#653 – Dick Bernard: Thoughts on being "for" or "with", rather than "against".

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Nov. 14 I had the great honor of being on stage with five students at Great River School in St. Paul MN. Paving the way for me was my dear friend, Melvin Giles, peacemaker par excellence whose mission, quite succinctly, is “bubbles instead of bullets” in the pursuit of peace.
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Melvin Giles, at left, and Dick Bernard with the five students who organized the event.


My role was to help dedicate Great River School as a World Citizen Peace Site; the students who received the dedication plaque were organizers par excellence whose work had brought together their second annual day-long IRace Summit, “A Young Person’s Perspective on Racism”. The Dedication as a Peace Site and raising of a flag of planet earth was the culminating activity.
Melvin, who works with Peace Poles and is active in the international organization World Peace Prayer Society, later said “I like the way you invoked [World Citizen founder] Lynn Elling’s spirit into the dedication. It was the first time I experienced the raising of the World Peace Flag at a Peace Site Ceremony. I also thought it was powerful that volunteers and parents were present.”

Some of the participants at the Peace Site Dedication Nov. 14, 2012


It was my great pleasure to be involved in the ceremony. It reminded me of another recent Peace Site dedication, on International Day of Peace, Sep. 21, where new Eagle Scout Eric Lusardi’s motivation and great effort brought to fruition a focal point for peaceful relationships in his community of New Richmond WI.
My main point to the young people in attendance was it would have to be their responsibility to take on repairing our world for their future. I think most of them, at some level much more profoundly than we adults, understand the meaning of that snip…if only we adults could internalize this message….
I’m long retired now, but this week in particular has been full of examples of where peace works, or is severely strained.
I have seen this week, as I see every week, the profound difference between being FOR something, rather than being AGAINST; of being cooperating FRIENDS or competing ENEMIES.
Tonight I facilitate a de-brief of a successful three day conference at the end of September which could easily have fallen apart due to the untimely serious auto accident of the conference coordinator three days before the event was to take place.
Succinctly, there were perhaps twenty or so of us, roughly equally divided between North Dakota and Minnesota, who were doing the routine stuff to make the conference work. We didn’t expect to be in charge at the end.
But the accident happened, and it fell to us to pull it together.
In the end, everything happened, and happened pretty well. On my end, here in the cities, the ten of us, mostly only casual acquaintances, took on our share of the load, and shared our unique and special talents to pull the threads together and make the event succeed.
Tonight we talk about next time, should the event re-mount in the future.
I have on my list, as I write, five other events this week on which I could comment. Some of them I would comment on the sad role of conflict in our adult life; another on the need for inclusion of excluded individuals in a particular conversation; another conversation about the passion of my friend Lynn Elling for appropriately remembering World Law Day in 2013.
And there are others as well.
But those kids at a St. Paul school, and that young Eagle Scout in New Richmond WI, give me hope for the future of this world in which we live.

Handmade poster from many years ago made by friends Lynn Elling and Win Wallin


Before the Great River event, one of the staff at the school showed me a book, Education and Peace, by Maria Montessori. (Great River is a Montessori School.) The link also shows other books by Maria Montessori on the topic.

#636 – Dick Bernard: "I DID IT!" Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

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Thursday night with the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra was, I thought, as good as it could get.
But that was before the Saturday afternoon performance of Willy Wonka by a great bunch of thespians from Proact.
The Orchestra and conductor Skrowaczewski got their deserved standing ovations; so did the cast bringing to life Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Here’s the program booklet for today’s performance: Proact Players W Wonka001
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The actors and actresses in today’s performance were all people of exceptional abilities, including my daughter Heather, who is Down Syndrome and is a charmer of the first order. In the casting, she was listed as Oompa Loompa/Grandma Josephine, and was on stage as the play began.
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Heather, third from left, under the blanket.


By the time the one hour play ended, the full-house audience displayed all the enthusiasm of the Orchestra crowd on Thursday.
The cast and all connected with the performance deserved the accolades.

