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The Good Life - January/February 2014

The areas premier men’s magazine featuring inspirational men in our community. Covering a variety of topics including local heroes, fathers, sports and advice for men.

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2<br />

At a company training meeting a few months ago, I was<br />

introduced to a new co-worker. This guy was extremely<br />

motivated and on the ball. I was pretty impressed with<br />

him, until I looked down and saw that he was wearing<br />

white socks with a pair of dark dress slacks. Maybe<br />

it’s superficial, but at that moment this guy’s credibility as a sharp<br />

shooter and go-getter entirely evaporated. I suddenly saw Steve<br />

Erkle standing in front of me. Other people at the meeting noticed as<br />

well, and got a laugh out of it. No one took the guy seriously.<br />

You don’t want to be this guy. If you want to impress people, you<br />

have to pay attention to the details. It doesn’t matter if you’ve put<br />

together an awesome outfit; if you don’t have the right socks, you<br />

spoil your whole look.


To help you not sabotage your image or<br />

credibility like the guy at the meeting, follow these<br />

simple rules when selecting which kind of sock to<br />

wear with your ensembles.<br />

Wear dress socks with dress shoes.<br />

Don’t try to wear athletic socks with dress<br />

shoes even if the socks are black. Athletic socks<br />

are thicker than dress socks and don’t match the<br />

refined style of dress shoes. If you try wearing<br />

gym socks with a pair of dress shoes, they’ll bunch<br />

out over the shoe and look goofy. Stick to dress<br />

socks. <strong>The</strong> thin material feels nice on your foot<br />

and looks sharp.<br />

With jeans there’s a little more wiggle room.<br />

Preferably, you should have dark socks even with<br />

denim, but you can get away with wearing gym<br />

socks with jeans.<br />

Sock color should match your pants,<br />

not your shoes.<br />

This is a rule that many people are confused<br />

about. I’ve heard numerous arguments about<br />

whether you should match socks with shoes or<br />

socks with pants. You should always match socks<br />

with pants because when you sit down and your<br />

socks are exposed, you want a solid line of color<br />

from your pants to your shoes. Socks that don’t<br />

match your pant color create a jarring break in your<br />

outfit. So black socks go with black pants and brown<br />

socks go with brown pants. Absolutely and under<br />

no condition should you ever wear white socks with<br />

dark pants unless you want to look like Steve Erkle<br />

or 1980′s Michael Jackson.<br />

No socks with sandals or shorts.<br />

<strong>The</strong> goofiest thing is to see people who wear<br />

socks with sandals. Society’s ability to take you<br />

seriously will be reduced to zero if you do this.<br />

Sandals were designed to be worn with bare<br />

feet, so please, do not wear socks with sandals.<br />

Socks with shorts should be avoided as well.<br />

Wearing socks with shorts visually makes your<br />

legs look shorter. If you need to wear socks while<br />

wearing shorts, invest in some ankle socks that<br />

aren’t visible when you wear you sneakers.<br />

Novelty socks are for elementary<br />

school teachers.<br />

No man should own a pair of orange novelty<br />

socks that say “Boo!” on them and are adorned with<br />

little bats. <strong>The</strong> only excuse you have for wearing<br />

these is if you’re an elementary school teacher<br />

named Mrs. Heart. Keep you sock collection simple<br />

and classic and you’ll never go wrong.<br />

By: Brett and Kate McKay | artofmanliness.com<br />

3


Contents<br />

JANUARY - FEBRUARY <strong>2014</strong><br />

IN EVERY ISSUE<br />

LOCAL HEROES<br />

18<br />

HEROES FROM ON HIGH<br />

An Interview With the Sanford<br />

AirMed Crew<br />

PAGE<br />

26<br />

DEL HOFER<br />

ON THE COVER<br />

DEL HOFER<br />

26<br />

PAGE 8<br />

Accolades to a Torchbearer<br />

ARTICLES<br />

RULES ON THE PROPER<br />

2<br />

WEARING OF SOCKS<br />

PAGE<br />

14<br />

DAD, DON’T LET RULES<br />

6<br />

DIMINISH THE<br />

RELATIONSHIP<br />

TO BEARD OR NOT TO<br />

8<br />

BEARD<br />

Facial Hair Can Be <strong>Good</strong>, Bad and Ugly<br />

4<br />

10<br />

CATCHING FISH AND<br />

GOOD TIMES<br />

A Beginner’s Guide to Ice Fishing


ARTICLES<br />

RAISE A GLASS AT WÜRST BIER HALL<br />

14<br />

New Downtown Eatery Boasts European Food and<br />

Convivial Atmosphere<br />

22<br />

PAGE 22<br />

GOT INK?<br />

Workplace Tattoos Gaining Awareness, Acceptance<br />

CREATIVE DIRECTOR<br />

Dawn Siewert<br />

dawn@urbantoadmedia.com<br />

PHOTOGRAPHY<br />

Darren Losee<br />

darren@urbantoadmedia.com<br />

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS<br />

Soo Asheim<br />

Jessica Ballou<br />

Meghan Feir<br />

Paul Hankel<br />

Jessica Jasperson<br />

Alicia Underlee Nelson<br />

24<br />

CHIVALRY IN THE<br />

21 ST CENTURY<br />

Bringing it Back to <strong>Life</strong><br />

“Feir” not<br />

my lady!<br />

VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 4<br />

PAGE 18<br />

PUBLISHED BY<br />

Urban Toad Media LLP<br />

www.urbantoadmedia.com<br />

/urbantoadmedia<br />

READ AN ISSUE ONLINE:<br />

issuu.com/thegoodlifemensmag<br />

ADVERTISING SUBMISSIONS<br />

Urban Toad Media LLP<br />

118 Broadway North, Suite 412<br />

Fargo, ND 58102<br />

701-388-4506<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Good</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Men’s Magazine is distributed six<br />

times a year by Urban Toad Media LLP. Material<br />

may not be reproduced without permission. <strong>The</strong><br />

<strong>Good</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Men’s Magazine accepts no liability<br />

for reader dissatisfaction arising from content<br />

in this publication. <strong>The</strong> opinions expressed, or<br />

advice given, are the views of individual writers or<br />

advertisers and do not necessarily represent the<br />

views or policies of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Good</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Men’s Magazine.<br />

5


Fathers<br />

6


Dad, Don’t Let Rules<br />

Diminish the Relationship<br />

By: CAREY CASEY | WWW.FATHERS.COM<br />

Training and disciplining<br />

kids is tough. It’s even<br />

harder when you’re in a<br />

complex family situation,<br />

and more and more dads<br />

are finding themselves in that place.<br />

Our staff recently heard from<br />

several dads whose stories illustrate<br />

this (and whose names I have changed<br />

here).<br />

James is a partial-custody father. His<br />

12-year-old daughter is acting out—<br />

taking things from a relative’s house,<br />

and generally being irresponsible at<br />

school and in other ways. James is<br />

trying to address these issues, but finds<br />

it hard to make any progress with his<br />

daughter since his time with her is<br />

limited and her mom takes a softer<br />

approach to discipline that he doesn’t<br />

agree with.<br />

Kevin works long hours, which<br />

really limits his opportunities to<br />

spend time with his 6-year-old<br />

stepson. <strong>The</strong> boy sees his biological<br />

father mostly on birthdays and<br />

holidays, but Kevin says the other<br />

father is very lax in his rules and<br />

expectations. So, while the other dad<br />

gets to be the “fun dad” when he’s<br />

around, Kevin is afraid the boy sees<br />

him as the “mean dad” since he’s<br />

the one who’s handling many of the<br />

everyday behavior issues.<br />

And really, most all dads deal<br />

with similar questions from time to<br />

time: How do I balance the hard side<br />

and the soft side of being a father?<br />

When does my child need more love<br />

as opposed to discipline?<br />

<strong>The</strong>re are no easy answers, but I’m<br />

reminded of the classic wisdom for<br />

parents: “Rules without relationship<br />

leads to rebellion.” That might even<br />

be more relevant for dads and kids<br />

in these complex situations, but it’s<br />

a great reminder for me and surely<br />

many other dads, no matter what the<br />

family situation.<br />

Kids do need the rules. <strong>The</strong>y benefit<br />

from being held accountable to a<br />

standard of behavior and learning from<br />

their poor choices and disobedience.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y need to learn proper respect for<br />

