The Good Life – November-December 2019

FATHERS | MR. FULL-TIME DAD 

MOVING ON, 

NOT LETTING GO 

WRITTEN BY: BEN HANSON • PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 

Almost ten years to the day after my wife, Emily, and I 

moved into our first home together, we packed up all our 

earthly possessions and moved south … approximately 

30 blocks. There were four of us to move this time 

around, including our son, Macklin, and our dog, Lucy. 

After ten years of accumulation, and now being fully 

moved into a home roughly twice the size, it's amazing 

how much we crammed into that first home. 

Beyond the physical stuff — which we brought with us, for 

better or worse — the move provided a wonderful 

excuse to get lost in nostalgia over all the 

intangible stuff we also crammed in during 

the past ten years. We created enough 

memories, learned enough lessons 

and experienced enough "firsts" to 

write a small memoir … minus all 

the heroics and achievements one 

normally reads about in memoirs. 

And so, the hardest part of the 

move wasn't physical, although 

I'll never again be a willing 

participant in moving a piano. 

For me, moving felt like 

forever walking away from 

the set and setting of my life 

as a full-time stay-at-home dad 

— arguably the greatest time of 

my life. 

I will never again be greeted by those 

seven steps up from the front door to 

the living room, where Mack learned to 

climb stairs, or the seven steps down to 

the basement, where he was often too 

adorably afraid to go by himself. I will 

never get to chase Mack in circles around the 

wall that divided the kitchen from the living 

room. I'll never sit under our flowering 

front tree with him on a blanket like we 

did every sunny day before he learned to 

walk. I'll never walk in to wake him up in his 

old bedroom, where I put together his crib 

not once, but twice … and then a third time, 

2 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com

when he grew big enough to transform it into a toddler bed. 

We'll never walk the same loop around the neighborhood 

like we did every day, rain or shine, warm or cold just to get 

out of the house for a while. I could go on, obviously. 

In the days after the move, I fought hard against the instinct 

to drive past the old house, because I knew I would never 

make it without crying. Even now, months later, the only 

way I will drive through the old neighborhood is if Macklin 

is with me and he asks to see the house. (OK, I always bring 

it up, but I let him make the final call.) 

Last week he accepted my offer, and as we slowly crept by 

the old house, Mack said something with a profound deeper 

meaning: "I liked that house, Daddy. Yeah, it's a good house. 

I like our new house, too." 

A weight lifted off my shoulders … promptly falling directly 

into my tear ducts. My 4-year-old simplified my feelings for 

me, taking the edge off and giving me permission to keep 

loving our old home, while still celebrating the beginning of 

many new adventures in our new home. 

In the weeks leading up to the move, Emily and I wondered 

how Macklin would transition to the new house. Not 

surprisingly, he handled it the best out of all of us … after 

all, he's got the memory and attention span of a 4-yearold. 

Emily compulsively painted our bedrooms. Lucy had 

an accident the first time she smelled a trace of the prior 

owner's dog, something she hadn't done in years. My 

transition object was the lawnmower — I took extra care 

getting to know the new yard, taking twice as long to mow it 

as I otherwise would. 

Macklin, however, settled 

right in. We knew he was 

over the whole move on 

day two when he refused 

to get dressed for the day. 

"It's mine own home 

to be naked in," he 

declared. He was right. 

We were home. • 

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 3

CONTENTS 

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2019 

Volume 7 • Issue 3 

02 

FATHERS - Mr. Full-Time Dad 

Moving On, Not Letting Go 

06 

Novembers in North Dakota 

Hunting with Bret Amundson 

10 

18 

More Than Survival 

8 Ways to Make Winter (Kind of) 

Fun Again 

ON THE COVER - Dan Fuller 

Fueled by Fighting Fire 

Amidst Flame and Smoke, 

West Fargo Fire Chief Dan Fuller 

Keeps His Focus 

14 

24 

Heavy Lifting for a Living 

High Power Crane 

HABW - Having a Beer with 

Radio Host, Scott Hennen 

30 

Local Hero - Kevin Pallas 

Equal Parts Heart, Humility 

and Talent 

Fargo Police Sergeant Kevin Pallas 

Leads with Inspiration, Kindness 

and Innovation

PUBLISHED BY 

Urban Toad Media LLP 

www.urbantoadmedia.com 

OWNER / PHOTOGRAPHER 

Darren Losee 

darren@urbantoadmedia.com 

OWNER / GRAPHIC DESIGNER 

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dawn@urbantoadmedia.com 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

Bret Amundson 

Meghan Feir 

Ben Hanson 

Alexis Swenson 

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darren@urbantoadmedia.com 

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the views or policies of The Good Life Men’s Magazine. 


