris High School principal who lived in Willmar. His last name was like "croquet." I do not understand why any such arrangement would be practical or desirable. 

So the question arises: Is it really so necessary to appreciate the history of the community in which you live? There should be at last a cursory recording of any community's history. But I'm wondering about a full-fledged museum. This is on my mind on this early morning of mid-August because of our "historical society" here in Morris. Make that Stevens County I suppose. 

Well, the museum has fallen into some tumult. It's in transition. 

I'm thinking about the museum's location in west Morris. 

What to make of west Morris? It is separate from the "business district." Not nearly so much business over there. It is obviously "on the other side of the tracks." Is that expression sort of a putdown of that set of neighborhoods? Generally speaking the residences show signs of aging. I sometimes shoot baskets at Wells Park and find there is an industrial noise issue. Maybe when you live close to that, you learn to ignore it. 

Back when the "cemetery chimes" were rather a raging controversy in east Morris, people would bring up the church bells. They'd argue that no one really had an issue with those, so why the hubba about Ted Storck's chimes? Is this another case of where people learn to ignore the sounds? 

Simply making the pro-chimes argument probably made people think about church bells more. So after a few moments of considering that, maybe we'd conclude "church bells are a total anachronism." Maybe they were once helpful for being aware of the time of day. Well, nowadays? No such need at all. Maybe we're just hoping that God is paying attention to us. 

People mention also the trains that come roaring through. Do we learn to just blot that out too? It's nice to not be distracted by noise pollution too much. As for the industrial noise, we certainly appreciate the presence of local industry. 

Our Stevens County museum

It is easy for our local museum to be out-of-mind. The building is in an out-of-the-way place, tucked in among the old but charming west Morris neighborhoods. Really, you have to go out of your way to have the museum cross your mind, don't you? 

My belief has always been that the library and museum should be in the same building. This would make people much more aware of the museum. Helpful for getting $ considerations. But in this age of our "more mobile society," just how top-of-mind is the local community's history? 

And weaved in with this is: how important is it to have a local cemetery? Do we need it at all? 

Decades roll past and the residents of Morris in past eras become strangers to us. Quite different from when America was in what I would call the "Peyton Place era." The latter: So many lifetime residents out and around, each with a life story including of course warts, and then they're buried and we're reminded of both them and their warts. 

Today people move around so liberally that you can erase the slate.  Forge sort of a new identity. Of course many people, I believe, just protect their privacy more. Maybe that is a very healthy thing. 

Along with "Peyton Place America" I would offer the term "Norman Rockwell America." We didn't even have an interstate highway system until the '60s, right? Man, just think how transformative that has been. We got a preview with "Route 66." Remember when "Lucy and Ricky" took the trip on Route 66 with their apartment landlords? And there was a whole TV series called "Route 66." 

Route 66 seems primitive now compared to all our contemporary assets for travel. Let us emphasize here too that cars are so much better made now, able to withstand serious commuting. Man, does anyone worry about getting a "flat tire" anymore? Many of you might remember the days of agonizing over that. Mercy. 

I wrote just a few days ago about how a local ELCA minister's husband has reportedly taken a job in Minot. This is totally consistent with my thoughts as I write this. No longer a bombshell move: moving to Minot or anywhere else. When our chief librarian of a few years retired and moved out to Idaho, no big deal at all. We might forget that in a past era this kind of relocation would be seen as drastic. The America of today is so different. 

We wonder if the ELCA minister who I reference can even stay in Morris. She is so highly thought of, I presume she could find a new parish in short order. But it's all speculation. 

Our world has gotten smaller because of the Internet of course. We can research new opportunities that might be presented anywhere. Just with a few clicks. 

Some might say we are losing our sense of community. Perhaps it's a maudlin thought, just like the idea that people at the local diner will "know your name." That's how it used to be. Morris does not even have the classic type of main street diner. I used to go into "Ardelle's" (or "Kelly's" before that) and see familiar faces at a certain hour. People who went through standard routines. 

The "Peyton Place" type of town had an array of interesting personalities. The downside was that we'd get to know people's baggage and peccadilloes. Yet we loved our "hometowns," right? Of course we did. So it was natural to get your body put in the ground there when you died. As for someone who might move to Idaho at retirement, well I wonder how necessary that is. Not necessary at all, I would argue. 

I can walk through our Morris cemetery and see a whole lot of names that might have once carried weight with memories. Many do not any more. "Edson." Who was that? Well he was sure important once. God rest his soul. But time marches on. Change marches on. We can only hope that change is for the better.

 

Ah, Ms. Grove

Our Stevens County museum is in the "Carnegie" building. So it was established as a library. Mom and I used to walk to the library there. We were familiar with Ms. Grove. The building had aesthetic value on the outside. Was it worth preserving for that reason alone? Inside it is nothing. Many very old buildings are like this, seem rather cramped on the inside. 