authority, and that starts at home.<br />

But I think it’s easy for dads to<br />

forget the relationship side. When<br />

a child is misbehaving, we need to<br />

start asking ourselves, Does she know<br />

she’s loved? And, have I demonstrated<br />

that love and spoken it into her life<br />

regularly? Those should be among our<br />

top goals with each of our kids.<br />

Dads, we really need to go the<br />

extra mile when it comes to building<br />

relationships with each of our children.<br />

With that foundation, dads in<br />

difficult situations can influence their<br />

child more than if they’re just “laying<br />

down the law.” After all, the daughter<br />

will go to her mom’s house and “the<br />

law” will change. So building a strong<br />

relationship is another powerful way to<br />

influence her character.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re are no quick fixes—and it<br />

could take time—but a good place to<br />

start is to simply tune into your child’s<br />

interests. Find a common hobby or<br />

activity you enjoy. Come up with ways<br />

to just have fun together.<br />

Those positive interactions will<br />

show your child that you genuinely<br />

care for her, and you’re not just trying<br />

to win a battle or teach a lesson. She’ll<br />

grow to trust you more and more, and<br />

her behavior will likely change because<br />

she’ll have a greater desire to please<br />

you. Talking about household rules<br />

and expectations won’t involve a major<br />

confrontation. It will be much easier<br />

to ask, “Would you do something for<br />

me?”<br />

She may even start coming to you<br />

with big questions and issues, even<br />

though she knows others in her life are<br />

more likely to give her what she wants.<br />

You’re consistent and you keep your<br />

promises.<br />

Even more, you’re an involved,<br />

creative, positive force in her life. You<br />

invest in the relationship. She trusts<br />

that you really do have her best interest<br />

in mind, and she looks forward to that<br />

time with you.<br />

Hang in there, dads. You’re playing<br />

a huge and vital role in your children’s<br />

lives.<br />

What have you seen in your kids?<br />

Are they better behaved after you’ve<br />

done something fun together?<br />

Action Points for Dads on the<br />

Fathering Journey<br />

• Plan an activity that helps your<br />

child discover — or rediscover —<br />

the simple joy of childhood. Even<br />

in the daily battles of life, don’t let<br />

him forget that being a kid should<br />

be fun.<br />

• Are you a step dad? Make sure<br />

to work closely with the children’s<br />

mother on discipline issues, so<br />

you don’t have to be the “bad guy”<br />

enforcer.<br />

• As much as you can, work together<br />

with other parents in your child’s<br />

life, so you’re sending consistent<br />

messages about expectations and<br />

consequences.<br />

• Does your job severely limit your<br />

time with your children? Take a hard<br />

look at changes you might make<br />

so you can make more consistent<br />

investments in their lives.<br />

• Make it your goal to laugh —<br />

really laugh hard — with your child<br />

or teenager at least a couple times<br />

each week.


To Beard,<br />

or not to beard<br />

facial hair can be<br />

good, bad and ugly<br />

By: meghan feir | Photos: Urban toad Media<br />

acial hair. I like<br />

it – on men,<br />

I mean. It’s<br />

extraordinary<br />

how random<br />

patches of hair<br />

on a man’s face<br />

can evoke such<br />

entirely different<br />

messages. For<br />

example, a<br />

handlebar mustache makes a man<br />

look like he’s no longer a cowboy in<br />

training, and mutton chops are best<br />

saved for the dinner plate.<br />

As a native Minnesotan who’s<br />

usually freezing October through<br />

April (sometimes through July) and<br />

who couldn’t grow a beard if she<br />

tried, I can imagine how men could<br />

want to have some sort of facial<br />

covering during the colder months<br />

in the Midwest. After all, animals are<br />

allowed to grow their winter coats, so<br />

why shouldn’t men? (An argument<br />

and a solution to that would be to<br />

just buy a scarf.)<br />

Facial hair can be hot; it can<br />

look cunning; it can make a man<br />

seem mysterious and virile; it can<br />

make a 15-year-old boy look like a<br />

15-year-old who’s trying really hard<br />

not to look 12, however scraggly and<br />

saddening it may appear. Facial hair<br />

is a powerful thing, and as everyone<br />

knows, “With great power comes<br />

great responsibility.” (Thanks, Uncle<br />

Ben.)<br />

To beard, or not to beard: that is the question:<br />

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind of women to suffer<br />

<strong>The</strong> slings and arrows of itchy, outrageous unkemptness,<br />

Or to take arms with a slew of razors,<br />

And by opposing end them? To die: to shave;<br />

No more; and by a shave to say we end<br />

<strong>The</strong> heart-ache and the thousand natural locks<br />

That flesh is to hair, ‘tis a consummation<br />

Devoutly to be wish’d.<br />

— William Shavesbeard, from his play “Hairlet” (I ran this by an English<br />

professor with a beard, and it was approved.)


Unfortunately, many men think they’re being ironically hot<br />

by sporting unkempt, long, mountain-man beards. <strong>The</strong> same<br />

thing happened with mullets a couple years ago, but I think that<br />

recycled trend of irony has seen its end. Yeah, yeah, I know, I’ve<br />

heard; business in the front, party in the back. So, would the<br />

phrase for advocating horrifying beards be “Look Amish, party<br />

hard-ish”?<br />

Many factors go into how facial hair comes off (I don’t mean<br />

with a razor). How it is perceived depends on the guy; it depends<br />

on the length; it depends on how it fills in; it depends on their<br />

facial structure; it depends on their attitude toward it; it depends<br />

on how much neck hair is involved; it depends on how many<br />

crumbs get stuck in it after every meal; it depends on if it hosts a<br />

family of small birds; it depends on a lot of things.<br />

It’s undeniable that whether we care about our appearance or not, we are sending messages to other people, so<br />

unless you’re trying to look like a man with nothing to lose because you’ve lost it all already, figure out which looks<br />

best suit you. Enjoy your hair, but treat it right. Wash it. Trim it. Keep it in line.<br />

9


Catching Fish<br />

and<strong>Good</strong> Times<br />

By: Jessica Jasperson<br />

PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: Bret AMundson<br />

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO ICE FISHING<br />

A<br />

s the temperatures<br />

drop and the days get<br />

shorter, people are<br />

limited to the outdoor<br />

activities available in<br />

the winter. Ice fishing<br />

scratches that itch for fresh air and<br />

time spent with friends and family.<br />

Bret “T-Bone” Amundson fished in<br />

the summer while growing up, but<br />

very little in the winter. About five<br />

years ago Amundson picked up the<br />

winter pass time of ice fishing and<br />

shares his tips for the beginner ice<br />

fisher.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Good</strong> <strong>Life</strong>: What did you learn<br />