WRITTEN BY: BRET AMUNDSON 

PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: BRET AMUNDSON 

When I took a radio job at 107.9 The Fox in the spring 

of 2000, I envisioned a future of recording studios, 

Fargodome concerts and all the free pizza coupons I could 

handle. What I didn’t realize is that the outdoor adventures 

North Dakota had to offer would change my life forever. 

I grew up in a hunting and fishing family that traces our 

roots back to Canada and even Sweden. Farming on 

the prairie near Norquay, Saskatchewan and then later 

near Alvarado, Minnesota gave my ancestors ample 

opportunities to live off the land with crops and wildlife. 

Our farming days ended when my grandpa moved south 

but the love of all things wild stayed strong. 

We hunted western Minnesota for pheasants, near 

Alexandria for ducks and northwestern Wisconsin for 

whitetails. 

Then real life happened. I went into the wild and wacky 

world of radio. Don’t get me wrong, it included some of 

the most exciting moments of my life, but it was my LIFE. 

Most radio people will tell you that they don’t get much 

of a chance to do anything else. I came to that realization 

during one fall when the NDSU football team was really 

gaining popularity. As much as I enjoyed watching their 

success, I was jealous of the Saturday mornings my friends 

were spending in the field, instead of tailgating. No offense 

to the Bison Nation, but I was being pulled in a different 

direction. 

One fateful day I was summoned into my boss’s office and 

notified that a format change was coming and that after 

ten years in the same building, I would be searching for 

new employment. Such is life in the radio “biz”.

I almost thanked them as I walked out. It was time for 

something new. It was time to get back to what my family 

spent most of their free time doing. But it wasn’t just 

a knee-jerk response to my newfound freedom; it was 

something inside me that was affected by a few hunting 

trips across the state Teddy Roosevelt fell in love with. 

The Badlands 

I had a few friends that made yearly trips to western 

North Dakota to hunt mule deer. Knowing that drawing 

a muley buck tag for rifle was a long shot, I went into 

Scheels and picked out a new bow. Soon I was walking 

butte ridges in fresh snowfall, staring wide-eyed at the 

beautiful expanse around me. I wouldn’t shoot a mule 

deer that year, but the first-timer bow hunting experience 

in that landscape caused me to leave the 30.06 at home 

– by choice – ever since. 

The Waterfowl 

Duck hunting was what I enjoyed most growing up. I 

even have a class ring from high school with a mallard 

and shotgun shells on it. I bet you’d get expelled for 

something like that now. Anyway, I loved hunting ducks. 

I just wasn’t very good at it. I also didn’t hunt in a great 

flyway and didn’t have many friends that did it either. 

Most of my family had given up on green wings and 

8 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com 

focused on whitetails. So it was usually just me trudging 

out to the slough and hoping to see something come 

into range. 

Then I moved to North Dakota. 

I knew a few guys that hunted hard and were very good 

at it. They had these crazy contraptions called “layout 

blinds”. Us water hunters from Minnesota and Wisconsin 

didn’t use them often, but in the prairie pothole regions, 

you have more options for field hunting. 

Dick Voight at KFGO lent me a blind the next morning I 

was peering through the mesh top wondering what was 

about to happen. As the sun crept over the horizon the 

air filled with more ducks and geese than I’d seen in all 

my falls. Again, my eyes were as wide as a wheat field 

and as I shot holes in the sky, I thought to myself, “I need 

to get one of these layout blinds.” 

The Snow Geese 

When people ask me what my favorite thing to do is, 

I usually answer with “Snows.” They can be absolute 

jerks 99% of the time, but when they do it right, there’s 

nothing else like it. They’re the only waterfowl around 

that can number in the thousands when they bomb into 

your decoys. Their noise can drown out an ambulance

and the wariness the older birds often have makes them 

tough to trick. While so much satisfaction comes from 

a successful hunt, it’s not what makes me get weak in 

the knees about them. It’s the sheer numbers of the 

migrating birds that can be seen in one day. It’s mindblowing 

when there are flocks stringing across your 

entire field of view with endless more flocks behind 

them, barking and squawking their way north in the 

spring or south in the fall. And when it happens, there’s 

just simply nothing else like it. 

