Even though he never traveled the path around the Falls, Brother Dominic has continued to be an inspiration to many with the classic line, “It’s a miracle.” The line is worthy of reflection from a number of perspectives. The reference comes from a Xerox ad that first appeared as part of the 1977 Super Bowl, a mere 38 years ago. Even though that was more than a generation ago, almost anyone who has seen the commercial will have a vivid recollection of the plot.
Brother Dominic used quill and ink to complete a beautiful manuscript. With a great deal of pride he presented it to the head of the monastery, only to have the head of the monastery request another 500 copies. Rather than spending a lifetime completing the request, Brother Dominic slipped out to the local Xerox center to get copies. When presented with the stack of copies, the good father superior looks to the heavens and utters the line.
The ad won numerous awards and is considered one of the best Super Bowl ads ever. It set the bar for those ads ever since. As a side note, that was the last Super Bowl in which the Vikings appeared, which says something about rising to high expectations.
The year 1977 also stands out as a personal mile marker, since it was the last year of full-time teaching while working on a degree in administration. The fall of 1978 marked a career change, working as a school superintendent. From many perspectives, it’s been a miracle run since. It’s been said that educators stay in the business because they never want to get out of school and get a real job. Perhaps there is a grain of truth in that.
Realistically, the role of being a school superintendent is quite varied and includes much in the “other duties as assigned” category. It wasn’t too long into that first year on the job that one of those duties included disassembling a Xerox copy machine to retrieve a staple that was caught on the feed belt that caused the machine to crash.
Unlike today, when business comes to a screeching halt when the Internet is down, back then productivity depended on a working copy machine. Ultimately, the staple was retrieved, the machine was reassembled, and it resumed slowly spitting out copies at the press of a button. That was worth quite a few points for the new guy sitting in the superintendent chair.
Brother Dominic is an inspiration for a number of superintendents, not because of the need to make copies, but rather for the practice of putting quill and ink to paper. Writing and other communication has to be high on the mandatory skill set list when moving into that role.
One of the very first contacts this observer made prior to interviewing for the Oconto Falls position was to Bob Shellman, who, at the time, was emeritus editor-in-chief of the Times Herald. Shortly after being selected for the superintendent position, a face-to-face visit with the literary legend was at the top of the agenda. That was a spark that led to a deep and long-lasting, warm relationship with the man and the newspaper, whose ink seemed to run through his veins.
Less than two months later, the first of what has turned out to be 1,117 Path Around the Falls columns hit the newsstands. I have to thank and pay tribute to Bob and the editors who followed in his footsteps. They allowed me to have very free rein with the quill and ink I have scribbled across these pages.
A few years after coming to Oconto Falls, I was offered a slightly different educational leadership position that was not with a school district. Of the many things weighed in whether to take the position was the perception that I could not continue the column and appropriately connect with readers to tell the stories about a school district and the wonderful people who live within its boundaries.
To be honest, just like Brother Dominic, who slipped out of the monastery to get to the Xerox shop, occasionally the content of the column addressed issues outside the district, but always there was a strong effort to connect the stories to schools. Credit goes to former school board member Bill Kamke for that sage advice.
Over time, we witnessed many miracles. Like Brother Dominic, perhaps now is time to give the quill a rest. Peace.
Editor’s note: The Times Herald thanks David Polashek for sharing his observations as he traveled the path around the Falls. His weekly columns called attention to many aspects of life in the area, including Packers fandom, snowstorms, deer hunting and of course, the many facets of education. The Times Herald was pleased to provide a forum which fostered the connection between the school district and subscribers.
Dean Hess, Oconto Falls superintendent, anxious to devote time to learn and excel in his new role, has decided not to contribute a weekly column in the absence of Path Around the Falls.