The cast on stage, October 20, 2012



Applause over, and treats awaiting in the lobby, cast and crew joined the audience.
Heather came down, exclaiming “I DID IT!”, reminding me of the same exclamation by someone else a year or so ago. You can read it here.
WOW! What a lesson….

Cathy, Heather, Dick after the performance.

Franco-Fete 2012 Minneapolis MN: Martine Sauret on Louis Hennepin

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At Franco-Fete, Martine Sauret, visiting professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, gave a talk on Louis Hennepin.
Here is the pdf text, in French, of Dr. Sauret’s remarks: Louis Hennepin. Texte
Dr. Sauret’s remarks were presented to a diverse group, including students and teachers of French, persons of French-Canadian descent, and others. For those not conversant with French, there are numerous commentaries in English of and about Father Hennepin, who first saw and named the Falls of St. Anthony in today’s Minneapolis MN in 1683. These can be easily found independently.
Here is Dr. Sauret’s description, in both French and English.
Martine Sauret a reçu son Ph.D., avec mention très bien en juin 1991 à l’Université du Minnesota sous la supervision de Tom Conley (Harvard Univerity). Elle enseigne actuellement comme Professeur associé à Macalester College, St Paul, Minnesota.
Elle a publié plusieurs livres: Les voies cartographiques. A propos des cartographes sur les écrivains français des XVe et XVIe siècles. ( 2004),
“Gargantua et les délits du corps.’’ (New York: Peter Lang, 1997). Sa traduction en français de The Graphic Unconscious in Early Modern French writing de Tom Conley a été publiée en 2000.
Elle est l’auteure d’articles sur la littérature à la Renaissance en France, l’Histoire des Idées en France au XVIe siècle. Elle a également publié sur des études francophones dans des journaux académiques.
Son livre Relire les mondes des cartographes normands et des voyages de Parmentier au XVIe siècle sera publié en 2013 avec les éditions Peter Lang.
Martine Sauret received her Ph.D., with Honors, in June 1991 at the University of Minnesota under the supervision of Tom Conley (Harvard University.) She is currently a visiting Professor at Macalester College, St Paul, Minnesota.
She published several books; Les voies cartographiques. A propos des cartographes sur les écrivains français des XVe et XVIE siècles. New York : Mellen Press, 2004.
“Gargantua et les délits du corps.’’ (New York ; Peter Lang, 1977). Her translation into French of The Graphic Unconscious in Early Modern French writing by Tom Conley is published by Presses Universitaires de Vincennes (2000).
She has written extensively many articles on Renaissance Literature, Early Modern France and Francophone studies in various scholarly journals.
Her new book Relire les mondes des cartographes normands et des voyages de Parmentier au XVIe siècle will be published by Peter Lang in 2013.

#627 – Dick Bernard: Election 2012 #48. A short seminar on Minnesota Public Schools and Public Policy

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Recently, there seems a sudden reverence for public schools in Minnesota.
After years of using the schools and the local communities as a piggy bank to avoid political decision making requiring use of the word “tax” in the state political conversation, the architects of damaging schools are suddenly proclaiming that they are about the business of supposedly saving those very same schools by proclaiming that they are heroically restoring cuts they have been diligently making all these years…and the political opposition is standing in their way.
What is one to believe?
School finance, and indeed public schools themselves, is an exceedingly complex topic, and it is very easy to make mischief with data which hardly anyone, including parents, understands. Such is how it is when the schools are charged with daily care of one of every seven Minnesota residents of kindergarten through high school age.
School opens this morning, and not many pay much attention whether there are 20 in a class or 40, etc. School policy is low hanging fruit for critics. There are endless opportunities to criticize….
But it’s not as easy as “reforming” schools as political rhetoric. Not only is every student different, bringing different baggage from home, but there is great diversity in community needs and makeup.
It is unfair to compare, for example, isolated Angle Inlet, not directly accessible by road in extreme northern Minnesota, with the large urban school in the most troubled neighborhood. One can theoretically create an ‘average’ out of two extremes, but it would be an unfair comparison.
A year ago, in November, 2011, a senior group in Burnsville asked me if I would be willing to talk about the business of schools and school finance.
Though I worked in public schools for a full career, I had already been retired for eleven years.
I agreed to do the workshop, and with the help of a wonderful non-partisan parent organization, Parents United for Public Schools, MN State Department of Education and the MN House of Representatives Fiscal Analysis Department, I prepared a presentation which was well received. Recently a man, over 90, who had been at the workshop, said that he learned more about school finance in that hour and a half than he’d ever learned before.
Here is the summary handout, with definition of the basic information presented a year ago: Minnesota Public Schools001 It is, of course, a year old and thus outdated, but my understanding would be that overall there have only been relatively slight changes over the past twelve months. Anyone is welcome to update the information and interpret as they wish.
My efforts still make sense, and the link may help you the reader better understand some of the basics about Minnesota Public Education.
Those 800,000 kids in Minnesota Public Schools today are OUR future. We best pay attention to their needs.

