The tornado siren in Vermillion wailed last night, but we survived the accurately predicted wave of severe storms that formed in Nebraska and headed for Iowa. (For all people complain about South Dakota's weather, be aware that it all forms either in Colorado and Nebraska---the severe weather season stuff---or in North Dakota and Montana---the howling winter-weather stuff. It's not our fault we're always in its path. We had candles and flashlights ready because the lights flickered a couple of times, no doubt at the same instant the radio station in Yankton momentarily lost power and the same instant powerlines went down up in Centerville. But by 9:00 it was still outside though still humid and really warm for that hour. We got through the winter without a severe blizzard here though the winter seemed eternal; perhaps we'll get through the season of unruly weather with just the usual bells and whistles from the TV forecasters. . . . . .
The sky is blue with puffy clouds, and the temperature is climbing, surely to 80 or thereabouts. It feels like a summer day though not an August summer day. We're due for another tomorrow. It's about time. We had a day the other day when, for the first time, our very cool basement seemed comfortable. . . . . .
President Clinton brings his presidential campaign to our town of Vermillion tonight, and he has a beautiful night to speak at a rather picturesque photoworthy location---in front of Old Main on the USD campus. We'll probably walk up there with the dog and remain at a respectable distance just to see what all the commotion is about. Oh wait, President Clinton is not running for President, is he. But if his wife turns out to be a candidate this fall, one question I want answered before I vote for her is what will become of him. He not in the least seems like the type who will remain behind-the-scenes in a Hillary Clinton White House. Perhaps a former President that close at hand is an advantage for a new President. There just is something that makes me uneasy about the fact that, if the Clintons win the presidency for four more years, and maybe eight, it will be (by the end of 2012) a stretch of 24 years when the presidency of the United States of America will have been in the hands of a grand total of two families---Bush and Clinton. I'm not so sure enough isn't enough. . . . . .
On Fridays grandson Dylan stays home with me rather than going to the university's daycare center where he spends Mondays through Thursdays with his 3- and 4-year-old peers in the Turtle Room. We have had a good day. Dylan was up with the roosters long before his mother hit the road at 6:45 a.m. to make her Sioux Falls job by 8 o'clock. He watched his Public Television kids' shows, had some breakfast, and all. Once we got him dressed, we went downtown to the public library where he delved into games and books in the children's section. After picking out five new books for him to check out, we did the Hy-Vee grocery shopping thing. Then we rode bikes (actually he did; I hung close by to keep him away from the street). Then we played catch. By that time it was 1:00. I was about to fix him some lunch when, on his own accord, he turned off the TV, curled up on the living room couch, pulled a blanket over himself and announced he needed to get some sleep. Fine with me! He's still sleeping now at 3:50.
We have had some very fun days, he and I. A couple of weeks ago we spent several hours over at Prentis Park, not only using the swings, slides, merry-go-round and all but also taking advantage of the baseball field. Nobody was in sight, so Dylan, showing boundless energy and enthusiasm, ran the bases. Back and forth he went, from home to first, from first to second, from second to third, from third to home, sliding into each base in a cloud of dust. Then he stood on home plate, waiting for me to yell "Go!" so he could take off again for first base. I wish I had had a video recorder with me to preserve that scene. We managed to dirty his clothes quite substantially, but considering how much fun he was having, I considered it a washing machine job well-earned. . . . . .
Since the two baseball teams I am now covering for the Vermillion Plain Talk didn't have games over the Memorial Day weekend, I had only one story in this week's paper---a preview of tomorrow's Baseball Day. But there will be four games tomorrow, another Sunday night, and I will have at least three stories, maybe four, to write for next week's paper. It's good to be back in the newspaper business for real and especially nice to be able to do the writing here at home without ever having to show up at an office and maintain office hours! . . . . .
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Seniors, enjoy each other while you can
For you who are desperate for something---anything!---to read, here is my column appearing in today's Custer Chronicle:
How time flies! The 53 young men and women who will graduate from Custer High School on Saturday afternoon were only a semester into their high school careers when I showed up at the Chronicle in January 2005. When I left last April, they were within a month of having only one year of high school left.
Now it's down to three days until the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance" signal their entrance into the armory and their exit into the real world.
