Life as we know it
Including: Fifteen (Times X) Nanoseconds of Fame
WALDO WINDMILL writes: “I was born in rural Wisconsin, the sixth of 10 children. Had we lived south of the Mason-Dixon line, my father would have been known as a sharecropper, but in Wisconsin he was said to farm on shares. He lost the only farm he ever owned during the Great Depression. It’s safe to say that money was scarce in our family and that we literally worked from hand to mouth as we enjoyed the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor.
“My siblings and I attended one-room schools, my five older brothers in Wood County, Wisconsin. None of them went on to high school, but instead worked either at home on the farm or on a neighbor’s farm, as was the custom in that vicinity. At the age of 10, I moved with my family to Sheboygan County, where we continued to farm on shares. I became the first member of the family to attend high school, only because that was the custom in our new neighborhood. I’m proud to report that I ranked academically among the top 10 in my graduating class — as did the other nine seniors. Upon graduation, I worked for two years in the local canning factory before Uncle Sam came calling.
“So indeed it was a Rural Rube who was drafted into the Army on election day of 1952. I had been out of Wisconsin only a couple of times, to attend Chicago Cubs baseball games, and I thought that pizza pie was a dessert. Now I was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, for a month of orientation, then to Fort Riley, Kansas, for basic training.
“One day in early March 1953, I noticed a sign on the base inviting anybody who liked to sing barbershop harmony to gather that evening at the recreation building. I knew a bit about the art form and liked to sing, so I gave it a shot. What transpired that evening and in the days to come was a real-life fairy tale!
“The soldier who organized the sing-along was a fellow recruit who had also just arrived at Fort Riley. He had already been assigned to Special Services, the entertainment branch of the military, and he had decided to organize a barbershop quartet to provide entertainment on the base. The sing-along was scheduled to announce his intentions and to invite those interested in becoming a member of his quartet to contact him for an informal audition.
“Despite my quartet experience having been limited to a couple of evenings harmonizing with friends from church, I summoned the courage to throw my hat in the ring. Soon thereafter, I was shocked to learn that I had been chosen to sing lead (or second tenor) in the foursome, with Minneapolis John, the Special Services organizer, singing bass; Beaver Dam Bob finessing the baritone; and Cleveland Herb caressing the high notes. Our leader named the quartet the Hut Four, in deference to military marching cadence, and our adventure began.
“Our first performance was about six weeks later in Longmont, Colorado, at the Rocky Mountain District Barbershop Convention. En route, we stopped in Boulder, Colorado, to refuel. We then decided to visit Boulder Dam while in the vicinity, so we asked the station attendant for directions. Without changing expression, he nodded toward an east-west street, pointed west, told us to drive 700 miles and turn left. Oops! We were obviously not the first travelers to be unaware of the location (and the new name) of Hoover Dam. Embarrassed by our collective ignorance, we beat a hasty retreat and drove on to Longmont.
“Six weeks later, the Hut Four was one of 24 acts to audition for a trip to New York City to appear on the Army/Navy recruiting show, ‘Talent Patrol,’ hosted by Arlene Francis on ABC television. We were one of four acts chosen to perform on the show, which aired on September 9, 1953, and were selected as winners of the talent competition by a popular ‘judge’ of the day, the Applause Meter. As winners, we were granted a few extra days to see the sights. Moreover, I was introduced to pizza! Wow! Less that a year after being drafted, this Rural Rube experienced his first plane ride (the flight to New York) and his first pizza, not to mention being victorious in a talent contest televised live on a major network.
“Good fortune continued during the remaining months of our service commitment. During that time, the Hut Four, in our role as Army recruiters, competed on and won Arthur Godfrey’s ‘Talent Scouts’ show, performed on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show,’ sang on another Army/Navy show, ‘Soldier Parade,’ performed at the St. Paul Winter Carnival, and represented the Army at the 1954 Barbershop Harmony International Convention in Washington, D.C.
“Furthermore, quartet members continued to enjoy their new-found hobby for many years after being discharged. In fact, I’m beginning my 69th year of membership in the Barbershop Harmony Society, and Special Services John and I sang together in quartets for 37 wonderful years. I’m glad I went to that sing-along at Fort Riley oh so many years ago!”
Now & Then
RUSTY of St. Paul: “A few weeks back, my brother heard a commotion going on outside of his St. Paul home. He went out to investigate. A large group of people, distanced as they could be on the sidewalk, were cheering on a neighbor of his. Turns out they were feting their colleague at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Mary Ann Grossmann, on the occasion of her 60th anniversary of writing for the paper! They had not seen her in person in a year’s time.
“This past week, I was reading a number of issues of The Mac Weekly, which is the student newspaper of Macalester College. I graduated from there, as did my son. My son had sent me a number of issues from 1958 that he had found online. I came across a theater review written by . . . Mary Ann Grossmann, who was the features editor for the Weekly when she went to Mac. (She was a student of my father’s, who was an English professor there.)
[BULLETIN BOARD INTERJECTS: We had to laugh when we saw that the masthead had misspelled Mary Ann’s surname. In more than 25 years at the Pioneer Press, we almost never saw a piece of mail that got “Grossmann” right!]
“She wrote as nicely then as she does now.
“Thank you, Mary Ann, for your dedicated work and wonderfully written columns on literature for all these years. You are a pleasure to read!”
The Permanent Sisterly Record
BIG EEK of Southeast Minneapolis: “Subject: In old Heidelberg.
“Sis was 15 months older than I. She was a schoolteacher. For excitement, she signed up to teach English in a dependency school in Metz, France. On a lark, she and two other teachers took a weekend trip by bus to Heidelberg in Germany. You know, ‘The Student Prince’ city.