Franco-Fete Nouvelles Villes Jumelles (Franco-Fete Twin Cities) Sep 28-30, 2012

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This weekend is Franco-Fete at the Nicollet Island area in Minneapolis. It’s been publicized before at this space. There’s still time to check it out, register and drop in.
All details are here.
Scroll to near the end of the site for a copy of the ten page conference program – the same program folks will receive this weekend.

There are four parts to the program. Participants can pick and choose. Fees are very reasonable, and the program is suited for all ages.
A. Friday beginning at 5 p.m. French dinner at historic Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Minneapolis, followed with a tour of a church and a concert featuring French music by noted Twin Cities performers. There will be limited additional seats at the concert for persons interested only in the music and not the dinner.
B. Saturday during the day is a jam packed conference with talks, seminars, music and performance events with a Francophone and French-Canadian flavor. (Don’t speak French? Don’t worry. We know that most do not speak French.)
C. Saturday evening at DeLaSalle High School, the beginning of the United States tour of the Quebec Juno (Grammy) winning group, Le Vent du Nord. This is a phenomenal group, performing in Quebec Folk style with Celtic features. I’ve written about them previously here. For this event only, tickets can be purchased on-line at Brown Paper Tickets. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of performance.

D. Sunday noon and early afternoon at St. Boniface Catholic Church in NE Minneapolis, the West African Francophone community will host a Mass in French, followed by a lunch.
For sure, check out the website right away, particularly the program booklet.
At this late date, payment for tickets should be sent to Franco-Fete c/o Dick Bernard, Box 251491, Woodbury MN 55125. Use registration form at the site. Phone information from Dick at 651-334-5744.

#616 – Dick Bernard: Election 2012 #41. Labors Last Day?

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UPDATE Tues Sep 4: This long post, Just Above Sunset, entitled “Another Labored Day”, pretty well describes the tension existing on this Labor Day, Sep 3, 2012.
click on photos to enlarge them

An annual tradition at the Minnesota State Fair: the free photo calendar at the Education Minnesota booth.