The huge flaw of our museum is that there is no parking lot close by. Just residential streets. That's why I wish the museum was just built onto the library. Would make a world of difference for foot traffic. 

West Morris is a residential place. That's wonderful. But the important public stuff is concentrated on the east side. That's wonderful too. 

I think the "mobile society" trends will increasingly make a small town's history less important. Remember how iconic the local "bank presidents" were? You ought to smile at that reference. Today it's totally different as we have "branch managers" who really just blend in with the rest of us. And that's wonderful too.

 

Addendum: The great movie reviewer Roger Ebert talked about how movies portray small towns as the most desirable places to live, "where everyone knows your name at the local diner." The irony, he noted, is that the people who make movies do not have that view at at all. 

Garrison Keillor comes to mind too, how he wrote about the small town newspaper office that gets subscription renewal checks with exotic place names on them. These subscribers just have to know what's going on in their old stomping grounds, Keillor wrote. "Is Norm really selling the hardware store?" These people have to know the goings-on in such a place, even though they wouldn't choose to live there again "even if you paid them."

 

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

Growing pains at our county fair?

In the always-room-for-improvement category, from an email from a friend on this Sunday morning:

I heard that the featured performer in the grandstand show Friday night wasn’t very good - lots of complaints on the Facebook today.

 

Maybe it's time to expand the Stevens County Fair? Expand the grounds or expand parking? This year for the first time I noticed a couple "park and ride" signs at remote places like Grandstay and Hudson Inn. A friend told me the feature was offered last year too. A "shuttle system" to the fairgrounds as it were. 

And after dealing w/ the fair this year, I most certainly say "amen" on the shuttle idea. Man, the situation gets congested out there. 

I finally navigated the situation by walking or riding bike. There is no obvious place to park one's bike. Well, there's another feature that the fair people might consider. I just went out beyond the Lee Center lot and parked my bike in the weeds. A friend wondered if I was worried about someone stealing it. Fortunately I use a bike of zero value, deteriorated. Gets me from point A to point B still. 

Walking? My body is still in good enough shape. 

My friend who made the bike comment was a high school classmate. Isn't it neat to renew old acquaintances at the fair like this? I was reminded of our changed times, bigly you might say: her party included a younger brother who I had only vaguely known in a previous time. He was accompanied by his same-sex partner. Introduced literally as a spouse. We take such things in stride today. Older people who are inclined to think it's strange or objectionable will still be polite and keep their composure in this situation. 

Change rolls forward and the protest voices are just that: voices. They diminish with time just like the secessionist voices of the U.S. Civil War. The Union was correct in describing the movement as a (mere) rebellion. Voices of discontent, that's all. It's a part of human nature. 

In that vein I'll note that I saw several Steve Boyd T-shirts out and around. That's the fellow who appears to think our incumbent congressperson is not conservative enough. Hell's bells, just consider that for a very long time we had a Democrat representing this district! Today we are so "red" we are just bleeding it. I even saw the Steve Boyd booth at the fairgrounds exhibit building. I walked up to the people and said "Doesn't Michelle Fischbach have the endorsement of Donald Trump?" A very good question, I might note. 

The Trump followers out here have behaved like total cult members. So it's surprising that some within this "red" crowd would find that the Trump-endorsed person is not good enough for them. Is this like the Confederacy of the Civil War? Futile? 

I'm sure if I were to meet Steve Boyd, it would be a pleasant encounter. I don't know what makes people like that so regressive in many of their views. And why isn't the "nationwide abortion ban" in the national Republican platform? Huh? Why? "Life begins at conception." That's what Boyd believes. 

Will the Democrats ever have a shot at anything out here again? The local Dems did venture to have a booth at the fair. I wonder if these people feared for their physical safety. I saw the official Republican Party booth not far from the Boyd people. Nice red signs promoting the sexual assault perpetrator for president. Trump would be in bigger trouble now if he hadn't been able to pack the Supreme Court with his people. They will absolutely protect him. 

I have read that the Minnesota State Fair has become a problem because the people are so absolutely thick on the grounds, it can be literally hard to walk through. I have actually read of real annoyance about this. I was reminded of this Saturday afternoon at our Stevens County Fair. That's when I encountered my high school classmate and her full family party by the old "rest cottage." 

I think there's a newer rest cottage now. I remember when I was with the newspaper and Eleanor Killoran made a big push to resuscitate the old rest college. A very nice idea and I rather puffed it on the front page. How can you deny the wishes of such a sweet old woman? Let's be honest: she was a little eccentric too. 

I think it was her eccentric trait that made her want to re-establish the outdoor performing stage - i.e. "bandshell" - at East Side Park. She pushed through that idea as well and it has simply cost city taxpayers money for maintenance. Let's observe that the idea of an outdoor stage at the park was a miserable failure. 

