SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
June 7, 2023
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/13/23
In this edition:
*RIP Terry Brosh
*Father’s Day
*IC Pride
*Juneteenth
*Senior Services Fair
*MusicIC
*Daily Iowan March 22, 1972
*Governor Ray
*Did You Know?
*RIP Terry Brosh
Sad to hear of the passing of Terry Brosh of Solon. Terry was one of the original founders of the Sutliff Bridge Authority, and helped to save the historic bridge the first time back in 1983. You did well, Terry!
*Father’s Day
Father’s Day is June 18. Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there! I know both Mother’s and Father’s Days can be very difficult for some people, for a variety of reasons. If that is you, you are in my thoughts.
Being a dad is the best thing I have ever done. It is also the most difficult. I imagine that is the case for most fathers.
It has been decades now since I have had the pleasure of enjoying a living father or grandfather. If you are lucky enough to have a father or grandfather around, please take a moment to reach out to him this weekend.
*IC Pride
Pride is this month in Iowa City, and there are numerous events throughout June. For a list, please see: https://www.iowacitypride.org/year-round-events.
The Pride Parade and Festival are two of my favorite events each year. I hope you can get out and show your support, particularly in light of all the bullshit Kim Reynolds and crew are pulling.
Please allow me to call particular attention to the annual Pride Parade at noon on Saturday, June 17, followed by the annual Pride Festival on the Ped Mall. Happy Pride, all!
*Juneteenth
Johnson County is working with a number of community partners to present a whole week’s worth of Juneteenth activities! There are several virtual events, all listed on the webpage.
For more info, visit the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/jciajuneteenth.
By the way, in 2021, The Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for union and non-union employees. The decision followed President Joe Biden declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday for the first time two years ago and many other Iowa cities doing the same.
One difference? Most cities and counties took away a different holiday in order to acknowledge Juneteenth. Many, for example, swapped it out for President’s Day. Johnson County simply added a new holiday. I am proud of that.
*Senior Services Fair
TRAIL of Johnson County, the local aging-in-place nonprofit, is hosting a Senior Housing and Services Fair on Thursday, June 15, 2023, from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM at the Kirkwood Regional Center, 2301 Oakdale Blvd., in Coralville. The event is free and open to the public.
According to TRAIL Executive Director Bob Untiedt, the fair is in response to the growth in senior housing options in Johnson County, as well as the increased need for at-home services, including medical and non-medical care.
TRAIL of Johnson County is a membership-based nonprofit organization that helps older adults live more safely and comfortably in the places they call home. By providing members access to volunteer services, recommended service providers and a full calendar of social and educational events, TRAIL fosters an engaged and supportive community of individuals dedicated to living more fully and independently as they age. For more information visit www.trailofjohnsoncounty.org.
*MusicIC
The festival, for those who don't know, is subtitled "Where Music and Literature Meet." It celebrates intersections and connections among and between chamber music and literature, offering ways to better understand one through the other. The programming in the other 11 years has been outstanding, but this year may be the best.
This season's title is "Anonymous Was a Woman: Centering Women's Perspectives," taken from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own. It will center Women’s perspectives by featuring female composers almost exclusively.
What follows is a brief overview of the schedule. You can find more at www.MusicIC.org.
Wednesday, June 21, at 7 p.m. in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library. Admission is free. A pre-recorded conversation between Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and essayist, Marilynne Robinson and Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award–winning composer Caroline Shaw, moderated by MusicIC’s Founding Artist Director Tricia Park. They begin by discussing Shaw’s string quartet, Three Essays, the first movement of which was written to mimic Robinson’s writing, and continue to explore ideas of voice, inspiration, and the creative impulse. Live performance of excerpts of Shaw's composition will follow.
Thursday, June 22, at 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 320 E. College St. Admission is free. A concert featuring work by several contemporary female composers, incorporating perspectives from a collection of Western and non-Western musical traditions. presenting string quartets of oral-based storytelling songs from Mali, Indian Ragas, and melodies based on Iranian poetry.
