My Friend the Connector
hello world, meet John
Schedule Change
I will be shifting to a once-a-week schedule with this post. Monday mornings at 5 am CT going forward.
My Piece of Heaven
My first go-around in Minnesota surrounded work at a Nuclear Power Station well to the south of the Twin Cities in the mid-1980s. I commuted a longish distance and would often cut through an area of rolling green hills and a sheep farm in a little town named Rosemount, MN.
Many years later, after marriage and time away in Central CA & Pittsburgh, PA, we returned to the area and built our home in Rosemount on the site of the old sheep farm. Rosemount was a small town of perhaps 10,000 at that time and retained a small downtown district. It never felt like a manufactured suburb to me. The last 25+ years have seen it grow beyond 25000.
My children would attend elementary school nearby with a welcome sign that included a tribute to the sheep that used to roam the area. They would attend middle school and then senior high school at Rosemount High. We became members of the community and grew to love it very much. The topography of the area has the feel of rural Ireland at times and the High School mascot and mantra is Rosemount, home of the Irish. One of my sons helped a friend earn his Eagle Scout status by creating a wonderful symbol for the school on the hill adjoining the stadium where Friday Night Lights punctuates fall evenings. The ornamental shrubs in the shape of a shamrock are a nice marker at the stadium.
These are just places, however. A place is defined by the people who inhabit it. Rosemount has a special character. At some point, I came to meet, get to know, and later befriend a special person who has played a large role in making our little corner of the Twin Cities special.
Connectors
One of my favorite authors and podcast originators is Malcolm Gladwell. He has been a feature writer for the New Yorker and has authored more than 60 books. In one of his books, “The Tipping Point” he introduced me to the concept of special personality types that any sort of organization needs. They are called connectors. My friend John is a connector, and he is the key player in my story today. Without him, my adopted hometown of Rosemount, MN, would not be the same.
In addition to being a connector, John is interested in the world and has LOTS OF HOBBIES. He has played an important role in community civic organizations like our historical society, and the arts council. Want to know how Rosemount came to be? John is a great place to start.
A Bit About John and his Nature
When I first met John, I liked him. It seemed if you went to any civic event in our little town, John would be at the center. Christmas tree lighting? CHECK. Leprechaun Days? CHECK.
So tonight’s tale was inspired by John’s latest community project. When he first shared an overview, my instinct was:
How can he have the mindset that he can even do what he is describing?
I will have a separate post about that project because first you and I need to understand John.
Why does one old guy taking on such a monumental task not shock me? John does all sorts of things. He taps his trees and processes the sap into homemade maple syrup. He is a master craftsman woodworker. He even makes pine needle baskets! Before John was overtaken by hobbies and volunteering, our town was blessed by his presence as the town pharmacist. He has a veritable museum of pharmacy memorabilia dating back to his parents’ operation displayed in the lower level of his home. When John commits to doing something, he does it well. I came to know John better through the Rosemount History Book Club and the Arts Council. Here is an example of John at his best. Melding his love of books and his woodworking skills has resulted in one of the finest instances of a Little Free Library you might imagine near the end of his driveway.
John’s Latest Project (an Overview)
The renowned author Sinclair Lewis is from Minnesota. Sinclair Lewis was the first American author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. The very first movie filmed in Minnesota was a silent film in 1919 titled “Free Air” based on the book of the same name. The film has been lost. What was all the more intriguing is the movie was filmed in the smallish town of Rosemount, MN! At the time of its filming, some still photos were captured. The screenplay of the original movie has also not been recovered. My friend John, always up for a challenge, is piecing together a script based on some loose historical records for the play that will be developed. That is step one of putting on a production and he has it all in his mind’s eye.
The Overview
I decided, once I started this post, I had some questions that needed answering before I could continue. John gave me a bit of his time and a window into what makes him tick. I got to sit on his seasonal porch on a fall day, staring out at the pond and just talking with my friend. A very good day.
