Eh? column: A fight song, an off-color pun and a bit of caring

Denfeld High School has been empty of students since March 17 and the staff misses them. But while the kids are away the staff and teachers will sing the fight song maybe slightly off-key while practicing social distancing in the auditorium. In the end, they did admit the students sing it better.

The staff said they were inspired by Italians who sang together from their balconies while sheltering in place. For those not familiar with the Denfeld fight song lyrics:

Oh, when those fighting Hunters fall in line,
We're gonna win this game another time!
And for the Denfeld High School we will yell;
And for the team, team, team,
We'll yell, yell, yell!
We're gonna fight, fight, fight for every score,
And when we make those touchdowns we will roar!
We're gonna throw old (opponent name) on the ground, all around!
Fight, fight, fight!

And that opponent's name, COVID-19.

According to a Denfeld alumnus in the newsroom, there is an unofficial version that's a little too "salty" for this newspaper.

Crapola Granola released a new high-fiber bar called Uranus — on April 1.

“It’s pretty much a gag, but the disclaimer is that’s how Crapola started,” said Brian Strom.

He and his wife, Andrea Strom, launched the Ely-based business behind cookies, bars and granola, often with wordplay in their titles such as "Number Two" and "Colon-ial Times.”

They came up with the idea for Uranus about a year ago, and when it resurfaced, the Stroms invested a couple hundred dollars on a half-dozen prototype packages. They sliced off a piece of their regular granola bars, plopped it in the package as a place-holder and posted the gag on their website .

“We went that far,” Strom said. It’s important to put some humor out there during a time the world needs it. “Laughter is good medicine.”

So far, they don’t have a firm recipe, but if they did move forward with Uranus, they’d stick to their current model of whole grains, fruits, nuts, organic ingredients.

Lincoln Park Middle School is asking the community to share some messages of support to share on social media and with their students. Students have been out of their school buildings since March 17 and won't be back until May as of right now.

So send some positive thoughts, feelings and vibes their way by filling out the Google Form at bit.ly/3dIt5ul .

"Social connectedness and caring adults contribute positively toward kids’ well-being and can help them through stressful times. With the current need for social distancing and extended school closures to do the COVID 19 virus, we need to be creative with what this looks like," the message on the form said. "We are collecting some caring messages/encouraging notes to write and share with our students to let them know their community cares about them. We will make sure the caring messages get to an amazing kid."

We welcome your submissions and suggestions. Drop us a line at newsroom@duluthnews.com or Eh?, Duluth News Tribune newsroom, 424 W. First St., Duluth, MN 55802.