your first time on the ice?<br />

Bret Amundson: It’s not much fun<br />

without electronics.<br />

GL: When is the best time of the year<br />

to ice fish?<br />

BA: Early ice, or early in the season<br />

when there is enough safe ice to fish<br />

on. That’s when fish are starting to<br />

fatten up for the long winter ahead,<br />

so fishing can go really well. Late<br />

season can be a good time as well. Of<br />

course you’ll find exceptions to this<br />

throughout the season.<br />

GL: How do you find a prime location<br />

for ice fishing?<br />

BA: Scouting! A lot of times you can<br />

find fish in the same places as late<br />

season or early season open water<br />

fishing. Otherwise prepare to drill<br />

lots of holes and don’t be afraid to<br />

look for active fish on other spots on<br />

the lake.<br />

GL: Do you always need a shelter<br />

when ice fishing?<br />

BA: No, I used to think this too. An<br />

auger, a bucket and a pole is all you<br />

really need. Dress warm and you can<br />

have a great day fishing on the ice.<br />

Some days, it can be sunny and 30<br />

degrees out and you’ll hate spending<br />

that inside a shelter. Plus you can be<br />

more mobile without one.<br />

GL: If a shelter is used, what kinds of<br />

shelters are available?<br />

BA: <strong>The</strong>re are a number of shelters<br />

you can use from lightweight<br />

portable shelters that are similar to<br />

pop up ground blinds. You can get<br />

pop-ups that are built into sleds that<br />

fold down for easy transportation.<br />

Mine even has a snowmobile hitch<br />

attachment. <strong>The</strong>re are wheel houses<br />

that you can pull behind a vehicle<br />

and they look like enclosed trailers.<br />

Some resorts also have “sleeper”<br />

“An auger, a bucket and a pole is all<br />

you really need. Dress warm and you<br />

can have a great day fishing on the<br />

ice.” — Bret “T-Bone” Amundson<br />

houses that include bunks, satellite<br />

TV, portable toilets and more luxuries.<br />

You’ll even find some private houses<br />

that are nicer than some people’s<br />

homes.<br />

GL: Do you build your own shelter<br />

or purchase it?<br />

BA: You can buy kits to build your<br />

own, but it still might cost in the<br />

thousands. Most people purchase<br />

their own and they might own a<br />

portable and a wheel house for<br />

later in the season. Every one will<br />

generally be heated. <strong>The</strong> portables<br />

will include a small propane heater,<br />

while the bigger houses could have<br />

wall heaters built in.


Bret With a<br />

Walleye From a<br />

Secret Lake in<br />

Northern MN<br />

11


Bret’s Lab “Mika”, Taste-Testing a Perch<br />

GL: Do you need a lot of equipment for ice fishing?<br />

BA: Not at all. All you need is something to drill a hole in<br />

the ice, a fishing pole and bait. But I won’t fish without some<br />

sort of electronic flasher. <strong>The</strong>y help you locate fish under the<br />

ice so you don’t waste your time fishing water that doesn’t<br />

have any fish.<br />

GL: What kinds of equipment do you need to get started?<br />

How much does equipment cost?<br />

BA: A rod and reel combo can be as low as $20 at most<br />

sporting good stores. A hand auger can be relatively<br />

inexpensive compared to a gas/propane powered auger and<br />

that’s about it. Warm clothes should be worn of course and<br />

if you decide to purchase a flasher unit (Vexilar, MarCum or<br />

Humminbird), they can run from $200 - $1,200 depending<br />

on the model. <strong>The</strong>y’re not necessary, but as I mentioned<br />

earlier, I won’t fish without one.<br />

GL: What kinds of bait should be used?<br />

BA: Depends on the body of water. If you can, you should<br />

research the forage base of the lake you plan on fishing, and<br />

then purchase the appropriate bait. A quick stop into a local<br />

bait shop should be able to answer that question for you.<br />

12<br />

GL: How do you drill the perfect fishing hole, safely and<br />

efficiently?<br />

BA: Line up your auger straight and let ‘er buck! It’s much<br />

easier than it looks. <strong>The</strong> key is to keep your feet dry when<br />

you pull the auger back out of the water as water will<br />

come with it. Also, make sure you are on safe ice before<br />

you start drilling.<br />

GL: How deep should the line be in the water once the<br />

bait is attached?<br />

A Delicious<br />

Meal of Fresh<br />

Perch


BA: That will also depend on the lake<br />

and species you’re fishing. Primarily<br />

you’ll be fishing near the bottom of<br />

the lake. Electronics will help you<br />

determine how deep the fish are, and<br />

then you can put your bait right with<br />

them or just above them.<br />

GL: How long can a party of ice<br />

fishermen stay on the ice?<br />

BA: Until the beer runs out! Oh, you<br />

meant a different kind of party. Well<br />

as long as you’re staying warm and<br />

there aren’t any restrictions against<br />

night fishing, you can stay as long as<br />

you want.<br />

GL: What are safety tips for the<br />

beginner ice fisherman?<br />

BA: Talk to the bait shops first. <strong>The</strong>y<br />

can help with some ice conditions,<br />

bait selections and if you spend a<br />

couple bucks, they might even give<br />

you some hot bite information.<br />

Bret “T-Bone” Amundson spent 13<br />

years on the radio in Fargo-Moorhead<br />

and is now the publisher of Minnesota<br />

Sporting Journal magazine, host of<br />

Minnesota Sporting Journal Radio<br />

(heard on AM 970 WDAY Saturdays<br />

at noon) and will spend his winter<br />

guiding ice fishing on Lac qui Parle at<br />

Watson Hunting Camp. Learn more at<br />

www.minnesotasportingjournal.com<br />

and www.watsonhunting.com.<br />

Bret Amundson with a<br />

Devils Lake Walleye<br />

13


By: Alicia Underlee Nelson<br />

Photos: Urban toad Media<br />

RAISE A GLASS AT<br />

New Downtown Eatery Boasts European Food and Convivial Atmosphere<br />

Food and beer fans, rejoice;<br />

Wurst Bier Hall is now open<br />

in the Cityscapes Plaza at<br />

the corner of 1st Avenue<br />

and Roberts Street in downtown<br />

Fargo. <strong>The</strong> eatery’s food, brews and<br />

the beer hall atmosphere just might<br />

make it an instant classic.<br />

“<strong>The</strong>re’s nothing like this in<br />

town,” said Bert Meyers, who owns<br />

the business with his wife Lisa and<br />

twin brother Klaus. “It’s completely<br />

new and original and specializes in<br />

foods you can’t get anywhere else in<br />

Fargo. You’ll be able to get German<br />

14<br />

dishes any time of year, not just the<br />

once or twice when there’s a special<br />

event.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> Meyers name is synonymous<br />

with good food and a good time<br />

downtown. Bert and Lisa owned<br />

Bertrosa’s, a favorite local lunch<br />

spot that served up Chicago-style<br />

street food from 1999 until its sale<br />

in 2012 and Bert and Klaus own and<br />

run Dempsey’s Public House, an<br />

always-bustling bar in the heart of<br />

downtown Fargo.<br />

<strong>The</strong> owners are looking forward<br />

to delving into their heritage –<br />

Lisa is German-American and the<br />

Meyers boys have Irish and German<br />

roots – and their passions on this<br />

new project. As evidenced by the<br />

restaurant’s name, sausage will<br />

feature prominently on the menu.<br />

“Kielbasa, German, bratwurst,<br />

currywurst, and mettwurst among the<br />

15 varieties of sausage on the menu,”<br />

said Meyers. “<strong>The</strong>re’s something for<br />

everyone. Some of the more unique<br />

sausages are linguiça, bleu cheese<br />

brat, wild boar, elk, rabbit, chicken<br />

apple, and alligator. <strong>The</strong>se items<br />

will rotate as we showcase different


Bert Meyers, Lisa meyers, klaus Meyers<br />

<strong>The</strong> Rules for drinking from Das Boot<br />

by Bert Meyers<br />

Drink again Klaus!<br />

1. <strong>The</strong> boot can never touch the table until empty.<br />

2. Before you drink, you must flick the glass with your finger. You must flick the glass again<br />

after you drink before passing the boot to the next person.<br />

3. You must always drink from the boot with the toe facing up.<br />

4. If you get splashed in the face with beer you must drink again.<br />

5. <strong>The</strong> person that drank from the boot immediately preceding the person that empties the<br />

