midam employees for dinner

Most evenings, the employees of MidAm joined us for dinner. Whether in Winthrop, Bloomer or Circle Pines, they were all warmly invited into our home.

Irv Kilker . Jim Wilcox . Dave Waring . Walt Wosje . Julie Hilger . Dan Strub

The names were as familiar to us as any relative, famous movie star, or dead president. Their stories of work happenings were woven between forks clinking Corningware plates and pleas to ill-mannered sons, “don’t chew with your mouth open, you’re grossing out your sister“.

Bob Hawley . Don Benson . Brian Bonebright . John Doyle . Keith Murfield

They were general managers, plant managers, and assistant plant managers. They were salesmen, and regional sales managers. They were accountants, engineers and technicians. They were truck drivers, evaporator operators, secretaries, and cheese makers.

Clint Fall . John Payne . Randi Vanhorn . Vermita Messner . Jerry Schell

We know all their old jokes. We can see the punch line coming a mile away but we still laugh. We know their wives and their husbands and their children. We celebrated their marriage announcements, job promotions, and cleaver hallway comments. We mourned their losses, broken marriages, career missteps, and health concerns.

Kent Vogel . Jim Grumwald . Gordy Bublitz . Becky Delzer . Harry Daume

Many, we’ve never met. But of course we know them. We know them because each night they joined us for dinner and Dad shared with us their rich, wonderful stories.