The other day, as my best friend through grade school, high school and college years underwent sudden double bypass surgery at a hospital in Minnesota, I daydreamed over my third, fourth and fifth cups of morning coffee about my own high school class, graduation itself, all that has befallen us in the 52 years since, and our fragile mortality.
There were 31 of us, the largest class ever to graduate from Onida High School up to that time. Only five have passed away, a rather surprising fact in itself since we all are now in the 69-72 age range. And of the 27 who were alive at the time of our 50-year reunion in 2006, 19 were able to attend. I remarked that night that that, too, is a rather amazing statistic. I declared it to be proof that we '56ers care more about each other now than we did then!
I recall little about my own graduation ceremony except that the fire siren just across the alley from the city auditorium went off during my salutatory speech and the fact that somebody decided to bring in more benches from downstairs after the ceremony started. That, too, occurred during my speech. Just as well. In those days we had to memorize canned orations from the bottom drawer of Supt. Stockdale's desk, and I was scared to death. Preparing for that speech ruined my final month of high school.
All I can remember of college graduation in 1960 is that, due to alphabetical order, "Kirk" and "Knox" came next to each other, and Jim, the guy with whom I roomed for two years, and I got to march out of the Huron College gym together.
Much more memorable than my own graduations are those of my four kids, all of whom graduated from Riggs High School in Pierre. There commencement takes place outdoors on the lush green turf of Hollister Field. The green gowns and the blue sky and the Capitol dome looming over the field and the sight of the senior class parading down the hill from the middle school gym to commencement are all vivid images in my mind.
Of course an outdoor graduation depends for its very existence on the weather. During one stretch in the '90s we went four straight years with an indoor graduation in the Riggs gym, which cuts the attendance at least in half. My girls and their 1997 classmates were part of one class forced to graduate in the hot, steamy gym. But occasionally a Pierre senior class is blessed with a perfect sunny day with no wind. Not often, but occasionally!
The two high school graduations which are still most alive in my memory are the two for which I was invited to be the commencement speaker at Sully Buttes (that's the reorganized school of which Onida became part). A year after leaving teaching in 1978, the Sully Buttes Class of 1979 invited me back as their speaker. Later in 1991, while I was the local newspaper publisher in Onida, that year's class invited me, too.
The latter group of seniors, through their class president, told me they wanted it to be a memorable graduation speech.
"Then why are you asking me!" I exclaimed to her, but since it was March and graduation was still two months away, I agreed to accept her invitation. Then I spent April and May worrying about it.
Not to fear. I think we pulled it off despite the fact I had to follow a pair of outstanding student speakers, Kory Davis and Kelly Mikkelsen.
After imparting 20 minutes or so of words of wisdom, both my own and those of people I quoted, I pointed out to the Class of 1991 that the next few minutes would be the last time they all would ever be together in the same place again. I knew that to be true because there were a couple of my own classmates that I never saw again after graduation in 1956.
If any of you 2008 CHS grads are reading this and following my train of thought, you should know that Saturday afternoon will be the last time you all are together. And there are some of your classmates whose faces you will never ever see again.
So, back then in May 1991, as I stood at the podium in the SBHS gym in Onida, I instructed the 60-some graduates to play along with me, and I advised the crowd of a thousand people that I no longer was talking to them. It was just between the graduates and me.
At my direction the two front rows of seniors on each side of the center aisle turned around and faced the second row. Then I asked them to hold hands. The kids on the ends of the rows reached across to their counterparts so that the Class of 1991 was one continuous circle, held together as one by the adrenalin cursing through their bodies and, in some cases, the tears as they looked into each other's eyes.
My instructions from the podium were these: "As I slowly recite the name of each and every graduate individually, I ask you to think for 10 seconds or so solely about that person---what he or she contributed to the class, what he or she meant to you, what you will remember about that classmate."
It took nearly 10 minutes to get through the list, but the kids stood there, part of one circle of classmates never to share a moment together again. The gym of more than a thousand was utterly silent the whole time except for a sniffle or two and the sound of a nose being blown. Even the bawling infants and the preschoolers tearing around at the back of the gym kept quiet. Finally we were finished. The seniors broke from their circle, resumed face-forward position and prepared to receive their diplomas.
My point then is echoed by the words of country singer Tim McGraw: "We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere."
So, to the CHS seniors of '08, go your own way, do your own thing, but this weekend, look around you and soak in all about those with whom you have experienced high school and growing-up years in Custer. There are some among them whom you will never see again.