boot must buy the next boot.<br />

6. If you break rules 2-4 you must drink again.<br />

7. Never clink Das Boot with other glassware or slam it on the table, it will break!”<br />

15


varieties, because you know...variety<br />

is the spice of life!”<br />

But Head Chef Jay Morrison’s<br />

culinary vision goes well beyond<br />

sausage and traditional German<br />

favorites like schnitzel and spaetzle<br />

– although you’ll find those on the<br />

menu, too.<br />

“Although it’s mainly a sausage<br />

and beer establishment, we’ll offer<br />

a variety of different dishes,” said<br />

Meyers. “It’s not strictly German, it’s<br />

German/European, so our menu will<br />

be focused on German/European<br />

beer and food.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> food is a spirited mash up of<br />

meat and carbs, equal parts creativity<br />

and comfort. Highlights include<br />

pierogies with Srichacha curry butter<br />

sauce, Borscht soup and Bavarian<br />

pretzels with a house beer cheese<br />

dip. Wurst Bier Hall also offers classic<br />

American pub food with a twist, like<br />

an unusual mustard fried cheese<br />

burger and the “Porketta Fargo”, a<br />

riff on a Philly cheesesteak made<br />

with seasoned pork and topped with<br />

homemade salsa verde. Even Klaus<br />

and Bert’s mom’s potato salad makes<br />

an appearance.<br />

Customers can grab a seat at the<br />

long, communal tables (one seats<br />

up to 20!) and choose a brew from<br />

Wurst Bier Hall’s monster beer list to<br />

wash it all down. <strong>The</strong>re’s room for a<br />

whopping 36 beers on tap alone, with<br />

plenty of bottled options as well.<br />

Part of the reason for the extensive<br />

tap selection is simple. “We want to<br />

drink beer out of Das Boot!” said<br />

Meyers. “It’s a glass beer boot passed<br />

from one guest at the table to the<br />

next one clockwise for a festive time.”<br />

It turns out there’re a lot of stories<br />

told about this particular drinking<br />

tradition and, like any beer hall<br />

owner worth his salt, Meyers is eager<br />

to tell the tales.<br />

“It is commonly believed that<br />

a general somewhere promised his<br />

troops to drink beer from his boot if<br />

they were successful in battle. When<br />

the troops prevailed, the general had<br />

a glassmaker fashion a boot from<br />

glass to fulfill his promise without<br />

tasting his own feet and to avoid<br />

spoiling the beer in his leather boot.”<br />

“Another tradition holds that<br />

during the First World War, German<br />

soldiers began passing around a<br />

leather boot filled with beer, as<br />

they were lacking glasses,” Meyers<br />

continued. “It became a symbol for<br />

good luck, as the soldiers would flick<br />

the boot before drinking it for good<br />

luck, and flick it again after drinking<br />

to wish the next soldier good luck.<br />

Since then, soldiers have enjoyed<br />

toasting to their victories with a beer<br />

boot. “<br />

<strong>The</strong> restaurant will be open for<br />

lunch and dinner and is available<br />

for private rentals. <strong>The</strong> trio has plans<br />

serve brunch in the future and the<br />

patio will be open when the weather<br />

warms up this spring.<br />

<strong>The</strong> group’s success with their<br />

previous ventures and a groundswell<br />

of customer interest has the trio<br />

excited to see the community’s<br />

reaction.<br />

Andrea Williams, Bert Meyers, Lisa meyers<br />

16


“We’ve been doing research on<br />

this concept for well over a year and<br />

people have been asking for this type of<br />

business,” said Meyers.<br />

It appeals to everyone, he said,<br />

“Everyone that likes to gather together<br />

and who loves good food, good beer, and<br />

good fun.”<br />

That’s the good life as Meyers sees it;<br />

“Friends, family, and<br />

enjoying the ride.”<br />

17


An Interview With the Sanford AirMed Crew<br />

Any resident of the<br />

downtown Fargo area<br />

has more than likely<br />

heard the distinctive<br />

sound made from<br />

the rotor wash of one of Sanford’s<br />

AirMed helicopters. To most, it is<br />

an exciting sight to see and hear<br />

the helicopters take off and land<br />

at Sanford’s downtown helipad,<br />

located at the hospital on North<br />

Broadway. To some, it may be a<br />

loud inconvenience, especially late<br />

at night. That is, until you realize<br />

exactly what these helicopters and<br />

their brave crew are racing off to do.<br />

Ask any Emergency Room doctor<br />

or paramedic and they’ll tell<br />

you, saving lives isn’t easy to do.<br />

Traumatic injuries, manic patients<br />

and concerned family members all<br />

blend together to make any life-<br />

saving situation a challenge for even<br />

seasoned medical professionals. Now<br />

imagine performing these life-saving<br />

duties in the belly of a helicopter<br />

while flying through the air at over<br />

one hundred miles per hour.<br />

While this may sound like a scenario<br />

out of a movie or medical drama, it’s<br />

just another day in the life of Tim<br />

Meyer and his Sanford AirMed crew.<br />

Meyer has been with the Sanford<br />

team since 1997, and is the Director<br />

of Emergency Air Transport.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Good</strong> <strong>Life</strong> was able to sit down<br />

with Meyer and several members of<br />

the Fargo-based crew and chat about<br />

life as a member of the elite medical<br />

unit.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Good</strong> <strong>Life</strong>: How did Sanford<br />

AirMed get its start?<br />

Tim Meyer: AirMed began as <strong>Life</strong><br />

Flight back in 1984. We started off<br />

with an airplane. In 1985 we added<br />

a helicopter. We began our flight<br />

program during that decade and ran<br />

with one helicopter and one plane<br />

up until about 2011, when we got<br />

the second airplane.<br />

GL: What are the primary duties<br />

of Sanford AirMed Services and its<br />

staff?<br />

TM: We are an air ambulance service.<br />

We respond to emergencies and<br />

transport sick and ill people, by air,<br />

throughout North Dakota, South<br />

Dakota and Minnesota. Also, using<br />

our airplane, we’ve been to twenty<br />

six other states. Our crew here<br />

is licensed in North Dakota and<br />

Minnesota and our Sioux Falls Crew<br />

is licensed in South Dakota.<br />

By: paul hankel | Photos: Urban toad Media<br />

LOCAL HEROES<br />

18


Tim Meyer - Director of Emergency Air Transport, Jenny Amundson - RN, Bobby Meyers - Pilot,<br />

Chad Erickson - Lead Pilot, Jen Berntson - RN, Aaron Reimer - Flight Paramedic, Rod Wirth - Flight Paramedic<br />