Last Friday I was at a very stimulating conversation about the future of my teacher’s union: the one for whom I worked full-time for 27 years, representing public school teachers.
One of the group, a retired teacher from a metropolitan area suburb who still substitutes regularly in his old school district told of a conversation he had with a young teacher who thought unions and work rules like contracts were no longer relevant. The youngster had better use of his money than to pay union dues. Unions only got in the way.
His wise colleague, who had had a great part in making a decent contract and working conditions for the young teacher, thought a bit and responded.
“Everything looks great for you now”, he said. “Try to think out 20 years, when your career is well along, and one year things aren’t going quite so well. There’s no union any more, and no rights such as you now have under law and contract. Your Principal calls you in and says ‘ sorry, we don’t need you any more. We have somebody who’ll cost less and is fresher than you are’. And there you are, fired at a most vulnerable time in your own life. What will you think then?”
Our conversation continued.
There was no closure on how the young teacher responded. There didn’t have to be. It is a common scenario.
The siren song of “I/Me/Now” easily trumps “We/Long Term” today. I see this shortsighted individualism in many quarters, in many ways.
The campaign to demonize unions has been successful. It’s been going on for years. Newt Gingrich memorialized it in his 100 words GOPAC literature in 1996, but destruction by use of code words preceded him, and is very much alive and well today.
(Newt’s list actually lists 128 labeling words, 64 that are good words, 64 that are evil. One of the evil words is “unionized”.)
The same week of the conversation came a Republican Party mailer inveighing against the local Democratic candidate and made four false and demonizing assertions, two of which were as follows:
“SCHOOLS THAT SERVE TEACHER UNIONS FIRST – KIDS LAST
Putting teacher unions before kids by blocking common sense solutions to improve our children’s education.”
“FORCED UNIONIZATION
Mandating that workers and small businesses, even in-home child care providers, become union members and pay costly union dues.”
Labeling.
Saturday, I walked by a booth at the State Fair which claims to put children first, but whose main objective is destruction of any union rights. At the end of this month this bunch says it is going to roll out a well financed movie presumably advancing its claims.
I haven’t lost hope. I care a great deal especially since we have many grand kids in Minnesota public schools.
But it is the youthful employees who think they don’t need a union who’ll have to rethink their self-righteous arrogance. Failure to do so will have big consequences for them.
They are the one who’ll wonder, in 20 years, why they were fired, and why they had no recourse.
And nobody – not teachers, not administrators, not students, not parents, not taxpayers, not business – will benefit by the destruction of labor unions.

A conversation about the future, August 31, 2012

Franco-Fete in Villes Jumelles (the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul) September 28-30, 2012

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UPDATE Sep 12, 2012: Here’s an interesting hour with samples of Le Vent du Nord music and discussion of Franco-Fete on Bonjour Minnesota radio program Sep 11, 2012.
CONTACT INFORMATION: Check in occasionally. Scroll to end of this post.
Francophone, Francophile, French-Canadian ancestry…or know someone who is, or is interested? Consider passing this post along, about a very special event in Minneapolis September 28-30, 2012. That’s only two weeks away. Home website is here.

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Statue of Pioneers corner of Marshall and Main Street NE, Minneapolis, less than a mile from the conference venue.


reverse side of Pioneer Statue


In 1980, the United States Census asked, for the last time, a question about the ethnic background of Americans.
That year, 7.9% of Minnesotans- 321,087 persons, one of every 12 citizens – declared themselves to be a least partially of French (France and/or French-Canadian) ancestry. Neighboring Wisconsin counted 7.3% Wiconsinites of such ancestry and many other states had very significant numbers of persons in this category. Fr-Can in U.S. 1980001
It is this base, and any of those with an interest in the French language and cultural influence, who will want to set aside the end of September, 2012, for the first-ever Franco-Fete in Minneapolis.
All details, including registration information, are on the web here.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: The agenda continues to evolve. Even if you’ve checked before, check back again to get a more complete picture of the entire conference. The music and meal programs especially should be reserved now as we anticipate very significant interest both Friday and Saturday evening.
Franco-Fete will include all the elements of a fine program: family, food, fun…along with academics, history, music…
This will be the first such Fete in Minneapolis-St. Paul, but is not a first ever venture.
Leader Dr. Virgil Benoit, French-Canadian (Franco-American), professor of French at the University of North Dakota and a lifelong part of the Red Lake Falls MN community, has been putting together similar festivals for over 35 years in various places in Minnesota and North Dakota. Dr. Benoit is a professor of diverse talents and great skill, as well as having great passion for the culture and language of his birth.
This years conference will be the largest and most ambitious thus far. Most likely it will be continued in subsequent years.

