We have just a trace of snow on the ground as Thanksgiving week begins in 2018. Have we forgotten how intense the winters used to be? Surely it's not the same now. It seems not an aberration, it seems like a long-term pattern of milder winters, absolute proof of climate change. We have winters now like what we used to associate with Iowa. We used to look down on such winters as bland and boring, a way to take a dig at the state to the south of us. The Iowa winters were not as friendly for winter recreation.
Who ever raved about a Missouri winter? But Minnesota winters were quite the delight even if adversity could visit us.
Adversity? Think back to the late 1960s. I'm 63 years old and well remember. Such winters should form an important part of our collective memory of life here on the prairie. The wind would sweep down the slope to the north of where our family lives. (I'm alone now.) The notorious wind left daunting drifts for dealing with.
Our current milder winters might seem preferable because certainly they're safer, right? And, more economical because there's little need for the big snow removal equipment to be deployed all over the place. A savings in tax dollars? Maybe so but in the long term, climate change is naturally bad news. Two winters ago I was sick all winter and began wondering if the mildness resulted in more germs in the air, germs that maybe Minnesotans weren't conditioned to combat. I heard out and around that lots of people were having those symptoms: congestion and a regular cough, with a feeling that it was hardly possible to clear your throat. I finally got a prescription for something pronounced "zithromax." Last winter I was better - had my system adjusted?
Do we really want to adjust to these new "Iowa" winters? Do we want to feel happy about them? The whole wave of Donald Trump anti-intellectualism has featured put-downs of the climate change explanation. The circle of people who strive to parrot him appears to be getting smaller. They'd parrot the president by saying "climate change is a hoax." We hear clusters of older white men talking like that, like right here in Morris, men who have their pickups parked outside a restaurant (OK, DeToy's) with a bumper sticker saying "Hillary for prison." But those voices are at last losing their stridency. Voters pushed hard in the mid-term election. The public clearly sent a message that was colored "blue."
Problem is, the U.S. Senate isn't really set up to reflect the overall sentiment of the American people. A majority of Americans has been favoring the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and not with "illegal votes." Forget the anti-intellectualism. It will take a stronger push by Democratic-oriented people. In spite of the prevailing sentiment now - "blue" - the Republicans control the Senate, the presidency and frankly the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court should not be so partisan. But if we had a Democratic president naming sensible people like Garland to the Court, the red state crowd would be alleging partisanship. "Alleging" might be too big a word for those people, people who shout "lock her up."
Heidi Heitkamp lost in North Dakota because she voted no on Kavanaugh? Ask yourself: what do you think Kavanaugh is going to do for you in your life? Really.
Chokio MN, Monday, Jan. 16, 1967
There is one clear historical exhibit that Stevens County residents can appreciate, in terms of our past with wicked winters. I think of the late 1960s. Our nation had a very troubling backdrop as it was immersed in the hellish Vietnam war. And in 1967, perhaps the worst year for the war, Stevens County had a near mass tragedy due to weather. Blizzard forces reared their ugly head.
Nowadays I believe schools give the benefit of the doubt to the weather - kids can just stay at home if there's risk of real danger. This did not seem to be the case when I was a kid. In the wake of all that happened, I heard stories about how schools were desperate to be in session each day, so to get "state aid money." Sheesh. If true it was a foolish system, unconscionable really, just like our folly in Vietnam.
In 1967 we had the Chokio school bus incident. It was harrowing. Nearly 30 students and a teacher were stranded in a school bus for seven hours. Thus was born the story of the "Chokio school bus rescue." School started at the usual time that morning. The classic signs of a blizzard came forth with the snow and wind. Surely a day for kids to stay safely at home. Obviously it wasn't worth the trouble for the kids to even show up that morning. School was dismissed very early.
Kids boarded the buses which departed at 9:30. The blizzard whipped up mightily. The buses driven by Harley Peters, John Mount and Don Grossman high-tailed it back to Chokio. Going out in the country was as risky as climbing Mt. Everest. Another bus was driven by John Berlinger. Those kids found shelter at the Floyd Zimmerman farm. That party spent the night safely there, getting a good meal from their generous hosts. Roger Amborn was driving a busload. He was able to complete his route but had to walk the children of one family to their home. His attempt to get back into town was futile. But he was able to walk to a farm residence and find shelter there for the night.
The disaster arrived for the Clayton Kolling bus. Crisis loomed. He realized he should try to go back. He got stalled at about 10:30 a.m. The bus was hopelessly in the ditch, a common peril for those traveling country roads in winter. He kept the engine going as long as possible. The motor got clogged with snow and finally died. Science teacher Mr. Hollen was in the bus. Mr. Kolling embarked on foot to try to find help.
County plows were enlisted. A plow got stalled just outside of Chokio. A different school bus tried to get to the stranded party. It too got stuck in a ditch. My goodness, the storm was surely out of hell with winds measured at nearly 75 miles per hour! I can close my eyes and re-imagine it all so well. The cold was biting and extremely dangerous, below zero. If only all these schoolchildren had just safely stayed at home like they surely would today. A movie could be made about all that happened.
Brave people up to the task
A "caravan" of determined people left the Co-op at about 3:50. It included a tractor, a Federated Co. truck and a "Cat." It took about an hour to get Gerald Ehrp's Cat started. LaVerne Monson got a school bus going to bring the imperiled kids back. The town's residents supplied candy, blankets and food.
Some men walked in front of the emergency vehicles to prevent them going in the ditch. The frigid temperature was a real threat. The wind was overwhelming. It was 4:30 when the tractor and truck got to the stranded children. A great feeling of relief, yes, but kids were having trouble dealing with the cold. It was actually dire as we learn in this sentence from the Chokio newspaper: "The little ones were getting to a point where they wouldn't have lasted much longer."
The status of some of the other searchers wasn't known for a time. Efforts began to dig the bus out. What became of the Cat? Here it comes, ready to join the effort. Ditto Monson's bus. The "caravan" had concentrated. Kids left their disaster bus and got in Monson's. The rescue process was humming albeit under duress. Sigh of relief: the kids were returned to safety, to the school where they were served hot soup and hot chocolate.
Driver Kolling ended up getting commendations. He had walked four-plus miles in his three ventures into the storm out of hell.
An avoidable emergency?
The drama and the happy ending are gripping. Yet we come away with regret about our school systems which seemed unreasonably determined to hold school, perhaps enticed by "state aid money." It's a lesson on the folly of government that sometimes happens, bureaucratic illogic, which I think today has been wiped away in our school systems. Parents' wishes are more likely to prevail today.
In the Morris school district where I attended, we had the "buddy system" to deal with the harsh winters of the late '60s. Country kids were assigned places to stay with their city brethren. I thought the system got abused after a time, as it started to get implemented when there was just a bad forecast.
The Morris radio station had a charming ritual in those days! Our historical society should preserve this. In those days pre-digital and all that, we got word of school closings and postponements from the good old radio station. We'd sit there riveted. And when the Morris station blared the announcement of "no school," it then immediately had a song queued up to play. The song began: "That's what happiness is." We might do an LOL after that.
There was a prevailing image of school being drudgery for kids in those days. School was arduous, boring and openly unpleasant much of the time, with teachers saying in a gruff voice "take out a sheet of paper" (for a pop quiz). I guess our economy was still in the industrial age in which jobs were generally not considered fun or very fulfilling. So, school had to reflect that world and set of values. Today kids are allowed to have a greater sense of self-esteem and personal value as they go out in the world. It's wonderful. And certainly it's wonderful that their sheer safety is protected more. Maybe the day will come when more kids can stay at home for their whole education. It's a goal we ought to set.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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