19


Chad Erickson - Lead Pilot<br />

<strong>The</strong> Sanford AirMed crew is based out of Bismarck and<br />

Fargo, in North Dakota, Bemidji, Minnesota, and Sioux<br />

Falls, South Dakota. According to Meyers, they respond to<br />

up to 1,200 calls per year.<br />

TM: Our nurses have extensive experience in intensive<br />

care units and our paramedics have lots of experience in<br />

field medicine. <strong>The</strong>y can both do a lot of the things the<br />

other is doing, but both have their areas of expertise.<br />

GL: What personnel does your team consist of?<br />

TM: Our core team is<br />

our Adult Team. That<br />

would consist of a pilot, a<br />

paramedic and nurse. In<br />

our fixed-wing airplane we<br />

use two pilots. We also have<br />

a NICU team, which stands<br />

for neonatal intensive care<br />

unit, and they deal with<br />

babies and children. And<br />

lastly, we have a Maternal<br />

team which consists of an OB (obstetrics) nurse who<br />

accompanies the Adult Team nurse. So we can handle a<br />

wide range of specialized cases, whereas, if AirMed wasn’t<br />

available, there might not be any options.<br />

GL: What background does one need to possess in order<br />

to be an AirMed paramedic or nurse?<br />

20<br />

“One call, you might be (performing<br />

techniques) in the aircraft. <strong>The</strong> next call,<br />

you might be in someone’s living room. It’s<br />

challenging … When you’re a regular nurse,<br />

your patients come to you.”<br />

– Jennifer Berntson, Nurse, Sanford AirMed<br />

<strong>The</strong> nurses and paramedics are required to have at least 3<br />

years of exemplary service as an ICU nurse or ambulance<br />

paramedic. Once accepted<br />

into the program, they<br />

undergo rigorous training<br />

before going out on calls.<br />

Meyer, who is a veteran<br />

himself, went on to<br />

explain that the pilots are<br />

mostly military veterans.<br />

Sanford AirMed’s fleet<br />

consists of two types of<br />

sleek and powerful aircraft. <strong>The</strong> first, a Beechcraft King<br />

Air airplane that is capable of hitting 300 miles per<br />

hour and with a flight range of five hours. <strong>The</strong> other,<br />

an EC 145 Twin Engine Light Utility Helicopter, which<br />

can reach speeds of 155 mph and can lift 4 tons. <strong>The</strong><br />

interiors feature advanced medical and communication<br />

equipment. <strong>The</strong> crew is based out of the downtown


hospital and also maintains a hanger in North Fargo.<br />

We were joined later in the conversation by several of<br />

the other members of Meyer’s crew.<br />

GL: What made you want to be a flight nurse?<br />

Jenny Amundson, Flight Nurse, 2 years: I loved ER<br />

Nursing and ICU Nursing and this job was a way to<br />

blend both types of nursing into one.<br />

Each had a different reason for being there, including<br />

Aaron Reimer, who is one of the newer members of<br />

the crew and is using the job as an excellent source of<br />

training before going to medical school.<br />

GL: What’s the most challenging part of your job?<br />

Jennifer Berntson, Nurse, 6 years: I think it’s the<br />

logistics of it- doing what we’re trained to do in many<br />

different types of environments. One call, you might<br />

be (performing techniques) in the aircraft. <strong>The</strong> next<br />

call, you might be in someone’s living room. It’s<br />

challenging, especially from a nursing standpoint.<br />

When you’re a regular nurse, your patients come to<br />

you.<br />

GL: Can you share with us one of your most<br />

memorable response calls?<br />

Rodney Wirth, with the team since 1990: Many years<br />

ago, my partner and I were up in northern Minnesota.<br />

We were picking up this guy who was having difficulty<br />

breathing and we gave him some medication to sedate<br />

him. As we were giving it to him I told him ‘Ok you’re<br />

gonna go to sleep now. <strong>Good</strong>night!’. He ended up<br />

in the ICU for a considerable length of time. When<br />

he woke up, I went down to visit him. I walked in<br />

the door and he said, ‘I remember you! You’re the<br />

guy who said goodnight and that’s the last thing I<br />

remember for six weeks!’<br />

While there are, undoubtedly, lots of laughs and<br />

stories that come along with being a member of<br />

Sanford’s AirMed team, when the call comes in, it’s<br />

all business. It’s the business of saving lives and being<br />

local heroes to all of the patients that the AirMed<br />

crew flies off to help.<br />

We asked the members of the Sanford AirMed team<br />

what ‘the good life,’ meant to them. Tim Meyer<br />

spoke for all of them, and his answer was short, but<br />

powerful.<br />

“Meaningful Work.”<br />

21


Workplace Tattoos Gaining Awareness, Acceptance<br />

As a bald man with extensive body art ranging from religious images to skulls,<br />

Jeremy Hartje has found that some people seem uncomfortable approaching<br />

or getting to know him.<br />

But the owner of Hardcore Ink Body Art Studio in West Fargo wants people to know that a<br />

good percentage of people from nearly every profession has some form of body art, and<br />

that’s okay.<br />

Tattoos in the workplace have been slowly gaining acceptance, and the negative stigma<br />

associated with them has been diminished, albeit not completely disappeared yet.<br />

Upon seeing someone with body art, the negative stereotype is that he or she just loves<br />

to drink, party it up and get tattoos. <strong>The</strong>y’re seen as trouble and not someone to mess with.<br />

But Hartje wants people to know that a large percentage of those with tattoos are very friendly.<br />

“I always tell people that if you give them the opportunity to show you their character and the<br />

kind of person they are, they will surprise you,” he said.<br />

He used to work in the medical profession, where body art had to be covered up at all times. Now that he’s<br />

been in the tattoo industry for a while, including a year and a half at his shop’s current location, it is nice<br />

to be able to display his body art freely without restriction.<br />

Web programmer Dave Kerzman is relatively new to the body art<br />

community, as he got his first tattoo from Hardcore Ink two weeks ago.<br />

<strong>The</strong> tribal tattoo is 22-inches wide and reaches from shoulder to<br />

