Huron's 2008 Distinguished Civic Service Award....

Congratulations to my dad for his upcoming award. The Distinguished Civic Service Award is presented to a Huron resident who has given a lifetime of service to his community and has truly made a difference. An award that is truly deserving and although very meaningful to my dad would never have been his intent.
From as long as I can remember my dad has been involved in everything. He has been involved in Kiwanis, church boards, Huron School and James Valley school boards, hospital boards, greater Huron development board, the Huron chamber board , Mennonite foundation board, crossroad hotel and convention board, Griffith foundation board, bank boards, South Dakota Banker’s Association, South Dakota State University, Federal Home Loan Bank board, and Huron University boards. That is just to name a few. Not only was he on these boards he was the president of most of them.

When I got out into the world and realized the importance of serving my community I got on a few boards myself. I told my dad that being on boards was kind of boring and there isn’t much to do besides meet and listen. He told me right then and there that you can’t just be on a board you need to be the president. That is how you make things happen and keep things interesting. I know that I will never come close to participating in as many community organizations and boards as my dad has, but I respect him for what all he has achieved.

I could go on and on about his achievements and how worthy he is of this award, but as I know my dad he is more satisfied that he raised his kids to be good people and men of God. As many of you know, he made each of us three boys work manual labor jobs when we were growing up. Not your park and rec or mall jobs, but Trussbilt, and Dakota Pork, tough manual labor jobs. He taught us the meaning of hard work and that things weren’t going to be given to us, we had to earn it. The other silver lining was that working those jobs helped keep our heads in the books and strive to be our best. I can say without a doubt that we all look back on those experiences and thank him for putting us through that. Life is hard and we were taught that lesson before we got out on our own.

So even though my dad is receiving this special award from the city of Huron, I would like to present my own award to him. For all you have done to make me who I am today, you have been awarded the lifetime achievement award for being the best dad I could have ever had – thank you. Just like the city award, it’s about time!