2009 Spring - Wisconsin Writers Association

Page 25Wisconsin Writers—Remembering Robert Gard by LaMoine MacLaughlinGrowing up in Wisconsin during the 1950’s, I can still hearin my memory a frequent mantra chanted at the end of whatseemed every other program on Wisconsin Public Radio:“This has been a production of the Wisconsin Idea Theater,Robert Gard, Director.” I can still remember that, as a youngboy, those programs filled me with wonder and delight. Onlymuch later did I learn the greater value of Gard’s work, andhow it reached into so many corners of community arts developmentin Wisconsin, including the Wisconsin Regional WritersAssociation.Robert Gard was born and grew up in Iola, Kansas, in1910. Very early he developed a feeling for the importance ofa sense of place in people’s lives, and he carried that sensethroughout his own life. Of the place where he was born, Gardsaid, “There was our local river ... the Neosho .... It seemed tome that the men of our town and countryside were shaped bythe river and that the river knew and held their destinies. Itcrushed at will and gave at will ....” Wherever he taught inlater life, Gard always stressed the importance of the sense ofplace in theater and in writing.After studying theater with Alan Crafton and graduatingfrom the University of Kansas, Gard went on to pursue graduatework with A. M. Drummond at Cornell University. Duringhis study at Cornell, Gard discovered and mined the folkloreof up-state New York with such plays as “The Cardiff Giant.”Upon receiving his graduate degree, he spent two years inAlberta, Canada researching, performing, and publishing Canadianfolklore in several collections of radio plays. Then, in1945, Gard was hired by the University of Wisconsin as Directorof The Wisconsin Idea Theater.When he first came to Wisconsin, Gard said, “I had no realknowledge of Wisconsin then, or of its traditions. I had readabout the state, but I had not studied it. I knew about LaFollette,and I had admired his crusades in politics and in government.I understood that under a great program known as theWisconsin Idea he and his followers had attempted, and successfullyso, to extend the principles of democracy into thelife of the average citizen.” Gard saw great potential for ex-tending the principles of the Wisconsin Idea into citizen involvementin all of the arts, and especially in theater and writing.In 1948, Robert Gard was the ideal person to be asked todirect Wisconsin’s centennial celebration activities. That yearalso saw him develop a statewide organization of writers, theWisconsin Rural Writers’ Association (later renamed the WisconsinRegional Writers’ Association), which quickly grew toinclude a membership of 1,200 Wisconsin residents. Gard’sstory of assisting local writers can be found in three of hisbooks: Grassroots Theater (1955), Coming Home To Wisconsin(1982), and Prairie Visions (1987). Gard went on to writemore than forty books about Wisconsin, as well as countlessarticles for arts and theater related journals. (See http://www.gardfoundation.org/books.html)Gard received numerous awards during his lifetime. Limitedspace here provides no justice. I had the good fortune tomeet Robert Gard shortly before his death in 1992. At the ageof 82 he was contributing what he could to help form whateventually became the Wisconsin Association of Local ArtsAgencies (now Arts Wisconsin).Although he may no longer be with us in person, certainlyhis memory and his spirit remain in the hearts of those whofollow in his footsteps within Wisconsin’s local arts agencies,within Wisconsin’s community theaters, and within the WisconsinRegional Writers’ Association. During 2010 we willcelebrate the centennial of Robert Gard’s birth with theknowledge that his legacy remains vibrant and alive in ourhands as we continue the work he began.[Editor’s Note: Jerry Apps suggested at our 2008 Spring Conferencethat we should take special note of Wisconsin’s richlegacy of writers. This is the first in a series about these writers.Who better to start with than our founder, Robert E.Gard? The author, LaMoine MacLaughlin, is a former Presidentof the Robert E. Gard Foundation and is currently ExecutiveDirector of the Northern Lakes Center for the Arts inAmery.] #Memorial Day—A Small Town in Wisconsin by Agnes KennardThe panoramic view of the cemetery revealed grass verygreen and well kept, fresh with new life. It ran down a sweepingslope through the headstones and up a gentle knoll disappearinginto stately soft white pine.Participants stood in small quiet respectful groups, thewarmth of the sun upon their heads. A breeze wrapped itselfaround everyone carrying with it the eerie sound of bagpipesas their hearts and their minds dwelt upon the character of theholiday.Twenty old gentlemen and a couple women in uniformappeared, walking in uneven columns down the center of thecemetery; some carrying flags, others carrying rifles, all tryingtheir best to stand straight and smart—a difficult task for theolder ones whose age demanded bent backs. Their hair re-flected hazy silver in the sunlight forming halos around theirheads. The ceremony was brief, mistakes—a few—but themeaning was perfect. Everyone in attendance was deeplytouched.At the end of the ceremony, into the stillness and from thestillness, taps trumpeted as chills ran up and down their arms.Off in the distance the taps were echoed, floating, as if fromoverseas where many brave young soldiers died, the notesreaching from their graves—reminding everyone of their presence.To breathe would have been a desecration.The final note faded away into eternity. Everyone, in unison,released a deep sigh from their souls, close in spirit asthey walked separately back to their cars in silence. #