Seeing the crowd in Cyrus, I was impressed at the community enthusiasm. We should not be surprised. But then I had an obvious afterthought: Why have we in Morris abandoned our midsummer fest of Prairie Pioneer Days (PPD), on the basis at least partly of diminished interest?
I'm reminded of the conundrum of an earlier time in the Morris area, when our high school often did not compare well to the surrounding small towns in high school sports. Often I'd try saying "the emperor has no clothes," as it were, and ended up being put on the defensive in Morris because of it. That's an understatement. Strange.
It's a given that the "small towns" get fired up for community-oriented events, in a way that seems alien to Morris.
What kind of message?
It's a PR flub for us to even announce to the world that we've given up on the summer PPD. We could have kept a modicum of stability with that event while maybe experimenting with a September event as well. Wait a minute, we already have the welcome UMM picnic in early September. Actually the "UMM" reference has been taken out of that. Which is stupid. Obviously we're welcoming UMM. Now it's just a generic "welcome" as if there's a big influx of strangers in September.
It is true that Morris slides into a funk in summer, but why advertise that? It is true that PPD had been losing some of its vitality, vitality that I remember being very robust through many of the years when I covered it for the Morris paper. It was a super "big deal" and I'm proud to have been associated. But now it's all past tense.
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| Great PPD memories have been made here |
Here's a question: Was the Morris Chamber of Commerce doing everything it could? Kevin seemed concerned about the Chamber's position through all this. He felt it's not enough to just continue having a summer event, it's essential for the Chamber to take responsibility for it. I agree.
Too often I have been perceived as an outlier on Morris community matters. I remember visiting with a Cyrus school administrator many years ago at Don's Cafe, an old personal friend, and he reflected with some puzzlement on a Morris vs. Cyrus game which was more hard-fought than it should have been. He said: "(The fans) should be looking down (at the court) and saying 'this just doesn't make any sense.' " I mean, Morris against Cyrus? God bless Cyrus but it's rather a whistlestop community. That's an old term for a hamlet where a train doesn't bother stopping, it just blows its whistle. A train once stopped in Morris with Richard Nixon when he was vice president under Eisenhower. Morris was worthy of a stop.
I think we're still worthy of Prairie Pioneer Days.
Erv Krosch gives input
I bumped into Erv Krosch recently, also at Don's, and he thought maybe PPD could have been switched to June, but I fail to see what that would have accomplished. Erv was a promoter of PPD at the start. I remember him and Doug Peterson the furniture store/funeral home guy, walking alongside a parade unit in Hancock promoting the early PPD. I was charmed by how Peterson had such a backslapping way of greeting you.
And Erv! He was at the forefront promoting anything related to Morris. Remember when he operated the old Dairy Queen from its East 7th Street location? Boy, that's fading in our collective memory. The DQ's original location owed to the fact that 7th Street was the primary entrance to Morris from the east. The old "Pylin" drive-in was along there, along with the neighborhood grocery that was called Stark's in my childhood. And of course, the grand old school was on the hill to the south of the street. It was an abuzz community place.
I was expecting Erv to tell me that he'd like PPD to stay as it was. Maybe I'm detached from reality here but it appears there was a shared skepticism about PPD staying as it was. I confess I only went to one part of it last year: the Hancock bluegrass group at the museum Sunday night. I should have gone to the park and at least supported the First Lutheran foodstand.
I felt some resentment, perhaps not justified, at how "ribfest" was becoming such a big deal, perhaps elbowing out other attractions. Ribfest is associated with a local very important company. That company rightly or wrongly seems attached to a particular non-mainstream church in the Morris area. I salute the company - that's a no-brainer. I'm impressed by the great enterprise of its leaders. I'm bothered by a non-mainstream church getting such a foothold in the area. I fail to see the attraction.
A real bone of contention is the political inclination that seems most evident on the part of its members. I'll say once again: If you know of an Apostolic who did not vote for Donald Trump, let me know and I'll publish it. Of course, how would I really know? I'm concerned that the ties between Trump and fundamentalist Christianity could lead to a fundamental perception problem with the Christian faith. The extreme leaders want abortion to be prohibited. This is not practical.
The GOP's true stripes, always
I'm concerned that the church zealots are being "played" by the Republican Party. The Republican Party at its essence wants the same things that Republicans always seek: less regulation and lower taxes on the most wealthy among us. Everything else is posturing, as with abortion, to get the zealots eating out of their hands. Republican leaders don't lose any sleep over abortion. Some among them might even pay for an abortion for their mistress, under wraps of course. You all know this happens.
Ultimately the great masses of people must assert themselves by electing progressive leaders to make sure we're all properly taken care of. Don't expect the richest folks to ever volunteer generosity unless it's a token, maudlin sop once in a while: "charity." I hate the term "middle class." Let's just talk non-rich. The non-rich must be vigilant and assertive, not letting the Republicans derail them with all the usual tactics. You must be demanding. Be unapologetic about this.
It will come to that, whether we can now foresee it or not. Unfortunately a disaster must often happen first. In the current state of affairs we might get a blast of hyper-inflation. Chuck Grassley warns us that tariffs helped get the mid-20th Century on its dangerous path. Sound familiar? Let's all say a prayer and not about abortion.
A void in Morris?
It is mid-June and soon the reality will set in that we no longer have the traditional PPD. It matters to me. I'm told the new PPD will be at the fairgrounds? I asked if the Lee Center would be the hub and was told no, so I'm wondering if the "new" PPD will be just a repeat of the county fair, as if we haven't gotten enough of it yet.
I have issues with the county fair due to the same local company associated with ribfest. It takes over the fair for a day. I was rudely introduced to this one year when I took my late mother out there on Wednesday and saw "private parking" signs. I think it was a total affront. The county fair is supposed to be for everyone, except that I suppose the 800-pound gorilla that is that company can write a nice big check to the fair board. That's what makes the world go around I guess.
God bless the memory of Margie Sherstad, our old neighbor on Northridge Drive. The Saturday service for her was very nice. Great to see Margie's three daughters again: Jodi, Kristin and Sheila. Their brother Steven "Skip" Sherstad preceded his mom into heaven, as did Margie's husband Emmett. The Sherstad kids and yours truly were part of the baby boom generation in Morris: surely a unique time and unique generation. Nothing could contain us.
Addendum: I wrote a song in the 1980s which I ended up having put online four years ago. It's about yearning for the country and small towns, and in the imagery with the song you'll see Cyrus represented! The water tower fills the bill great. I invite you to listen to my song "Country Lovin' " by clicking on this YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Addendum No. 2: Attention you Apostolics and others who have a spiritual obsession with politics: You really think things like abortion, anti-gay and other morality causes are so vital, or pure tax cuts all the time? Really? I would like to ask you this: How much do you know about the Federal Reserve? I mean, do you really understand the critical role this institution plays in our national well-being, how sensitive it is? Do I have to shake your shoulders and plead with you to realize the danger of the Fed coming under the direct control of the executive branch of government? This is what Trump wants. So often he gets what he wants even after we all swear it's absurd. It just happens. Try to open your eyes. Oh forget it, you won't.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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