Virgil Benoit ca 2008 compliments of Anne Dunn


There are two major venues for this years Conference:
Our Lady of Lourdes Church, since 1877 the spiritual home of Minneapolis French-Canadians, will be the venue for Friday night Sep 28. The below photo, taken ca 1968, shows Lourdes as it was before the development of Riverplace around it in the early 1980s.)
DeLaSalle High School, a few short blocks from Lourdes on Nicollet Island in the Mississippi River, and within a short walk of downtown Minneapolis, will be the venue for all of Saturday Sep 29 programs.
On Sunday, September 30, at noon, the French-speaking congregation at St. Boniface Catholic Church in nearby northeast Minneapolis, will host those who wish to experience the Catholic Mass in French. This community, largely immigrants from African countries with French colonial overlays, is a vibrant French-speaking community in the midst of the Twin Cities. While not a formal part of the conference, we urge participants to take part in this ending celebration.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Minneapolis, 1968


Our Lady of Lourdes, August 7, 2012


DeLaSalle High School, Nicollet Island, Minneapolis MN


Fr. Jules Omalanga, pastor St. Boniface Catholic Church, Minneapolis, after Mass March 25, 2012


After a sit-down supper at Our Lady of Lourdes on Friday Sep 28, and tour of the church, noted musician Dan Chouinard and friends will give a concert in the sanctuary of the Church.
On Saturday evening Sep 29 the noted Quebec band Le Vent du Nord will do music workshops and a music program at DeLaSalle. They are internationally noted, and one of Canada’s most popular ensembles. (The web page can also be accessed in French.) UPDATE: More on the Le Vent du Nord event here.. Tickets can also be purchased on-line here. The evening program begins at 5:30 p.m.
The St. Boniface Francophone Choir of Minneapolis, Dan Chouinard and others will also be part of this evening extravaganza.
And Sunday Sep 30 at noon, the community at St. Boniface will host all for Catholic Mass in French.
Again, Franco-Fete is only two weeks away!
Now is the time to enroll.
NOTE: You can find many related commentaries using search word Quebec or French-Canadian. Or enter any of the following numbers in the search box and click enter: (Each has a basis in French-Canadian or Quebec) #15 Grandpa; 28 Weller; 43 Fathers Day; 280; 306; 313; 388; 449; 450; 459; 481; 486; 510; 550; 573; 582; UPDATE Sep 5: 585; 610; Aug. 17, 2012; Sep. 1, 2012;
You are invited to submit your own commentaries, either as a distinct blog post, or as a comment to be added here. Dick_BernardATmsn.com
CONTACT INFO:
General, local contact:
Dick Bernard
dick_bernardATmsn.com
cell 651-334-5744 (leave message, with return phone #).
Specific, including interview requests:
Dr. Virgil Benoit
University of ND at Grand Forks
virgil.benoitATund.edu
toll-free: 855-864-2634

Clotilde Blondeau and Octave Collette about July 12, 1869


Clotilde Blondeau and Octave Collette married at St. Anthony of Padua in then-St. Anthony, now-Minneapolis MN July 12, 1869. In 1871 the City Directory showed them, and the rest of Collette family, living at what is now the corner of SE 2nd Street and SE 6th Avenue at what is now a block or two from Father Hennepin Park and Minneapolis’ Stone Arch Bridge, and perhaps three blocks from I-35E bridge. More here.
Additional information for those with a continuing interest in matters French-Canadian are invited to visit here. This space will be updated and may well become a continuing presence for those with an interest.

#582 – Dick Bernard: The Street

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“Back in the day”, my Grandpa Henry Bernard (born on a farm in Quebec in 1872) spent most of his adult life in Grafton ND.
He came to Grafton area with a first grade education and carpentry as a trade but had a particular gift for figuring out how mechanical things work. For years he was chief engineer of the local flour mill, and long-time volunteer and President of the local fire department and the guy, the Grafton history notes, who drove the first motorized fire truck to Grafton from somewhere.
Both my Grandpa’s had inquiring minds – Grandpa Busch was a farmer with a couple of patents – but he didn’t have easy access to the streets of any big town.
Grandpa Bernard did, and in retirement he loved to “kibitz” or be a “sidewalk superintendent” in his town of several thousand. Most times it was on his bench on the front stoop of their tiny home at 738 Cooper Avenue. Sometimes it was watching the action elsewhere in town.
There exists a wonderful film clip from a day in 1949 which includes him watching a crew lay a concrete section of street in Grafton (here, beginning at about 4:15. He even merits a subtitle!). In the fashion of the day, he was dressed up. He was a common man, but when you went out, you dressed up!
Paving that street in Grafton was the ‘street theater’ of the day!
I think of that vignette because for the last week or so the crews have been in our neighborhood rebuilding our street – the first time in about 20 years.
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Romeo Road, Woodbury, mid-June, 2012