shoulder. To him, it’s a symbol of health. He recently lost weight, and<br />

he wanted some more encouragement.<br />

“It’s a reminder of getting and staying healthy,” he said.<br />

Even though body art isn’t a big deal in his profession, he<br />

does encounter people from time to time outside of work who<br />

may cast a judging eye at first glance.<br />

Kerzman said the negative stereotype of tattoos likely comes<br />

from the history of the rougher crowd that used to have them.<br />

Even though some of that negative stereotype still exists, he<br />

said a way to overcome that is to just be friendly and remind<br />

people to keep an open mind.<br />

“People should be able to do what they want to express<br />

themselves,” he said.<br />

West Fargo Police Canine Officer Pete Nielsen has quite a<br />

few tattoos, although you probably wouldn’t know it because<br />

none of them show outside of his uniform. His tattoos,<br />

which include tribal symbols, skulls, initials and some custom<br />

By: JESSICA BALLOU | Photos: Urban toad Media<br />

22<br />

BEN SCHROEDER<br />

- REAL ESTATE AGENT


designs, are all strategically placed on his body so that<br />

they would be covered by a t-shirt.<br />

He said people are becoming more accepting of<br />

tattoos, but the level of acceptance depends on where a<br />

person lives. In North Dakota, which is a typically very<br />

conservative area of the United States, acceptance isn’t as<br />

great as in other parts of the country.<br />

Local real estate agent Ben Schroeder looks like the<br />

typical clean-cut, clean-shaven, “catalog” guy.<br />

He wears dress clothing often due to his profession,<br />

so when clients and others find out he has tattoos, he said<br />

99 percent of the time they give him a shocked look and<br />

say “I never thought someone like you would<br />

have tattoos.”<br />

He got his first tattoo when he was 18,<br />

and now he has been adding to a large tribal<br />

tattoo. When working in the corporate<br />

world, he made it a point to not bring<br />

up his body art. But now if the topic of<br />

tattoos comes up, he talks about it without<br />

hesitation.<br />

A common sentiment from these men<br />

was that the more awareness that is<br />

brought to people who have body<br />

art, the more acceptance there<br />

would be to move past the<br />

stereotypes.<br />

“I always tell people that if you give<br />

them the opportunity to show you their<br />

character and the kind of person they<br />

are, they will surprise you.”<br />

— Jeremy Hartje<br />

DAVE KERZMAN<br />

- WEB PROGRAMMER


ChivalrY<br />

in the 21 st Century<br />

BRINGING IT BACK TO LIFE<br />

Chivalry is dead.<br />

Now, wait a second. That’s not entirely true. If I’m<br />

wearing heels, at least a few guys will open a door for<br />

me. If I’m wearing tennis shoes or flats, the chance of<br />

that happening drops 80 percent. <strong>The</strong> wretched part is<br />

that I’m not even kidding.<br />

If you Google the word “chivalry,” and<br />

visit thefreedictionary.com, you’ll read<br />

that chivalry describes “<strong>The</strong> qualities<br />

idealized by knighthood, such as<br />

bravery, courtesy, honor, and<br />

gallantry toward women,” along<br />

with “A manifestation of any of<br />

these qualities.”<br />

Some things should remain<br />

in the past, like outhouses and<br />

dial-up Internet, but when it<br />

comes to practicing courtesy,<br />

both men and women need to<br />

revive and encourage its existence.<br />

Manners and chivalry go hand in<br />

hand, and being polite doesn’t mean<br />

you’re boring.<br />

I’m going to tell you all a little tale. It’s<br />

tender, surprising and even sad. No, it’s not an ABC<br />

Family movie. This is less predictable.<br />

Once upon a time, I went on a date with a nice guy.<br />

He wouldn’t let me get into his carriage, I mean, car until<br />

he got out of it and opened the passenger door for me.<br />

He did the same when we arrived at the restaurant. I<br />

REMINDER:<br />

<strong>February</strong> 14th<br />

is Valentine’s Day.<br />

Now is your chance<br />

to be<br />

chivalrous!<br />

think he even helped me take my coat off. Was I drooling<br />

from his acts of thoughtfulness? No, I was weirded out.<br />

Wait. What? Yeah. I was taken aback by his manners.<br />

I was used to being treated like one of the guys, not<br />

like a lady. I was so accustomed to a lack of courtesy<br />

that I didn’t know how to react when faced with such<br />

politeness. Many guys and girls have never had<br />

manners pounded in their head, or they’ve<br />

just decided to ignore them, and<br />

“chivalry,” that thing we’ve heard<br />

about in fairytales, is often seen as<br />

archaic by our lazy, dishonorable<br />

society.<br />

It took me a few years of<br />

recovering from the I-shouldn’task-for-help-because-I’m-awoman-hear-me-roar<br />

rut to<br />

realize that women don’t have<br />

to be weak-minded, annoyingly<br />

dependent damsels in distress in<br />

order to enjoy being treated like a<br />

lady. You won’t see me crying, waiting<br />

for a big, strong man to carry me over<br />

a puddle (though that would be nice), but<br />

appreciating when a man is courteous, thoughtful and<br />

even protective doesn’t make me any weaker of a woman.<br />

As this apropos phrase says, “A real woman can do it all<br />

by herself, but a real man won’t let her.”<br />

Whether you’re a real man or a fake one, according<br />

to that saying, the point of that statement is to be<br />

24<br />

By: meghan feir


thoughtful. Don’t save your manners for Valentine’s<br />

Day or when you want something. Sharpen your<br />

skills by practicing them every day of the year.<br />

Chivalry and manners go beyond buying a girl<br />

supper. Any guy with $5 or less can accomplish that<br />

by ordering a burger off the dollar menu. Courtesy is<br />

something you practice and make habitual. Just like<br />

working out or hunting, you have to put in some effort<br />

to make yourself better.<br />

To make a cultural change, both men and women<br />

need to treat each other with kindness and<br />

respect if they want it dished their way. It’s a twoway<br />

street.<br />

It’s up to us to retrain society.<br />

25


26


By: SOO ASHEIM | Photos: Urban toad Media<br />

27


Born on a farm north<br />

of Huron, South<br />

Dakota, Del Hofer<br />

(pronounced: Ho-fer)<br />

was a middle child in<br />

a family of four boys<br />

and one girl. Del’s parents rented<br />

a small farm on the outskirts of<br />

Huron, where farmland was rough<br />

and rocky. Del, his brothers and his<br />

dad plowed and seeded their land<br />

with horses. Victims of an economy<br />

often unfair and always unkind to<br />

small farmers, his parents lost their<br />

farm in 1947.<br />

When Del was 12, the family<br />

moved into Huron where Del picked<br />

up odd jobs here and there, as many<br />

children did back in those days in<br />

order to help out their families. But<br />

during his free hours Del could be<br />

found two blocks from his home,<br />

outside the Harley-Davidson store,<br />

hunkered down watching as older<br />

young men with a penchant for speed<br />

and adventure blazed by on huge<br />

28<br />

motorcycles breaking the serenity of<br />

Huron’s small-town dullness.<br />

Mesmerized by the sleekness and<br />

speed, Del continued to watch day<br />

after day as the motorcycle riders<br />

vanished before his eyes. Until<br />

the day one of the burley-looking,<br />

hoarse-throated men suddenly<br />

stopped right in front of Del and<br />

asked, “Hey, kid! Ya wanna ride?”<br />

Del climbed behind the mammoth<br />

man and off they flew. “I thought<br />

I’d died and gone to heaven” is Del’s<br />

description of his first ride on a<br />

Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Utterly<br />

hooked, Del knew one day he would<br />

find a way to buy his own bike that<br />

would blister the rough terrain<br />

leading out of South Dakota.<br />

A couple of years passed with<br />

Del still watching the motorcyclists<br />

coming and going through the tiny<br />

town of Huron. Del’s older brother<br />

had a motorcycle of his own but as<br />

older brothers tend to do with little<br />

brothers, Del’s brother ignored Del’s<br />

pleas to take it for a ride, until one day,<br />

Del’s brother said, “Tell you what. If<br />

you can start it up, I’ll let you take it<br />

for a spin.” For nearly two years Del<br />

had watched the motorcyclists only<br />

two blocks away coming and going<br />

from the Harley-Davidson store as<br />

they climbed their motorized horses<br />

and started the engines. Del had no<br />

doubt he could start his brother’s.<br />

He was 14 years old with a chance<br />

for the first time ever to actually<br />

straddle a motorcycle and take it<br />

wherever he could. All he had to do<br />

was get it started. Challenges were a<br />

part of life for this young man-child<br />

whose only dream in life was to take<br />

off on a thundering machine with two<br />

wheels. Del got the machine started,<br />

took off on his brother’s motorcycle<br />

and simultaneously made the first<br />

step of his lifelong journey.<br />

From that day on, every extra<br />

penny Del made was saved for one<br />

purpose: a motorcycle. <strong>The</strong> simple<br />

yearning for a motorcycle had grown


the motorcycle that started it all...<br />

into an obsession for Del. Del quit high school at age 16 to<br />

take a job delivering Western Union telegrams.<br />

While visiting his uncle, Del mentioned he was looking for<br />

a motorcycle to buy and asked his uncle if he knew anyone who<br />

wanted to sell one. His uncle thought for a moment and said,<br />

“Well, maybe. I know a guy who has his stored at his sister’s<br />

place. Do you want to go take a look?” Del said, “Sure! Let’s go<br />

see it.” Awhile later, they were at the place where the motorcycle<br />

was stored and found the father of the man who owned it<br />

waiting for them. Del was in complete awe of what sat before<br />

him: a black 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead. This beauty<br />