These "donors" shouldn't be doing us these "favors." Someone donates for something rather superfluous like some kind of "arts" facility and there are ongoing maintenance expenses that can be considerable. Not long ago I saw someone perched up high on a crane doing some touch-up painting at the Killoran building. It really is a "building." Don't tell me a contractor like that comes cheap. 

I can remember the people for whom things are named in this town. Our former football field was called "Coombe field." It's gone now but I still remember Bill Coombe. I remember his old colleagues commenting on how he set himself up for retirement so perfectly and then he died quickly. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die, I guess. 

Mr. Coombe liked referring to himself in the third person.

I knew Don Chizek for whom the baseball field is named. I kept stats for the Tiger baseball team in a long-ago time. Remember how "scorecards" were hawked at the old Metropolitan Stadium? That whole system for recording a baseball game has faded into obsolescence. I used it for our high school. So long ago: Why do I even bring it up? The past can be instructive.

Eleanor Killoran was my accompanist for the high school music contests. I literally went to her home. The late Howard Moser and I would talk about how her place seemed kind of "spooky." I smile. Definitely an eccentric older person but object of affection too. John Inman told me the story about how she'd park right in front of Willie's, not to drop someone off but to just "park there." Lots of stories about interesting people in a small town. Maybe a few circulating about yours truly. 

So today it can be hard to walk through the fairgrounds - such a crush of people. And parking gets so congested we need a "park and ride" system from remote places. It's all so wonderful, right? And I am amazed that I hear virtually no complaints about prices for concessions that strike me as quite high. Well I am 69 years old. Believe me, people from an earlier time would faint about the prices today. 

So we're totally comfortable with inflation. I don't think we should be, but we are. We are on the verge now of seeing the Federal Reserve begin a new round of "rate cuts." Rate cuts have come to be like heroin injections. Whenever storm clouds appear for the economy, it's rate cuts and money printing by the Fed that we all rely on. In my opinion this will work until it simply doesn't. There is no free lunch. Hey that's kind of a conservative thought, isn't it? Maybe I'm sort of conservative after all. 

Maybe this country actually is careening toward a crisis. 

It appears that the perpetrator of sexual assault has a real chance of being president again. He'll seize control of the Federal Reserve. He'll seize control of everything. We all have gotten so "conservative," we may feel satisfaction with Liz Cheney, Mark Milley and others put on trial and sentenced to death. Lethal injection? Firing squad? Everything that seems outlandish with Trump slowly ends up becoming normalized. 

People have no qualms about a sexual assault perpetrator becoming our president. I think the people of past times in this community would faint over that. The late Truman Carlson was the most "proper" citizen you could ever find, by any criteria. He felt he had to leave his ELCA church. "Gay rights" was flashpoint. Carlson if he were alive today would be front/center promoting Donald Trump. So I find the human animal to be very perplexing and mysterious at times. 

Everyone is so happy and optimistic today. I grew up when boys had to worry about being sent to Vietnam to die, to die violently. And the American people were like sheep about this for a very long time. They believed John Wayne. 

Well today our society countenances Donald Trump. The power of the entertainment industry where Trump built his identity. We get fooled every time, don't we?

"Forgive them Lord for they know not what they do."

 

Addendum: My old high school friend who I reference was in the Twin Cities when the bridge fell into the river. As was I. A cousin of hers had told me about her experience once, how she had some serendipity: she was delayed at one point, otherwise she might have been in danger from the tragedy. 

Me? I was in the Twin Cities for a reunion concert of the old Bill Chase band at the Minnesota Music Cafe in St. Paul. I was with Del Sarlette. We phoned our families upon arrival to tell them we were OK. The concert went off as planned. 

Bill Chase RIP

We could see TV screens around the room that had constant updates on the bridge calamity. We couldn't hear the audio because of the concert, and the Chase band was known to be loud! Well it was from the 1970s. You might remember it was a trumpet-oriented group. "Get It On," that was their biggest hit. 

The band was known to have died in a plane crash in southern Minnesota. They could still have a reunion concert because of "alums." Plus there was the special guest from Japan who could play the high notes just like Bill Chase. This was Eric Myashiro. Del and I had a good time. And my high school friend got through unscathed also. 

On Saturday I made the pledge to her that I will have my Caitlin Clark song recorded. It's nice to have a feeling of commitment now. C'mon Brian let's get going.

 

Remember Dave Holman? He's at right in this photo I took in 2012 at the fair. He was sort of a Harold Stassen with his political habits. Dave was a long-time media specialist at our public schools. Long ago we called these people "librarians." Dave was running for something when the photo was taken. A "surrogate" is at left! Dave has passed on to the next life. Word is, it was covid.
 

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