Stoneage Ramblings

By John R. Stone

Christmas is meant to be a time of good cheer and there have been a number of cheerful things to celebrate this season. This year there have also been some spoilers because several people we knew died.

Last week was funeral one day, the wonderful MAHS Christmas concert two days later, then another concert of the Medora Musical crew doing Christmas songs the next day, then another funeral, oh, make that two funerals.

It would be tempting to get in a funk but that isn’t what this season is about. Bev Solonen, whose funeral was the first we attended, had told Mary before she had surgery last fall to try to solve a medical issue very near her birthday, that either she would survive with her problem solved or she would die and go to be with Jesus. It was a win-win as she saw it.

Her service was a celebration of life just as Christmas is a celebration of life through the birth of Jesus. Even so, it is a hard adjustment for family members to lose someone so close to Christmas.

Troy Wagner was the son of Bruce and Terry Wagner and was relatively young at 58 when his body gave out. We’ve known Bruce and Terri since we came to Glenwood through Jaycees, even before we got to know Merle and Bonnie Wagner, Gordon and Ann Wagner and Kevin Wagner. Losing an only child has to be a very difficult. Our thoughts are with all of them this Christmas season.

Gordon Amble was one of the first people to want publicity for projects I got to know coming to town. He was the administrator of what was then Glenwood Retirement Home during a period of major expansion projects.

From the look of the obituary column the past few weeks, many more families are also dealing with loss during this season.

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On the more joyful side of the Christmas season we attended the MAHS Christmas concert. Literally hundreds of kids were involved in the concert at a variety of grade levels.

By the time these kids work their way up to the concert choir level they are very, very good.

Over the years under Gordon Moeller, we got used to quality choral music programs and his successor, Jeff Iverson, who was a student in Moeller’s choirs, is carrying on the tradition.

Moving the choirs around as they take their turns on stage is interesting to watch. Several of the choirs have close to 100 members but they move up and onto the auditorium stage quickly while the group that is on stage quietly slips off.

These concerts are worth seeing even if you don’t have a family member to watch.

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The day after the high school choir concert we went to Alexandria for the Medora Musical singer’s concert. These are people who have previously appeared in the Medora summer musical program in Medora, N.D.

Those of you who remember the late Bob Bergman may remember that for about 10 years Bob was the emcee of that musical, which runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day in an outdoor amphitheater in the North Dakota badlands. We attended the musical several times when Bob was there and have been back several times, the most recent being this summer.

At any rate these are amazing musicians. Not only do they sing, most play at least one musical instrument and some play several. During costume changes there were a couple of performances by a very talented magician.

Merry Christmas to you!