Such projects are essential nuisances to folks on the street, but a change in routine.
Kibitzing a few days ago, a neighbor and I were wondering why they replaced some sections of curb and not others, so we went to look (cracks were the villains, mostly).
Some unlucky folks had the entryway to their driveway blocked for a few days because their section of curb had to be replaced.
As I write, the street is prepared, and repaving is about to be begin, but early Tuesday morning came another inconvenience. The neighbors across the street – the ones who couldn’t get into their driveway for a few days – had another unfortunate happening.
Early on June 19 came those violent winds, and one of their trees blew over, blocking that driveway again….

Early morning June 19, 2012


Its all better now. The tree was rapidly removed, and life goes on.
We have assorted complaints, of course, but work crews are doing their work very efficiently, and somebody somewhere in our communities did the planning, letting of contracts, etc., etc., etc. None of us had to worry about this planning and implementation.
Yes, we’ll have to pay an assessment, but it’s a small price to pay as part of our community.
And a bonus is the chance to re-view Grandpa Bernard in action at 77 years of age, now 63 years ago.
I wonder what he could have been able to do had he been able to pursue an education.
He died in 1957 when I was 17.
I’ll visit his and Grandma’s and others graves in Grafton and Oakwood ND next Monday.
Thanks for the memories.

#566 – Dick Bernard: National Teacher Appreciation Day 2012

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Today is National Teacher Day, a day with a long tradition. Since 1985 the first Tuesday in May has been the specific day, but the tradition goes back to an idea of a teacher in the 1940s.
More so than in any recent years, Teacher Appreciation Day is an essential one this year.
Especially since January 2011 there has been an organized assault on teachers and their organizations that I’d consider unprecedented. I knew it had been unremitting in the last year, but the extent was revealed by one of Governor Dayton’s veto messages here. (See CH 274 HF 1870 Veto Message). And this was just Minnesota.
Thankfully Governor Dayton, from a very well known Minnesota family, knows of what he speaks. Early in his adult life he spent two years teaching in poverty ridden public schools in New York City. A month or so ago I heard him speak about that experience at the Education Summit of Parents United, an independent non-partisan public education advocacy group.
The Governor related, among other things, his businessman Dad’s admonition that you must “inspect before you can expect”. For Mr. Dayton, this involved visiting the homes of his students.

Gov Mark Dayton at Parents United for Public Schools April, 2012


I come from a lifetime in teaching: my parents were career public school teachers. For nine years I was a teacher, then for 27 years I represented public school teachers in teacher union work. Even in the dozen years subsequent to retirement I’ve had close and continuing contacts with public education and educators. Today, May 8, 2012, one daughter will go to her job as Principal of a large Middle School; and seven grandchildren will be off to their Minnesota public schools with hundreds of thousands of their peers.
I’ve written about some of them recently: here and here.
But the assault on public ed is real, and at least here in Minnesota the battering rams apparently didn’t quite work.
Perhaps stability will begin to return.
I wasn’t a perfect teacher, nor a perfect union representative, nor are my union or its members perfect, but without equivocation the attack on Minnesota’s public workers has been unwarranted and unnecessary. Of course, the attack is all under the guise of “reform” or other high-sounding labels. But the intent was destruction and not reform, and you can see it in the morale of public employees under siege.
But even in the blitzkrieg of attempted destruction, there are good examples, not difficult to find. They are in those school programs that I wrote about a few days ago (see above), and in other sometimes unusual circumstances.
Some weeks ago I was driver for a 91-year old friend who wanted to attend his club meeting. He has for many years been a member of a well known men’s club, whose members are all prominent in their particular fields of endeavor. It is a by-invitation only group, and you can attend only as a member or a guest of a member. He’d long ago ‘paid his dues’ – both he and his Dad before him had been President of this Club.
Each month a featured part of the meeting is a talk by someone with particular expertise.
At this particular meeting, the speaker was a man whose first name is Erik and who is more and more well known among a certain twin cities and regional affinity group: his business is “Erik’s Bikes and Boards“. His website is here.
He gave his personal history – how it was he became successful – and among others he gave very specific credit to one unnamed public school teacher in one of the public schools he had attended as a young person.
I don’t know the teachers name, and it is unnecessary to find out who he or she was at this point. I know the school district, and it has always had a very strong teachers union, and most likely the teacher was part of that union. And more than just the teacher, the administration and the school district itself allowed the flexibility that helped launch Erik into his career.
Whatever the specifics, somewhere in the background of almost all of us is someone we remember as “teacher”. It only takes one, and all of we teachers know that. Someone, some time, we touched, even if we may never hear it directly.
Thank you all. And take a moment today to thank some teacher that you know who made a difference in your life.

