Dark motives behind cancelling summer PPD?

(Morris MN Tourism image)

Did you sense a void this past weekend, the weekend when Prairie Pioneer Days (PPD) would have been held? The weekend wasn't a lost cause, because Heartland Motors went ahead and had its classic car show, an event that would normally be promoted as part of PPD. I rode bike through their lot just to observe, and it appeared that attendance and interest were good. Kudos on that. Always helps to offer free food, eh? I did not avail myself, mainly because I don't want to come across as a cheapskate.
There's at least one local resident with a reputation of showing up wherever there's free food. Well, funerals are in that category. Nothing illegal of course but it can become a question of propriety, especially if the individual in question has other issues.
Thinking of Heartland, I'm reminded that my 2004 Chevrolet vehicle might be on its last legs. Had a substantial repair issue recently. It might be proper now to just use the car, a Malibu, for in-town driving only. Buy a new car? Well, that would light up the eyes of the Heartland folks, surely, but there's cause for restraint. We are going through a big transition to electric cars now. If that's the route to take, I ought to wait until the new system is better established.
Let me make an analogy: I don't want to make a decision like buying a big stereo record player for vinyl records right at the time that CDs were coming out. Oh, here's another one: buying a fancy film camera at the time that digital cameras were entering the mainstream.
I'll probably donate my 2004 Chevy Malibu to Kars for Kids. They'll probably ask what kind of shape it's in. I'd like to be able to tell them that I can at least get it to roll downhill. I have always been the kind of person who will stick with a vehicle longer than I should. It's probably the Depression sensibilities that were instilled in me by my parents. They were classic examples of the sensibilities groomed by the Great Depression. Scholars have noted how this trait gets passed on to the next generation. That's me.
I'm on a different planet from the millennials or "generation iGen" who pay with plastic and never have a sense of actually having any money. I think it would be good for them to experience the latter.
 
OK, more on the decision re. PPD
I write about PPD at the risk of flogging a dead horse. I have made the point several times that Morris has lost something valuable with the cancellation of the summer PPD. Within the last few days I have gleaned new background on this decision. This new background, sad to say, is disturbing.
It appears that certain influential people in Morris pushed for an end to the summer PPD for self-interested reasons, reasons narrow or selfish in scope and not related to community interests. I'm inclined to believe my sources on this.
Some community leaders have their own "lake places" in summer, away from Morris of course, and don't want to be burdened by having to stick around here to attend to PPD obligations. Are the "lake people" a sort of upper crust of Morris? Do they not want to bother with the needs or interests of the non-lake people (like me)? I don't need a lake because if I seek summer recreation, I'll go out to the biking/walking trail on both sides of the Pomme de Terre River. Living in Morris is not all that bleak if you happen not to have a "lake place" somewhere like on Minnewaska or in the Alex area.
Is having a "lake place" a sign of high social status? I hope not. Is it possible that the PPD summer skeptics tried making it seem like the event was in decline? A member of the Morris community band tells me the band was not even asked to play at the park on Saturday of the last PPD. That's incredible. The Killoran stage at the park was built to accommodate precisely that kind of musical group. The band is just the right size for fitting on the stage. The acoustic panels enhance the sound in a terrific way.
That stage was not cheap to build. We should honor the memory of the late Eleanor Killoran. I remember writing about Eleanor for the paper when she was instrumental in restoring the old "rest cottage" at the Stevens County Fair. Some might describe her as a wee bit eccentric. Well, you can describe me the same way.
Did you all sense a void on Sunday morning when the firemen's pancake breakfast would normally be held? I used to suggest that the Hancock High marching band, fresh from its July 4 performance in its own town, should come over and march for PPD. Might be a political problem, though, because some might say it would embarrass the Morris school. Let's not worry about such things. Politics and Morris have always been inseparable. And now we hear reports about how some people did not have the best motives in ending our summer PPD. They may have made the cancellation a self-fulfilling prophecy. Did you notice that Cyrus had a quite fine summer celebration?
 
A voice we should heed
I agree with Kevin Wohlers that PPD was vital for injecting some special life into town in the otherwise quiet summer months. I dined at Stone's Throw Cafe Saturday afternoon and I believe I was the only customer in there the whole time I was there. We need the injection of a little vitality, n'est-ce pas?
Some people will say of course that we'll still have PPD in the fall. I told Kevin that the UMM welcome picnic could just be expanded, if a big fall event is what people want. Would there be a political obstacle to that? What I mean is, UMM increasingly has a reputation of being populated by "liberals," progressives, gay activists and the like. I'm just talking about popular perception, which I know is out and about.
I'm 100 percent fine with UMM. As a quibble, I might point out that society is more likely to go along with basic gay rights if it isn't made such an up-front cause.
There are a lot of pickup-driving Hillary-haters in the Morris area who wouldn't be good with a big UMM-flavored event. These are the kind of people who might park their pickup to block access to an electric charging station - this actually happens - for political reasons. I learned about this problem listening to WDAY radio. I gave City Manager Blaine Hill a heads-up about it.
Well, good luck to UMM for its upcoming academic year. Is the institution too "liberal?" Well, I'm sure the very well-paid U of M president will have her finger on the pulse and know exactly what kind of mission to assign here.
Do I wish the "new" PPD well in the fall? No point in being negative I guess. But I greatly miss the whole East Side Park atmosphere with its Luther's Eatery. My late parents loved it. It's for the time capsule I guess.
 
Addendum: Trying to synthesize my thoughts on all this, here we go: Morris can be a strange town sometimes.
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com