Mark’s POV: This current project is quite amazing to me. How do you start such a project? I think because there are so many unknowns and so few clues, most would shy away. When you first described the project it seemed hard to gather how you might put it together. You have never written a script for a play before. None of this stopped you.
Mark: What made you think you could write a script for a play based on a missing screenplay for an old movie? This ignores, of course, the organization and funding for its performance in the community with no prior experience.
John: I had no doubt I could do it. Over time I have made so many connections, I knew if I needed help I had people I could ask. With time and experience, I have become a person who is never afraid to ask for help.
Mark: Were you always like this? Were your parents heavily involved in the community?
John: shared a bit about growing up with parents heavily involved in operating a neighborhood pharmacy with time for little else. The parent’s place in their community was important and left a mark on many people in ways John could not have realized at the time. Beyond that lies some personal information beyond the scope of this interview.
Mark: What was your motivation? Little record of the movie or its screenplay existed at the beginning of your effort. Your effort has blossomed into a likely initiative to perform the play in Sinclair Lewis’ hometown in addition to the premiere in Rosemount.
John: Most of the people in Rosemount don’t know its history. Something important happened here. We have an underappreciated Arts Council, two theatre companies, willing performers, and something unique and different to perform never done before that is tied to the town's history. This is a SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY!
Mark: How did your place in Rosemount at the center of so much community good come to be?
John : [this is edited]
When I settled in Rosemount and ran the local drugstore, I was asked many times to consider attending a Jaycees meeting. I finally went to a meeting and was voted the Secretary (I was 26).
It seemed there were always (1) a lot of good ideas and (2) no volunteers. I started volunteering during this period.
I was elected the President of the Chamber of Commerce (CofC) at age 27. This was the beginning of a lifetime of connections. These are the people I can call on so I never get stuck! I eventually concluded that the CofC had money and no time. The Jaycees had time and no money. I decided these two organizations could transform the community one project at a time!
SIDEBAR: This conversation was an elevation of my spirit. John shared things not necessary to share here. I came to this topic wanting to understand John a bit better and now simply love him even more!
Mark: Why do you (and your wife) do all of this?
John: I do this because:
If people enjoyed living in a community because of what it uniquely offered, they will support the local businesses and the community will thrive.
Mark: Looking back now, did you do this primarily to support businesses like your apothecary [I love that word]?
John: No. Since I continue to do it now long after retirement with no business interest, it is much more than that. It seems there are satisfactions to giving back that are hard to quantify. One perfect example is the outreach to each school in the community to rotationally display children’s artwork at the library. Those get-togethers when you see the joy of the children and the support of their parents make it all worthwhile.
I will return in the future and profile the Sinclair Lewis project. When I do, I may offer the opportunity to support this wonderful community art project. I believe the world is full of great people looking for a way they can make things work just a little bit better. The star shines bright with John.
The Poll & Music
As I recall, my friend John enjoys Johnny Cash. It was very kind of him to allow me to interview him. The least I can do is pick a good song he enjoys.
What’s Next
See you next week with “We Need Ice”. [The links only work once the post is released]. When I was a kid growing up in the suburbs of Buffalo, NY the bad job was when the apron of the driveway froze over and you had to break up the ice. It sure took a lot of work and energy to crack up and clear the ice. It seems nature is pretty good at breaking up the ice, a lot better than I ever was, and perhaps much better than we fear.
I picked “one” just because it was funny.
These needle baskets—are they baskets made from pine needles or baskets full of pine needles? Or BOTH?
I've had the pleasure of spending time in quite a few cities and I always know right away when there's someone like John nearby. By the end of the week I can't walk a block without running into someone I've met, I've probably already sat at someone's kitchen table for dinner, and somehow I've signed up to volunteer for something. There are plenty of other places that might look the same in a photo, yet I can be there for three months and never get beyond the nod hello.