the waring chronicles

I first met Norm Schwister when I was applying for a job with Mid America at Farmington, MN. At the time I was working for Land of Lakes (LOL). (Norm always said that LOL paid Mid Am to hire me). I was hired and started working for Mid AM in March of 1983. By the way, Norm had a dark head of hair when I started working for him.

As the years passed I mentally collected little tidbits about my boss Norm, the Silver Fox. I will try and reconstruct some of these memories:

When he thought he was getting a little round around the middle, he said he would look at me and not feel so bad. When you were in a conversation with Norm and he started to squint, be prepared to defend what you just said or did.

When Norm visited the plant, I always hoped that it was an overcast day because the first thing he did was look at the dryer stack to see if we were losing any powder to the atmosphere. On a clear day there is more contrast and it was easier to spot the escaping powder. It seemed like it never failed that it was a clear day on his visit and we would be losing some powder.

At a managers meeting we broke for lunch. We went to an adjoining room to eat. We sat down. One of the managers was late. The only open chair was next to Norm and that’s where he sat down. Norm mentioned the fact that he always sat next to the person who pays. The manager never sat next to Norm at a meal again.

Happy Birthday Norm.

Dave and Linda Waring