Follow Friday - Opperman Family Award and Gathering

Follow Friday - Opperman Family Award and Gathering

I have noticed others have used alternative purposed on this daily theme, so I am also - sharing 'affiliated family' information that you might like to follow - I want to write about them, and this seems appropriate.

National Dairy Shrine Award
George Opperman

On his blog, "I Hate Alzheimers," Mike Opperman recently posted: "Dad is a Pioneer" - a nice story about the National Dairy Shrine, a hall of fame for the dairy industry, induction of his Dad as a 'dairy industry Pioneer.' It is a very appropriate award as you can read in the announcement here. [Scroll down a bit, to see the neat story on George!]

May and George have been important influences in my life. May is the younger sister of my wife Nancy's mother, Ruth (Thomas) Bolger. So, technically, May and George are Aunt and Uncle (by marriage, to me). Both graduated from Iowa State University a few years before I attended. Nancy fondly recalls, as a young girl, riding a train to Beloit, Wisconsin, to stay with them on a short vacation.

They came into my life during my last two years of high school as Nancy and I were 'going steady' and we spent some holidays on their dairy farm in Manning, Iowa, a few miles west of Coon Rapids, our hometown. George spoke to me in very encouraging words about my plan to attend Iowa State. Also, they were just starting their family, as noted in the press release, and we started ours only a few years later. So, though we were a generation apart, our children grew up as contemporaries and are still close friends (as well as cousins) to this day. May and George "seemed like" as much older brother and sister as aunt and uncle. Know what I mean? We and our families scattered across the country, over the years, of course.

So, it was especially nice to their family almost all together again in this nice photo. And, it was especially gratifying to see George get this kind of recognition, even at this stage of his life. I know the family really appreciated even one more recognition of the many things George has done, over the years, for the dairy industry, as well as his family. Neat! ;-)


Families are Forever!  ;-)