Best wishes to each of this year's graduates! As Dr. Seuss wrote, "You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own and you know what you know, and you are the one who'll decide where to go."
-o-o-o-o-o-
It's 'with the crowd,' not 'to': This is your English language cop, reporting for duty. No, I have given up ranting about incorrect personal pronouns. It's not just the sportscasters but also the news reporters. This week I heard one of them talking about Sen. Obama, and the reporter used the phrase "to he and his wife." Good grief! From what college did you graduate!
My hang-up this month is the irritating people the Chicago Cubs organization invites to perform (I can't call it "singing") "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch. They get the first line correct---how can you screw up "Take me out to the ballgame"? But then, more often than not, their next line is "Take me out to the crowd."
You idiots! It's "Take me out WITH the crowd." What sense does "Take me out to the crowd" make?
Speaking of the peanuts and Cracker Jacks that come later in that song, how about these delicacies coming soon to a ballpark near you! One of the items already planned for the menus at the concession stands in the new Minnesota Twins ballpark, which opens in 2010, is a walleye taco. Minnesota is big on fishing, of course, with a few walleye floating around in each of that state's 10,000 lakes, but a taco containing fish meat? I think I'll stick to a ballpark hot dog.
You don't have to wait till 2010 to get the newest taste treat at the Sioux Falls Canaries' minor-league games. On the concession stand menu there this season is something that doesn't exactly make my taste buds water. They're called "fowl balls" (canary? bird? fowl? You get it?). What they are really is turkey testicles. If that thought doesn't make you put down this newspaper and run to the kitchen for a snack, I don't know what will.
How time flies! The 53 young men and women who will graduate from Custer High School on Saturday afternoon were only a semester into their high school careers when I showed up at the Chronicle in January 2005. When I left last April, they were within a month of having only one year of high school left.
Now it's down to three days until the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance" signal their entrance into the armory and their exit into the real world.
The other day, as my best friend through grade school, high school and college years underwent sudden double bypass surgery at a hospital in Minnesota, I daydreamed over my third, fourth and fifth cups of morning coffee about my own high school class, graduation itself, all that has befallen us in the 52 years since, and our fragile mortality.
There were 31 of us, the largest class ever to graduate from Onida High School up to that time. Only five have passed away, a rather surprising fact in itself since we all are now in the 69-72 age range. And of the 27 who were alive at the time of our 50-year reunion in 2006, 19 were able to attend. I remarked that night that that, too, is a rather amazing statistic. I declared it to be proof that we '56ers care more about each other now than we did then!
I recall little about my own graduation ceremony except that the fire siren just across the alley from the city auditorium went off during my salutatory speech and the fact that somebody decided to bring in more benches from downstairs after the ceremony started. That, too, occurred during my speech. Just as well. In those days we had to memorize canned orations from the bottom drawer of Supt. Stockdale's desk, and I was scared to death. Preparing for that speech ruined my final month of high school.
All I can remember of college graduation in 1960 is that, due to alphabetical order, "Kirk" and "Knox" came next to each other, and Jim, the guy with whom I roomed for two years, and I got to march out of the Huron College gym together.
Much more memorable than my own graduations are those of my four kids, all of whom graduated from Riggs High School in Pierre. There commencement takes place outdoors on the lush green turf of Hollister Field. The green gowns and the blue sky and the Capitol dome looming over the field and the sight of the senior class parading down the hill from the middle school gym to commencement are all vivid images in my mind.
Of course an outdoor graduation depends for its very existence on the weather. During one stretch in the '90s we went four straight years with an indoor graduation in the Riggs gym, which cuts the attendance at least in half. My girls and their 1997 classmates were part of one class forced to graduate in the hot, steamy gym. But occasionally a Pierre senior class is blessed with a perfect sunny day with no wind. Not often, but occasionally!
The two high school graduations which are still most alive in my memory are the two for which I was invited to be the commencement speaker at Sully Buttes (that's the reorganized school of which Onida became part). A year after leaving teaching in 1978, the Sully Buttes Class of 1979 invited me back as their speaker. Later in 1991, while I was the local newspaper publisher in Onida, that year's class invited me, too.
The latter group of seniors, through their class president, told me they wanted it to be a memorable graduation speech.
"Then why are you asking me!" I exclaimed to her, but since it was March and graduation was still two months away, I agreed to accept her invitation. Then I spent April and May worrying about it.
