Hamburger, no ketchup.

Dear Mr. Cole; John Pizzarelli

In the spring of 1976, my fourth grade class took a field trip to Mitchell, South Dakota, to visit the world’s only Corn Palace. For years, the Corn Palace has provided a venue for headliner entertainment in “The Mount Rushmore State”. Mom and Dad once took a trip to Mitchell to see Dick Van Dyke and his brother Jerry Van Dyke when we kids were very young.

The inside isn’t particularly remarkable. It is a combination gymnasium/auditorium. The outside is where all the action happens. Each fall, the outside walls receive a decoration job. Murals are thrown up using nothing but corn – the cob, the kernels, the husk – the whole stalk. It looks fantastic. In February, as I recall, they need to replace portions of the murals that have been eaten by birds. They also paint the Moorish domes and minarets to coincide with the color and décor of the murals.

It’s “corny” for sure. But South Dakotans are proud of it, so I am proud of it. In the early fall of 1987, I played third trumpet in the orchestra that played for the “Prairie Repertory Theatre” production of “South Pacific” at the Corn Palace.

On that day in 1976, I thought that the Corn Palace was one of the most exotic places I had ever seen. And to mark the occasion, I bought a little plastic buffalo about two inches tall. For years it sat on my desk to remind me that I went to the Corn Palace in 1976.

Do you know what else marked that day? I went to a McDonald’s for the first time in my life. Mom handed me five dollars – a fortune to a ten-year-old in the mid-1970’s - as I was heading out the door to wait for the bus. “Your teacher says that you’re going to McDonald’s for lunch. What are you going to get?” Do they have hamburgers? “I think so.” Then I want a hamburger. “Okay. Then you need to remember to ask them for no ketchup on your hamburger. Can you do that?” Yes. And I did. My first McDonald’s visit was a complete success.

Today, I am at McDonald’s. They have free Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi at home is on hiatus.

In 1994, Mr. John Pizzarelli recorded an album devoted to the music of Nat King Cole. In the spirit of the great jazz pianist’s trio, pianist Benny Gren and bassist Christian McBride join guitarist Pizzarelli for a romp through some King Cole standards, featuring a memorable scamper through the always fun “Sweet Georgia Brown”. This is my second favorite Nat King Cole album.

And now, it’s time for a hamburger. No Ketchup.

Credits: To Jerry Van Dyke, for making my dad laugh. He talked about you for years afterward. And to Dick Van Dyke, for “Mary Poppins”. You made me laugh when I saw “Mary Poppins” in 1973. Oh, yes. I remember.

This is the fourteenth of my forty-five CD's.