I’d heard about the spring migration from a few people 

but anecdotal evidence doesn’t do the sight justice. So 

one day, I drove west from Fargo, then south, then west, 

then north a little, then west again until I saw a flock. 

Then I stopped. I didn’t have a gun or a license or decoys 

or an ecaller or even a camera that day. Just my eyes. I 

parked on the side of that road for hours and watched 

snow geese fly overhead nonstop the entire time. Again, 

my eyes were lit up like the Fargo Theater sign and from 

then on, I knew I’d be obsessed with these white birds. 

Since those experiences, I’ve shot big deer with my 

bow, traveled to Argentina for ducks and Saskatchewan 

for snows, and while it all started with my family 

introducing me to the outdoors, it was the Novembers 

in North Dakota that changed my life forever. • 

"Duck hunting was what 

I enjoyed most growing up. 

I even have a class ring from 

high school with a mallard 

and shotgun shells on it.” 

- Bret amundson 


WRITTEN BY: MEGHAN FEIR 

As soon as September hit, I knew something was different. 

Last winter "done did me in," as it were. I’m not even being 

that dramatic. Think of it this way: We live in a place where 

outdoor festivals celebrating winter get canceled because 

it’s too dangerously frigid outside. 

Before you think, “Then just move, you snowflake,” please 

hold on. I’m trying to make the best of the impending death 

of all that’s still alive, like when I searched for “fun winter 

activities” the other week. I kept stumbling on less than 

mediocre “ideas,” such as drinking hot liquids to pass the 

time, or using something called a telephone to talk to a 

friend. 

This is why I took the matter into my own hands. My husband 

Tim and I decided to come up with a "Winter Sur-thrive-al" 

list of activities we could do to stay sane from January to 

March (let's be honest — May) when the temps are so cold 


it makes your snot freeze in your 

nose. While I’ll apologize for the 

name, I won’t apologize for the 

ideas I’m listing because they’re a 

lot better than telling you to drink 

warmer than usual beverages. 

Since it's unlikely the January 

gales will carry us off to the island 


Whether you're married, dating, have living 

relatives or know someone you can kind of call a 

friend, make up a new tradition with them. 

of Java, let’s make the best of our time on the frozen 

prairie with yet another list of some not-too-bad ideas 

for your loved or liked ones and you to do together this 

season. 

Winter Sur-thrive-al Activities 

1. Learn a language on your own or with a friend 

or lover 

There are plenty of apps and podcasts available that can 

teach you other languages for free. Coffee Break Languages 

podcasts and the DuoLingo app are two excellent options. 

If you learn with a buddy, you can challenge each other and 

keep the momentum going. Once you have some fluency 

going on, you can also have secret conversations in public 

and talk about other people in front of their backs, just 

like my Spanish speaking friends did to me in high school. 

Please note: When people stare, point and laugh, they’re 

definitely talking about you. 

2. Make up some traditions 

Whether you're married, dating, have living relatives or 

know someone you can kind of call a friend, make up a 

new tradition with them. There's a reason people have 

lasting traditions throughout their family lineage. It helps 

people bond, and it's something to look forward to during 

the season of depression (this excludes lutefisk). 

3. Sleep in on a Saturday and watch cartoons 

Maybe it's because my love for cereal as a child was an 

unhealthy obsession. Perhaps it's because I still love and 

protect my stuffed animals. Whatever the reasons are, 

I still believe some Saturdays should be spent sleeping 

in until at least 9:35 a.m., eating cereal and watching 

cartoons. 

4. Host dress-up dinner parties 

Tim and I are big proponents of costumed dining (dressup 

dinner parties). In the last few years, we've probably 

had at least one every season with some of our friends. 

You can make it a murder mystery, too, if you desire. 

The main point is to have a theme, make sure everyone 

dresses up, assign food or beverage items for people to 


bring, and see what strangeness ensues throughout the 

evening. Remember to take pictures. 