Not to fear. I think we pulled it off despite the fact I had to follow a pair of outstanding student speakers, Kory Davis and Kelly Mikkelsen.
After imparting 20 minutes or so of words of wisdom, both my own and those of people I quoted, I pointed out to the Class of 1991 that the next few minutes would be the last time they all would ever be together in the same place again. I knew that to be true because there were a couple of my own classmates that I never saw again after graduation in 1956.
If any of you 2008 CHS grads are reading this and following my train of thought, you should know that Saturday afternoon will be the last time you all are together. And there are some of your classmates whose faces you will never ever see again.
So, back then in May 1991, as I stood at the podium in the SBHS gym in Onida, I instructed the 60-some graduates to play along with me, and I advised the crowd of a thousand people that I no longer was talking to them. It was just between the graduates and me.
At my direction the two front rows of seniors on each side of the center aisle turned around and faced the second row. Then I asked them to hold hands. The kids on the ends of the rows reached across to their counterparts so that the Class of 1991 was one continuous circle, held together as one by the adrenalin cursing through their bodies and, in some cases, the tears as they looked into each other's eyes.
My instructions from the podium were these: "As I slowly recite the name of each and every graduate individually, I ask you to think for 10 seconds or so solely about that person---what he or she contributed to the class, what he or she meant to you, what you will remember about that classmate."
It took nearly 10 minutes to get through the list, but the kids stood there, part of one circle of classmates never to share a moment together again. The gym of more than a thousand was utterly silent the whole time except for a sniffle or two and the sound of a nose being blown. Even the bawling infants and the preschoolers tearing around at the back of the gym kept quiet. Finally we were finished. The seniors broke from their circle, resumed face-forward position and prepared to receive their diplomas.
My point then is echoed by the words of country singer Tim McGraw: "We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere."
So, to the CHS seniors of '08, go your own way, do your own thing, but this weekend, look around you and soak in all about those with whom you have experienced high school and growing-up years in Custer. There are some among them whom you will never see again.
Best wishes to each of this year's graduates! As Dr. Seuss wrote, "You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own and you know what you know, and you are the one who'll decide where to go."
-o-o-o-o-o-
It's 'with the crowd,' not 'to': This is your English language cop, reporting for duty. No, I have given up ranting about incorrect personal pronouns. It's not just the sportscasters but also the news reporters. This week I heard one of them talking about Sen. Obama, and the reporter used the phrase "to he and his wife." Good grief! From what college did you graduate!
My hang-up this month is the irritating people the Chicago Cubs organization invites to perform (I can't call it "singing") "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch. They get the first line correct---how can you screw up "Take me out to the ballgame"? But then, more often than not, their next line is "Take me out to the crowd."
You idiots! It's "Take me out WITH the crowd." What sense does "Take me out to the crowd" make?
Speaking of the peanuts and Cracker Jacks that come later in that song, how about these delicacies coming soon to a ballpark near you! One of the items already planned for the menus at the concession stands in the new Minnesota Twins ballpark, which opens in 2010, is a walleye taco. Minnesota is big on fishing, of course, with a few walleye floating around in each of that state's 10,000 lakes, but a taco containing fish meat? I think I'll stick to a ballpark hot dog.
You don't have to wait till 2010 to get the newest taste treat at the Sioux Falls Canaries' minor-league games. On the concession stand menu there this season is something that doesn't exactly make my taste buds water. They're called "fowl balls" (canary? bird? fowl? You get it?). What they are really is turkey testicles. If that thought doesn't make you put down this newspaper and run to the kitchen for a snack, I don't know what will.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Catch-up time
For the thousands out there who care, it's time to catch up on what's been going on since the last post on April 16. . . . . .
I survived the pneumonia. The little $15 pills worked their magic by the time the 10th and last pill went down my throat. The doctor checked again to be sure all the pneumonia was gone, and almost all of it was. I have to re-check on June 4. . . . . .
The eternal winter finally has come to an end. We missed last Friday's May blizzard here in the southeast corner of the state although we had a steady rain all day that day. This week it's up to 80 degrees, and I finally put the screens on the windows Sunday. Time to resume sleeping down in the basement where, come the dog days of August, it will be a relief to be down there where it's cool year-round. . . . . .