#564 – Dick Bernard: Another Birthday.

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Today, all day, I was 72 years old.
I got a head start on a great day on May 3 with a short trip across the Mississippi to Lincoln Center School in South St. Paul MN. There granddaughter Addie (she’s the one in the black and white polka dot dress you can see if you look at center in the photo) and her colleague first graders entertained other students, teachers and assorted parents and grandparents with a program with a Caribbean theme. Louis Armstrong had nothing on these kids when they sang a snippet of “It’s a Wonderful World”. “Entusiasmo” as the Spanish word for enthusiasm spoke for them from the wall beside them.
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Lincoln Center First Graders May 3, 2012


I thought of first grade for me. It was 1946-47, at St. Elizabeth’s in Sykeston ND. I still have the report card. It’s been awhile since I was in First Grade.
As birthdays go, 72 is nothing much to talk about. For me, it has more meaning, this year.
My Mom turned 72 on July 27, 1981. Three weeks later she passed away. She’d been very ill the preceding year (cancer) and there were no miracle cures. For more reasons than Mom’s death, 1981 was an important year for me. Among other things, Mom and Dad helped jump-start me into a family history ‘career’ which has gone on, now, for 32 years. (You can never really retire from family history.)
Being 72 – born in 1940 – means I missed the Great Depression, and was out and about when World War II began for the United States. Recently the 1940 census was released, and I looked. I missed the cut. The census taker in Valley City ND came around in April, 1940, and I was just thinking about arriving on the world scene. It was the census taker who came early, not me!
Of course, when the odometer of life turns over one more digit, it is always a reminder that you are actually a year older than your birthday cake shows. So today I completed 72 years, and begin my 73rd. Such is life.
It’s been a good day today which, for someone my age and temperament, means a reasonably laid back retired person day.
About noon-time today I was at Jefferson High School in Bloomington watching goings-on at the schools annual Diversity Day.
Like the First graders on Thursday, the high schoolers on Friday gave me some sense of optimism about the future IF we adults don’t mess things up too badly. It’s up to us to leave them a future to build upon.
My friend Lynn Elling gave his annual talk, an “old bird” of 91 (as he describes himself) with his spouse of 68 years, Donna, with him.
His talk always focuses on the WWII that he experienced at places like Tarawa Beach, and a 1954 visit to Hiroshima which has had a lifelong impact on him.
In the kids he sees our future, and I like that.
Forward into my 73rd year!

Lynn Elling at Jefferson High School, Bloomington MN May 4, 2012


Kids listen to Lynn Elling May 4, 2012


Martha Roberts, Donna and Lynn Elling at the World Citizen Table May 4. Martha is President of World Citizen, Lynn founded the organization in 1982.


UPDATE May 8, 2012

Happy Birthday to ME, at a gathering on May 6, and ...


... and Grandson Parker, who shares May 4th as birthday, albeit 62 years later.