The DJ Rollie D Story

This post is an edited version of my article for the July 2015 Cotton Chronicle with more pictures added in.  Happy Reading! ~ DJ Rollie D             Cherry School History Teacher Zach Swart has led three groups of students to Washington DC over the last six years.  He operates the trip under one assumption, and that is that the students on the trip will never come back to the nation’s capital ever again.  It’s a crammed trip, and sometimes, anything can happen, as we found out this last week when all of our planning and fundraising paid off.                 An early claim by Mr. Swart was that we would be walking a lot on this trip, and that good shoes that were broken in would be a must in order to make it through without getting blisters and sores.  He wasn’t kidding when he said this.  We walked a total of 17 miles on Monday, coincidentally one o...

Has someone ever made you feel rotten?  It's happened to me before and it really stinks.  I've done it to a few people too, and I always regret it.  Sometimes, amends are made, others not, but I guess it really doesn't matter in the long run.  We're none the worse for the adventure and the learning anyways. One thing I don't get though is why we as people are so cruel to one another in general.  I do it inadvertently all the time, and it can wreck people pretty easily from what I've seen.  Thankfully, most have had the ability to forgive and forget (sometimes), and I enjoy that trait in some people.  I like having friends more than I do enemies.  We should spread the love and happiness throughout the world, and all have a positive attitude. When your boyfriend breaks up with you, don't be like the classmate of mine that told me to suck her you know what. Don't be like I used to be, shunning everyone away or putting up a barrier to get the...

DISCLAIMER The following post is about a very controversial subject that has made headlines around the country in magazines and on television far too many times to count over the past few months.  I'm talking about Bruce Jenner's gender change surgery from male to female and his new name of Caitlyn. You may not agree with the stance taken by me in this blog post, and/or find my tone too harsh or too soft.  I ask that all comments are constructive and refrain from vulgarity and harshness. I always respond to your comments if they are left and love getting back to you all.  Lastly, I ask that you read with caution and discretion.  Happy Reading! ~ DJ Rollie D A few months ago or some time last year Kris and Bruce Jenner announced their divorce.  Since then, Bruce has taken a path that some see as courageous and others see as disgraceful.  In March, reports surfaced that Bruce was becoming a woman, having began to wear female clothing and jewelry as w...

This last year I joined the Cherry High School Speech Team and preformed in the storytelling category, adapting fifteen folktales into my own storylines and using whatever voices I found suited for them that sounded different from my narrator voice.  I had a lot of fun and got really far with it!  Next year I have decided to try something new and enter in creative expression.  My current plan is to write a story involving several of my friends as well as myself that will be a re-write of a certain point in my HS career, whether that's my time at Walmart, time spent at camp, or something from my five years at Cherry.   I say re-write because it has to be turned into something interesting in order to keep the interest of the judges.  I am looking for willing people to be part of the piece, in main and supporting roles.  By signing up this is what I'd be doing with the fictitious version of you in my piece.  Giving you a voice.  I can nev...

Well, today is the last day of my Junior year, and I can honestly say I'm in disbelief.  How the school year went by so fast I have no idea, and apparently, neither did my GPA as I failed Math for the second half of the year and am borderline failing Science.  Thankfully these are the only two classes effected so that I don't have to repeat the 11th Grade. Below are some of the best moments of my Junior year, and they're the events that really helped shape my Junior year into what it was.  It's had it's ups and downs, but some events have really shone through the rest. Taking Over The Varsity Football Announcer's Position (September): Oh the fun I've had with this one.  Attendance was on the downward trend in the Fall but I still loved having my voice be the one to accompany the games.  Can't wait until next year!  Becoming A Business Owner (March): Free Range Sports is mine and I still can't believe it! Can't wait for the next adve...

Want to take a vacation?  Here are my top ten places to visit for your next vacation, as well as a brief description of what I did in each of them. 1. London, England: Home to tourist attractions like the London Eye and Big Ben, London is a beautiful spot to visit.  Yes, the main language is English, but it's still awesome to see how people live on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.  It does rain there a lot, but it won't put too much of a damper on your day.  If you're lucky you might just meet  Queen Elizabeth! 2. Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area, Minnesota: I may be a little bit biased towards this one since it's only three hours away from where I am here, but it is definitely worth checking out! Take in a concert at the Xcel Energy Center, visit America's largest shopping mall before the new mall in Miami beats it out!  Check out some scientific stuff at the Minnesota Science Museum!  There's lots of things to do, and you won't re...

This Spring something extraordinary happened when I became a business owner.  I was not expecting this at all, and was surprised when I was offered it in December.  Originally I turned down the offer because I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to my announcing gig after just half a year, but then after about a month of up and down times at school I changed my mind and decided to meet with the prior owner.  Two months later I picked up the equipment and a week after that I took to the air for the first time ever as the lead announcer of Free Range Sports. Since then we have covered 10-15 events this Spring, picked up one sponsor and inquired at around 100, been all over the Northland as far west as Deer River and as far south as Esko.  Some of the games we have covered have been over within an hour or in just over an hour.  Others have seen us over the airwaves for over two hours.  It can really be a wide variety when you don't know the strengths and weakn...