before him had a windshield, twin straight pipes, handmade<br />

leather saddlebags and gorgeous spotlights. Nothing this grand<br />

had Del Hofer ever wanted so much. He asked the owner if he<br />

could start it. <strong>The</strong> man said, “Sure, go ahead.”<br />

After Del gave the kick-start his best effort, they all stood<br />

listening as the engine purred before them. Del next asked if he<br />

could take the motorcycle for a ride. “Noooo, am afraid that’s not<br />

going to happen,” the bike owner said. Del had to have that bike.<br />

He asked the man how much he wanted for the Knucklehead.<br />

“Two-hundred and fifty dollars” was the amount the man<br />

Photo submitted by: Del HOfer 29


wanted, and Del didn’t have it. But<br />

he knew he could make payments for<br />

as long as needed if he could strike<br />

a deal with the owner. <strong>The</strong>y shook<br />

hands, and the very next week, Del<br />

began paying the man $25 a week. As<br />

a Western Union deliveryman, Del<br />

made $28.51 a week. After making<br />

his weekly motorcycle payment, Del<br />

was left with the paltry sum of $3.51<br />

to his name each week to carry him<br />

through until the next week’s payday.<br />

But as Hofer explains himself, “I was<br />

determined.” <strong>The</strong> phrase would be<br />

repeated time and again throughout<br />

the next 60-plus years.<br />

Finally, the day arrived to make<br />

the last payment on the most<br />

expensive and important purchase<br />

of 16-year-old Del Hofer’s life. At<br />

first, he just stared at the motorcycle<br />

sitting on the road. Slowly, he swung<br />

a leg over and straddled the Harley.<br />

Placing his hands on the hand grips,<br />

he nudged the cycle stand upward<br />

and then, simultaneously pulling<br />

the hand accelerator toward him<br />

and strumming the kick starter, he<br />

felt the vibration beneath him and<br />

off he flew like an eagle soaring<br />

above. Del Hofer and the black 1947<br />

Knucklehead moved and navigated<br />

around holes in the rutted streets,<br />

maneuvering ahead of older drivers<br />

going five miles an hour as if he and<br />

the Knucklehead were one machine.<br />

As Del arrived at his parents’<br />

home, he sat for a moment listening<br />

to the loud tap, tap, tap of the Harley<br />

engine before he turned it off. Del’s<br />

mother came outside, obviously<br />

not happy and wanting to know<br />

“What’s that motorcycle doing here?”<br />

Answering his mother, Del replied,<br />

“It’s mine. I just purchased it.” Del’s<br />

mother reacted in a manner he had<br />

never seen before. Standing upright<br />

as she threw her shoulders back,<br />

Mrs. Hofer said, “You take that right<br />

back from wherever you got it and<br />

get your money back! I’ve got one<br />

son that rides the wheels off his<br />

and I’m not going to have another<br />

one do the same!” Del’s cloud nine<br />

feeling coming home disintegrated<br />

into vapor. He told his mother,<br />

“Well, Mother, I’ll take it back, get<br />

my money back, give you the money<br />

and then I’m outta here.” With that,<br />

Del Hofer’s mother turned, stomped<br />

toward the door, went inside and<br />

slammed the door so hard Del was<br />

sure she’d knocked the hinges off!<br />

Not five minutes had passed<br />

when Mrs. Hofer returned with a<br />

180-degree attitude change, and<br />

holding a small black camera in her<br />

hand, she said,<br />

“Well, if you’re going<br />

to keep that thing, i<br />

guess we should take<br />

your picture.”<br />

30 Photo submitted by: Del HOfer


LIVING LIFE ON A HOG<br />

Sixteen years old, riding to<br />

and fro, here and yonder on his<br />

treasured Knucklehead and finally<br />

able to keep all $28.51 of his weekly<br />

paycheck, Del Hofer was living the<br />

life. Adventures to towns in the<br />

distance near and far made him new<br />

friends and good times. Del even<br />

experienced his first Sturgis week in<br />

1952. Could life get sunnier? Del<br />

considered the question once, then<br />

twice, and on the third pondering<br />

Del says, “I had a discussion with<br />

myself about the future. <strong>Life</strong> is a<br />

long time. In life you have to have<br />

an education.” With that decided,<br />

Del returned to school a year after he<br />

had quit. After graduating, Del had<br />

to make another major decision for<br />

the third phase of his life.<br />

In those days, there were not as<br />

many choices or decisions to make.<br />

Young men in the 1950s really only<br />

Photo submitted by: Del HOfer<br />

had two choices: go on to college or enlist in the service. “I had no money to<br />

go to college, so the decision to enlist was not a difficult one.”<br />

Photo submitted by: Del HOfer<br />

INTO THE WILD BLUE YONDER<br />

Del Hofer became “Airman Hofer”<br />

when he joined the Air Force on March<br />

8,1955.<br />

During his four-year stint Del<br />

served 13 months in Korea, or, rather,<br />

a few miles above the 38th parallel. Del<br />

served as an Airborne Radio Operator/<br />

Communications Specialist and was in<br />

charge of the messages received by and<br />

sent to the bombers with Strategic Air<br />

Command (SAC), and as a Survival<br />

Instructor for the pilots who were flying<br />

the bombers. Del Hofer is proud of<br />

his country and equally proud of his<br />

service, but Korea is an era of his life<br />

he rather leave in the past as Hofer is a<br />

man who has always preferred looking<br />

ahead.<br />

After four years with Uncle Sam’s<br />

Airmen, Del decided it was time to<br />

accept his honorable discharge, head<br />

back to Huron, South Dakota, find a<br />

job and let fate determine what was<br />

next. And if he didn’t care for what the<br />

fate warriors had in mind for him, he<br />

would just figure a way to change the<br />

plan.<br />

DESTINY SIGNALS<br />

<strong>The</strong> job he found was working on<br />

the Chicago Northwestern railroad.<br />

However, about that same time, things<br />

were slowing down a tad in Huron,<br />

and because he was a recent hire, as<br />

“low man on the totem pole” he wasn’t<br />

called in as frequently. Never afraid<br />

to take on more responsibilities, he<br />

began working as a radiator repairman.<br />

<strong>The</strong> irony here is where the part-time<br />

radiator repair job was, and for whom:<br />

<strong>The</strong> owner of the radiator shop also<br />

owned the Harley-Davidson dealership.<br />

31


As the days turned into weeks<br />

and the weeks marched forward, a<br />

year passed and Del was given an<br />

opportunity he knows was his very<br />

own brass ring. His radiator repair<br />

shop boss and owner of the small<br />

Harley-Davidson dealership, where<br />

Del was also repairing motorcycle<br />

engines, asked Del if he would<br />

consider going to the Harley-<br />

Davidson Service School. Surprised<br />

and excited about his future<br />

prospects, Del accepted the offer.<br />

Once the application was submitted<br />

and Del was accepted to the Harley<br />

Service School, plans for the trip and<br />

stay in Milwaukee were made.<br />

Everything was falling into place.<br />

Del had two good jobs, he was in<br />

love with the girl of his choice and<br />

now he was set to learn everything<br />

he possibly could about Harley-<br />

Davidson motorcycles, putting his<br />

career choice on track for the future.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re was just one thing that had<br />