Friday, June 23, 7:30 p.m. at Riverside Theatre. Tickets are $20; $10 for students. A concert drawing connections between author and feminist icon Virginia Woolf and composer Dame Ethel Smyth. The program will begin with Smyth’s Violin Sonata in A minor (Op. 7), written in 1887.
Following Smyth’s Sonata, we will present a semi-staged version of Dominick Argento’s song cycle From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, which won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Smyth and Woolf would meet near the end of their lives and continue a fruitful intellectual and artistic relationship, lasting until Woolf’s suicide in 1941. Before the concert, at 6:30 p.m., music scholar, author, and University of Iowa Professor Marian Wilson-Kimber will give a lecture exploring the development of works by women artists and the barriers they face.
Saturday, June 24, at 10:30 a.m., Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library. A free family concert featuring a program of musical storytelling for kids of all ages.
Please help us to spread the word. Here are some links to help:
https://www.facebook.com/MusicICfestival
https://www.facebook.com/IowaCityofLit
https://twitter.com/IowaCityofLit
https://www.instagram.com/musiciowacity/
*Daily Iowan March 22, 1972
I recently came into the possession of a Daily Iowan from March 22, 1972. It is truly remarkable what jumps out at you from a 51-year-old newspaper!
A few headlines: “Nixon pledges tough war on drugs.” “Muskie roars back to win Illinois Primary.” “Thurgood Marshall speaks as Court opens ballot to 5 million; Tennessee residency requirement declared unconstitutional.”
Other news of note: UI officials pronounced that the experiment of running Currier Hall as a co-ed dorm had been a huge success. The Iowa City Council fought over the proposed parking ramp at Linn and Burlington; a group called “Students Against the Ramp” held a meeting at the IMU. The Board of Supervisors decided to allow the public to vote on expanding from 3 members to 5. The League of Women Voters did a childcare survey. Muddy Waters performed at Coe College in Cedar Rapids. Bill Walton led UCLA to a 7th consecutive NCAA Men’s Basketball championship.
People of note: Former County Attorney J. Patrick White was serving on the Iowa City Council at the time. Minnette Doderer was representing Iowa City at the State Capital, fighting for healthcare improvements. Republican Governor Bob Ray got a Department of Environmental Quality passed. Randy Evans was the news editor of the DI.
Advertisements: The Godfather premiered at the Astro. Furnished 2-bedroom apartment on South Dubuque Street for $100/month. Kresge’s was selling the latest Bread and America albums. Red Carpet Travel has trips to Europe for $205. A 6 pack of Bud is $1.19 at the Kwik Shop. Hand’s Jewelers advertising engagement rings. 20 cent cheeseburgers at Henry’s. Lots of classified ads for typists.
As you can see, many things sound as though they are from long ago; others could be in the DI today. I think we can learn a lot from scanning an old paper like this!
*Governor Ray
That old DI got me thinking about former Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray. Bob Ray served as Iowa’s Governor from 1969 to 1983. A Republican, Ray:
· Advocated for Iowa’s first in the nation bottle bill;
· Cleared the way for thousands of refugees to move to the state;
· Passed the first law protecting Native American remains;
· Negotiated the Chapter 20 public sector collective bargaining bill;
· Created the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women;
· Removed the sales tax from groceries and drugs;
· Moved much of school funding from local property taxes to state sales taxes.
It is just pretty much unfathomable today that a Republican politician could support ANY of these positions, let alone all of them. And despite being very committed to efficiency and money-saving efforts, Ray would get almost zero votes today in any Republican primary.
I don’t really have any other commentary here; I simply look at that list and pray we can return to the days when Iowa was run by good and decent people.
*DID YOU KNOW? The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abe Lincoln on September 22, 1862. It went into effect on January 1, 1863. However, slaves were not set free in the Confederacy until Union army was able to come in and take over. On June 18, 1865 the Union army arrived in Galveston, Texas. The next day, June 19th, General Gordon Granger announced that the slaves in Texas were free by order of the president of the United States.
The former slaves in Galveston celebrated the day that they were set free. The first Juneteenth celebration took place the very next year.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 10:14 PM
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