The Big Cheese

Norm....Congratulations and Happy Birthday......

I go pretty far back with Norm. I have been a supplier to Mid Am (DFA) for over 40 years. I should say before I begin my story, Norm was my favorite customer.....
About 1987 I bought a smallish boat that I rigged up for fishing on Lake Michigan. That first year I took several Mid Am plant managers (Clint Fall and Bob Hawley) fishing and we caught fish and had a great time. I then thought I was ready to ask the big boss to go on one of these trips. Well I asked and Norm said he would go. So Clint, Bob, Norm and I headed to Lake Michigan. I was a little nervous about having the 'Boss' along but everything was going OK. We drove over Friday night and the next morning we headed for the Lake. I looked at Norm and he's wearing a T shirt that says......"The Big Cheese". Nothing like adding more pressure to the situation. We got on the lake and started fishing. Usually early morning is the best time, but we fished and not a bite. Hour after hour we fished and nothing. I was really starting to sweat. No one warned me that customer fishing was so stressful. Anyway to make a long stressful story short, Norm finally got a big fish on his line. I knew that there were not going to be many fish caught on this trip, so I had to do everything possible to get the fish in the boat. It was a big King Salmon (well over 20 lbs) and he fought it for a long time. I might add Norm wasn't exactly the best big game fisherman I've ever seen. Well somehow we got the fish in the boat. We were able to catch a few more and we all had a great time. Norm said it was the biggest fish he ever caught. He took it home and I guess Mary figured out how to cook it and he told me it was delicious. I always wonder how my career would have ended up if that fish would have gotten away......Don Benson