slipped Del Hofer’s memory that<br />

might cause a bit of a problem: Del<br />

and his fiancée, Renee Spargo, were<br />

to be married within the same time<br />

frame as the Harley-Davidson Service<br />

School program.<br />

Problem? What problem? Del<br />

and Renee were married as planned.<br />

As for their honeymoon, well, that<br />

too was now “planned.” Milwaukee<br />

is a lovely place in the middle of<br />

<strong>February</strong>; at least that’s what Del told<br />

Renee, and he swears to it even today,<br />

some 50-plus years later.<br />

graduation from<br />

service school<br />

Photo submitted by: Del HOfer<br />

32<br />

CLOSING THE CIRCLE OF FATE<br />

As another year passed quickly,<br />

Del was once again shown “the light”<br />

of fate when his boss at the Harley<br />

Dealership took him aside one day<br />

and asked, “Would you consider<br />

buying me out of the motorcycle<br />

business?” As shocked as he felt, Del<br />

knew this was more than fate simply<br />

winking at him. Without batting an<br />

eye, he accepted, and the deal for him<br />

to take over the small shop with little<br />

inventory and only a few motorcycles<br />

was signed. But where would he<br />

go? His soon-to-be ex-boss didn’t<br />

want the motorcycle shop anywhere<br />

near his radiator repair business.<br />

Claiming not to like motorcycles,<br />

and “motorcycle people” even less,<br />

he wanted Del to move the Harley-<br />

Davidson dealership elsewhere.<br />

Having just signed the agreement<br />

to buy the Harley-Davidson<br />

dealership for $2,500, Del wanted<br />

to find a good place to relocate that<br />

wasn’t expensive, yet had the square<br />

footage he needed to work on engines<br />

and display the motorcycles he had<br />

for sale.<br />

Like sirens to the sea merchants,<br />

the perfect location sang to Del: the<br />

same motorcycle shop that was only<br />

two blocks from where he grew up in<br />

Huron.<br />

WHEN THE STARS ALIGN<br />

Del rented the same store space<br />

for the next 10 years. In 1971, as<br />

his business had expanded and<br />

his friendship deepened with John<br />

Davidson (grandson of the original<br />

founder), Del was offered a larger


and more lucrative Harley-Davidson dealership with<br />

several choice cities to choose from: St. Paul, Sioux<br />

Falls, Albuquerque, Rapid City, Des Moines, Mankato,<br />

Rochester and Fargo.<br />

Familiar with many of the choices, the one he<br />

wanted to see for certain was Fargo. What he saw, he<br />

liked, primarily because of three major and feasible<br />

reasons.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Fargo/Moorhead area was vast and would<br />

eventually provide a much larger population. While<br />

there were a few manufacturing companies, the<br />

majority were owned and operated locally. None<br />

were tied to major nationally recognized corporations<br />

or companies that, with a downward turn in the<br />

economy, would suddenly close up and move out,<br />

taking many employees with them. <strong>The</strong>re were three<br />

colleges here, and there was a cross between two<br />

interstate highways, one of which was not finished,<br />

but when it was, it would run its course to Mexico.<br />

Fargo was surrounded by dark black, rich<br />

farmland. Agriculture in 1971 was still the number<br />

one economic stability in North Dakota and the Red<br />

River Valley as a whole.<br />

More than anything, that factor appealed to Del<br />

the most. He chose to move and reopen his Harley-<br />

Davidson dealership in Fargo, which he did, 10 years<br />

after he had opened his dealership in Huron, and,<br />

kinky as it seems, almost to the anniversary date of<br />

buying his first Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the<br />

Knucklehead.<br />

NEW BEGINNINGS ARE SOMETIMES HARD<br />

Del Hofer opened his first Harley-Davidson<br />

motorcycle dealership in North Dakota on what is<br />

now known as 36th Street South (a.k.a., the frontage<br />

road off 13th Avenue South), where it remained until<br />

1991.<br />

In 1971 there simply was not an overflow within<br />

the local F/M population standing in line to buy<br />

motorcycles. Del says some of it had to do with an<br />

old Marlon Brando movie about bad bikers called<br />

“<strong>The</strong> Wild One,” as well as because, unlike in other<br />

areas of the country, primarily where the weather<br />

was warmer, college kids and biker enthusiasts were<br />

from more financially conservative backgrounds.<br />

Harley Davidson motorcycles are not inexpensive.<br />

Spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on<br />

an unnecessary item that can only be used a short<br />

portion of the year was almost a claim against Mother<br />

Nature for some.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Japanese and other motorcycle manufacturers<br />

jumped into the game by the mid-1970s by bringing<br />

in smaller and less expensive motorcycles. Plus,<br />

Hofer credits the slogan “You meet the nicest people<br />

on a Honda” with appealing to younger and less<br />

33


traditional motorcycle riders and<br />

drawing an entirely new generation<br />

of bikers into the mix of motorcycle<br />

enthusiasts. By the mid-1970s, more<br />

people were showing an interest in<br />

riding motorcycles in North Dakota<br />

and western Minnesota, especially<br />

those who had lake cabins and liked to<br />

go camping in the summertime.<br />

Around 1991, Del and Renee<br />

wanted to expand their Harley-<br />

Davidson dealership to sell more golf<br />

carts and accessories. <strong>The</strong>y bought the<br />

building in West Fargo, on the frontage<br />

road off Main Avenue, where Harley-<br />

Davidson is still located today. And a<br />

few years ago, Del increased the back<br />

side of the building to include an entire<br />

line of Harley-Davidson clothing.<br />

Del & Renee<br />

Photo submitted by: Del HOfer<br />

SEE THE WORLD ON A HARLEY<br />

Sixty-two years later, “See the<br />

world on a Harley” could easily be<br />

Del Hofer’s family slogan. Although<br />

he fell in love with motorcycles at age<br />

14, it was Del’s first Harley-Davidson<br />

at the age of 16 that truly solidified<br />

the marriage he and Harley-Davidson<br />

would have. One’s destiny is not<br />

always in one’s hands. Some go with<br />

the flow and others merely drift along<br />

with the waves of letting life happen<br />

to them. Del Hofer did the opposite.<br />

He followed his passion, while<br />

applying his mechanical aptitude<br />

with his innate salesmanship. <strong>The</strong><br />

tri-combo led to traveling the world<br />

to places such as New Zealand, a<br />

favorite spot to tour for Renee and<br />

Del and one they made a “sister city”<br />

with an entire country to bond with<br />

for present and future riders.<br />

34<br />

Del speaks of a creed of honor<br />

he learned from his father while on<br />

the farm in Huron: “If you borrow<br />

a bushel of oats, always return<br />

it plus one.” In the 42 years Del<br />

and Renee Hofer have lived and<br />

owned the only Harley-Davidson<br />

dealership in the Fargo/Moorhead<br />

area, they have indeed given back,<br />

paid it forward and come to the aid<br />

of many charitable institutions, not<br />

in the thousands or even hundreds<br />

of thousands of dollars, but with<br />

millions of dollars. In particular, the<br />

Muscular Dystrophy Association and<br />

the Children’s Miracle Network have<br />

been huge recipients. Several other<br />

benefactors are Adopt a Family every<br />

Christmas season, the West Fargo<br />

Youth Hockey Association,<br />

the Big Brothers Big<br />

Sisters program, Red River<br />

Zoo, the Rape & Abuse<br />

Foundation, Families<br />

of Deployed Veterans;<br />

Humanity for Animals<br />

at NDSU, the F-M Acro<br />

Team, Riders Educational<br />

Motorcycle Training, and<br />

the Salvation Army. And<br />

the list doesn’t end there.<br />

Del Hofer has spent<br />

the last 53 years promoting<br />

Harley-Davidson motorcycles as a<br />

way of life. For Del, Harley-Davidson<br />

represents the biggest, longest-lasting<br />

and best. Del, Renee and their two<br />

sons are the embodiment of a family<br />

that doesn’t seek the limelight or<br />

fanfare, and who have continued to<br />

give to their community time and<br />

time again.<br />

Among the many achievements<br />

Del Hofer has made in his 78 years<br />

of living life to the fullest was being<br />

inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle<br />

Hall of Fame. For anyone who has<br />

not experienced Sturgis, think of it as<br />

winning the Oscars and the Grammys<br />

at the same time.<br />

When asked what he believes<br />

makes a “good life,” Del Hofer<br />

replies,<br />

“Knowing that<br />

you get out of<br />

life what you are<br />

willing to put into<br />

it. <strong>Life</strong> doesn’t hand<br />

out freebies; it all<br />

takes work.”<br />

Del and Renee Hofer sold the<br />

Harley-Davidson dealership recently<br />

with plans to do a bit more traveling,<br />

and Del has a passel of antique<br />

motorcycles he’s been storing over<br />

the years that he’d like to bring back<br />

to life.


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