I am proud of my grasp of Morris history. The passing years should add more value to my reflections. I took nice sharp photos of our old school and put them on my blogs where they will look just as sharp several hundred years from now. I tell many stories too trivial to ever get the attention of our actual museum and historical society. But I love those kinds of stories.
I can remember some things that might not be Chamber of Commerce material. Ahem, like the strip club that once actually existed where the Old No. 1 Southside is now. Of course this was previous to current ownership. It was a hospitality establishment - bar - run by a guy named Dale Thompson. So it was Thompson who brought "exotic dancing" to Morris. I won't deny that I sampled it.
The memory came back to me as I checked out a certain Facebook site that focuses on Morris. I can be lazy today because I'll continue from here by sharing an email I shot off this morning. In addition to the strip club angle I use the email to expound further on what's going on with our Morris Public Library. The newspaper appears to be backing off on any further updates. I have a theory on that. Well, wouldn't you know I have a theory?
Here is the email. You might say it gets into the grit. But it's all honest thoughts. I am omitting the name of the email recipient.
Did you get my reference to "Buns Up?" This might be a hard subject to broach. Within a couple hours after seeing this last night, I thought to myself "this has to be a big joke." Certain people went to a lot of trouble creating the little promo image. So, is the point to be satirical? You and I know that people in this town have always "talked behind the backs" of the Apostolics some. But it has stayed in the background and we have always co-existed good enough. Really I don't know why so many of their women have to look so different. But I guess that's their business. I discovered "Buns Up" on the Anonymous site. I only discovered that site because Dalager plunged in so deeply there as an advocate for Anne Barber and an antagonist of the city manager. But he has been quiet since. Maybe he realized that Anonymous was not the proper forum for such advocacy. Too informal maybe. Boy, he sure got in a pissing match with someone after he pointed out that the city manager was a non-resident. As a matter of fact, the council granted Ms. Schrupp an exception because she couldn't find housing here (?)
So now I check Anonymous now and then and a lot of it is trivial. Very little sense of organization there. But I sure found the "Buns Up" farcical thing, at least I assume it's farcical. I will assume right now that the point is to take a dig at the Apostolics. And so I'm wondering if this might reflect a growing sense of "class warfare" because the Apostolics are perceived as so well-off. And you'll say they've earned it. I will agree that they contribute a lot and work hard. But the less-well-off people might start getting their dander up as they drive past the new steak restaurant, as I do. I'd never go there. And the place is associated with the "bun people." Heck, I sit next to the Apostolic men every Sunday morning at Willie's Cafe by Caribou. They enjoy having me there. Warrenn Anderson joins in too. I actually refused to sign the petition on East Side Park because I support what NextGen represents. They ended up getting dissed as a result of wanting to do something positive for community. I have the warmest thoughts about Neil Schmidgall.
I wonder how many people follow Anonymous and have noticed Buns Up. Is there talk on the street? Does this effort go beyond the promo image I saw on Anonymous?
I think the newspaper backs off from the Anne Barber thing because there are dueling attorneys. No matter how you try to write the article, someone will be upset. These two attorneys are going to be desperate to "win" because it will affect their reputation. What if Anne's attorney wins? That would humiliate our city leaders. Right now Anne almost looks more powerful than the CM, mayor and council. And that is weird. She was holding forth like usual at the library yesterday. Everyone cheerful and working together. But look how the city's outside investigator talks about her. This is bizarre. And Kevin Wohlers will not answer the reasonable email query I sent him. I've known the Wohlers family all my life. Nothing. No communication. And these people are elected. Lots of money is involved. That's why Char Zinda wanted answers at the council meeting. And sheriff's deputies present at closed meetings? Someone screwed up somewhere along the line.
I have a theory: Bob Dalager says the library director "answers to the library board." And he may be totally correct on that. And if that's true, it's a problem because we can't expect something like the library board to get into the true nuts and bolts of management. I mean, if I were put on the board, I would assume my role would be to have lofty thoughts about what the library represents and what it could do! Which is fine. But we still need someone like the city manager to look at the true nuts and bolts of managing the budget. What if there is true malfeasance and the board just decides to shrug? Is there any recourse? Are there personal friendships at play here, voiding people's judgment? Hell, I've seen this in Morris before in spades. As the late Ron Lindquist once said, "Morris is a clique-y town." I have seen this especially with school district issues. If you know what's good for you, be friends with the right people.
When I first saw the "Buns Up" promo I thought it might be a new bakery in town. Looks like it's a mean-spirited parody type of effort. As such it should probably be shut down. Not that it isn't healthy to have an open conversation of the various "groups" in Morris and the issues they face getting along. For example, many people think the "gay-bashing crowd" coalesced and moved out to the Good Shepherd Church. That's probably an exaggerated stereotype. At any rate, they look to be mellowing. Recent news articles suggest that gay rights has lost some steam and people want to just "cool it" some. Was gay marriage a bridge too far? I am indifferent. But I'm concerned about the future of First Lutheran Church because our existence may be hanging by a thread.
Other than all this, there is nothing much on my mind today! I'm having a home improvement contractor visit. Exciting!
- BW
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