“Their last evening there, they went to an establishment where there was music, dancing and liquor. The girls were sitting together when a pleasant-looking young man wearing a sweater with the word ‘Chicago’ on it approached them and, pointing at Sis, asked her if she could dance. Sis said: ‘Yes.’ Sis was a great dancer in high school.
“When they got up to dance, the orchestra leader announced that there was to be a dance contest. Fifteen couples took to the floor, including Mr. Chicago and Sis. ‘Just follow my lead,’ he whispered. The couples danced for a while until the judges started eliminating couples one by one. ‘Hey, we can win this,’ Mr. Chicago said, breaking out some new moves.
“He was right. They were the last couple standing. The other customers and the other dancers applauded wildly. Mr. Chicago was there with two pals, and the six of them finished off their prize: a huge bottle of champagne. The Chicago ‘hoods’ escorted the girls to the depot to catch their bus back to Metz and school the next day.
“Now there’s a tale to tell your children.
“Sis never married.”
Where’ve you gone, Mrs. Malaprop?
RAINDANCER of North Oaks: “Subject: A loosey goosey?
“I had to laugh at a new post on my local ‘NextDoor’ site. Somebody was looking for help for an injured goose, and one helpful reader suggested that she call the ‘Rapture Center.’
“I’m pretty sure she meant the popular ‘Raptor Center,’ which does great work for injured birds. But on the other hand, I suppose if the bird’s hours are limited, it’s nice if it can go out happy….”
BULLETIN BOARD MUSES: It might go out happy, but a goose won’t go out a raptor!
Fellow travelers
POLLYANNA of Clifton, “formerly of Lakeland”: “Subject: Road tripping.
“One of my sisters, The Artist, had submitted some art to the Detroit Lakes Sailboat Regatta. She had four of her designs accepted, and invited me on a road trip.
“I mentioned it to another sister, Yiyo, who wanted to tag along. We were at a bon voyage party for a Naval family member and told our brother, Army Guy, about it. He and his significant other (Granny Siri) decided to drive up as well!
“It’s about 250 miles from my house. AG and GS drove themselves, and I picked up The Artist and Yiyo. I made certain Yiyo was prepared for a slow trip. The Artist and I are used to traveling an average of 20 mph, stopping often to explore tiny towns and take photos. Yiyo was looking forward to sloth-like behaviors.
“I have mentioned before the book I bought, ‘Little Minnesota: A Nostalgic Look at Minnesota’s Smallest Towns,’ by Jill A. Johnson. The copyright date is 2011, so some things have changed over the last ten years. The book tells a brief history of each town, along with what it was like when the book was written. I didn’t realize how many towns had fires that almost wiped them off the map! On our road trips, The Artist and I visit as many tiny towns as we can. We also look for fun things to see from RoadsideAmerica.com.
“We left St. Paul around 9:30 a.m. On the way up, we visited Hillman (pop. 38), Lastrup (pop. 104), Vining (pop. 78), Genola (pop. 75), and the booming metropolis of Pierz (pop. 1,697). The book recommended a restaurant called Red Rooster Bar and Grill. The Artist had to buy horseradish pickles from them; then we had to go to the grocery store to buy the Jack’s garlic and cheese spread that was on a sandwich. We arrived at the Kent Freeman Arena in Detroit Lakes just before 5. It took us 7.5 hours to travel 210 miles. Pretty good, I thought!
“When we met up with Army Guy and Granny Siri, GS asked us: ‘What route did you take?’ I said: ‘I have no idea.’
“We saw the exhibit (which was amazing!), then had dinner near our hotel. The Artist and I went for a walk. Then the women played Rummikub until after 11.
“Saturday morning, we met for breakfast and played a little more Rummikub. Yiyo rode home with AG and GS, and The Artist and I continued on our adventure. We went for a walk along the shore of Detroit Lake, and headed to the antique store in town. It was beautiful! And the occupants of the other car were there!
“Our road trip continued with stops in West Union (pop. 113), Westport (pop. 42), Sedan (pop. 47), Spring Hill (pop. 55), Lake Henry (pop. 52), St. Rosa (pop. 44), St. Anthony (pop. 86 — the one by Osakis, not by Minneapolis) and Regal (pop. 56). In looking at the map, I see we missed Sunberg (pop. 75). We had a very late lunch in Regal. The book recommended a restaurant called The Pilgrim Inn. We couldn’t find it — and the town isn’t that big. We were hungry, though, so went to the only place in town with food. It was called Just Down the Road. Delicious food that left us feeling ready to tackle the rest of the trip.
“We saw metal sculptures, including a life-sized elephant, and a pair of giant pliers holding a huge cockroach. They were in Nyberg Park in Vining. The artist, Ken Nyberg, is the father of astronaut Karen Nyberg. We saw eagles. There were several animals that were in or along the road playing chicken with my car (deer, pheasant, turkey, guinea fowl and a cat, as well as chickens!). And we saw a tree with 32 toasters hanging from it. One was a toaster oven. It appeared someone had built a nest in that one. We drove around to the back of the property. It was filled with old cars and trucks, a baby buggy, a hearse with a skull hood ornament and a skull peeking out a back window, and a Model T — a treasure trove! We took pictures of churches and wandered around a cemetery where six children were buried who had died in a 13-day span in 1918.
“We drove 667 miles over two days. As always, we had a great time. I wonder where we will go next! Only 74 towns to go . . .”
Band Name of the Day: Injured Geese
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