We had a wonderful but brief weekend in Rochester for granddaughter Olivia's sixth birthday on April 19. Uncle Ryan came down from Minneapolis, too, and his 32nd birthday was the next day. The following week was Dylan's week to be with his dad in Rapid City, but I went out to Chamberlain to pick him up on April 28, and it has been great to have him back. . . . . .
Heather has two finals down, two to go, and she'll be done with Year #2 of law school by Friday. She starts a summer job at a law firm in Sioux Falls on May 19. . . . . .
I'm still writing my column once monthly for the paper in Custer, my old stomping grounds. This Friday is my next deadline. My buddy out there, Jason Ferguson, asked this morning if I was inspired to write it this week. I said, "No, but that never stopped me before." I may have some news about going back to work right here in Vermintown in a couple of days, so stay tuned if you care. . . . . .
We just had a five-minute hailstorm pass through. Torrents of rain but hardly any wind, and now the sun is about to break through again. 'Tis the season! . . . . .
I couldn't get up to Grand Forks last Saturday for the wedding of Devin "Devo" Weingart (Riggs '02). I had promised him all along that I would be there, and I feel really bad and guilty that I didn't go. I'd like to get to Pierre for the final concerts before retirement for vocal director Will Hanson and band director Larry Johnson on Monday and Tuesday. Their programs meant so much to all four of my kids during their Riggs High days. I should also get to Pierre the following Saturday for the Matt Picchietti/Blair Simon wedding, and I'd like to be in Custer that same day for graduation. It was a year ago this week that I was moving back and forth across the state in car and U-Haul truck, and I haven't been back to Rapid City or Custer since. . . . . .
Almost time to pick up Dylan at USD daycare. Heather has a major final exam in the morning, so she is studying at the law school library this afternoon. . . . . .
Thanks for reading! I'll attempt to contribute something to this blog on a more regular basis from now on, including my Custer column whenever I get it done this week.
I survived the pneumonia. The little $15 pills worked their magic by the time the 10th and last pill went down my throat. The doctor checked again to be sure all the pneumonia was gone, and almost all of it was. I have to re-check on June 4. . . . . .
The eternal winter finally has come to an end. We missed last Friday's May blizzard here in the southeast corner of the state although we had a steady rain all day that day. This week it's up to 80 degrees, and I finally put the screens on the windows Sunday. Time to resume sleeping down in the basement where, come the dog days of August, it will be a relief to be down there where it's cool year-round. . . . . .
We had a wonderful but brief weekend in Rochester for granddaughter Olivia's sixth birthday on April 19. Uncle Ryan came down from Minneapolis, too, and his 32nd birthday was the next day. The following week was Dylan's week to be with his dad in Rapid City, but I went out to Chamberlain to pick him up on April 28, and it has been great to have him back. . . . . .
Heather has two finals down, two to go, and she'll be done with Year #2 of law school by Friday. She starts a summer job at a law firm in Sioux Falls on May 19. . . . . .
I'm still writing my column once monthly for the paper in Custer, my old stomping grounds. This Friday is my next deadline. My buddy out there, Jason Ferguson, asked this morning if I was inspired to write it this week. I said, "No, but that never stopped me before." I may have some news about going back to work right here in Vermintown in a couple of days, so stay tuned if you care. . . . . .
We just had a five-minute hailstorm pass through. Torrents of rain but hardly any wind, and now the sun is about to break through again. 'Tis the season! . . . . .
I couldn't get up to Grand Forks last Saturday for the wedding of Devin "Devo" Weingart (Riggs '02). I had promised him all along that I would be there, and I feel really bad and guilty that I didn't go. I'd like to get to Pierre for the final concerts before retirement for vocal director Will Hanson and band director Larry Johnson on Monday and Tuesday. Their programs meant so much to all four of my kids during their Riggs High days. I should also get to Pierre the following Saturday for the Matt Picchietti/Blair Simon wedding, and I'd like to be in Custer that same day for graduation. It was a year ago this week that I was moving back and forth across the state in car and U-Haul truck, and I haven't been back to Rapid City or Custer since. . . . . .
Almost time to pick up Dylan at USD daycare. Heather has a major final exam in the morning, so she is studying at the law school library this afternoon. . . . . .
Thanks for reading! I'll attempt to contribute something to this blog on a more regular basis from now on, including my Custer column whenever I get it done this week.
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