5. Plan a trip, big or small 

You can take a little excursion during the months 

aforementioned or plan ahead for a spring or summer 

vacation. Having something to look forward to is of 

utmost importance, and, if you do the planning early, you 

don't have to spend your time indoors on your devices 

hashing out all the details when you could be outside 

planting asparagus or kayaking down the dirty ol’ Red. 

6. Sunday dinner 

This kind of ties in with No. 3, but consider having a 

weekly or monthly ritual of feasting with those whom you 

love the most. 

7. Volunteer and help others 

The Midwest is a brutal place in the fall, winter, and, 

well, the spring, especially if you don’t have a warm place 

to call your own. Help people and animals often. This 

actually benefits you, too, and will give you a greater 

sense of purpose. Even if you don’t volunteer at a soup 

kitchen or a shelter, you can help the homeless by creating 

care packages filled with everyday items. When you see 

them on the street, you’ll be prepared. Maybe throw in a 

blanket, some food, water, gloves, socks, and a Bible or 

another book filled with reminders of hope — anything to 

help people survive. 

8. Get all kinds of cozy with your kids (or S.O.) 

Don’t underestimate the power of playing games (not 

mind games). Maybe Candy Land isn’t in your top 10, 

but playing board games, working on puzzles, or finding 

some other activity your kids will love helps you connect 

and lighten up — unless you’re one of those crazies that 

has to win every time in order to be happy. 

Whether you choose to try any of these ideas or not, 

make sure you set fun goals for yourself this winter. We 

need little things to look forward to every day amidst the 

simultaneously bland and busy weeks. Don’t just wait for 

excitement; create it. •



“ 

THANK GOD I’VE NEVER 

DROPPED ANYTHING. 

I’VE BEEN FORTUNATE, 

AND NONE OF OUR GUYS 

HAVE EVER DROPPED 

ANYTHING EITHER.” 

– TODD BREIDENBACH 

WRITTEN BY: BEN HANSON • PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 

When you get into a conversation with a crane operator — 

you know, the guys sitting in the cab running the big cranes 

lifting giant beams, HVAC units or million dollar engines — two 

questions always pop up: Have you ever dropped anything and 

how in the world do you go to the bathroom? 

According to Todd Breidenbach — owner of High Power Crane, 

a regional crane company named in honor of his faith and jointly 

operated with his wife out of Sabin, Minn. — it turns out the second 

question is rather benign for most crane operators. They simply call for 

a break, climb out and take care of business, as they’re operating mobile, 

truck-mounted cranes. The tower crane operators, on the other hand, are 

stuck hundreds of feet up in the air and can’t simply climb out when nature 

calls. 

“The crew gets breaks,” Breidenbach explained. “If you gotta stop and take a 

break you just tell the guys, as there’s usually nothing pressing other than if you’re 

holding a load in the air or if you’ve got somebody in a man basket that’s suspended, 

you can’t get out of the cab… you can’t get out of the cab with a suspended load.” 

As for that first question, you’d think for a guy who’s been lifting unwieldy objects 

into the air the better part of two decades, Breidenbach would have at least one good 

story to share about dropping something. Lucky for him and all his clients, no such story 

exists. 

“Thank God I’ve never dropped anything,” Breidenbach said with a noticeable sigh of relief. 

“I’ve been fortunate, and none of our guys have ever dropped anything either.” 

Fortunate, yes. Lucky, perhaps. But more so, the combined years of experience on Breidenbach’s 

crew is absolutely the key element to the company’s record of safety and success. Lucky for their 

customers, though, crane operators are required to carry a special kind of insurance. 

“Once we have it picked up off the ground [on the end of our hook], basically we own it until 

we set it back down again,” Breidenbach explained. “Our insurance covers anything you have 


“EVERY JOB IS DIFFERENT. IT TAKES 

DIFFERENT RIGGING AND DIFFERENT 

SETUPS. IT’S A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE 

EVERY TIME.” – TODD BREIDENBACH 

hanging off the end of your crane. MRI machines being 

placed inside hospitals, for example, back in the day were 

million dollar picks.” 

Getting His Start 

As one might imagine, Breidenbach didn’t just one day 

wake up and decide to climb into “the upper” of a crane — 

the control seat of the crane itself, vs. “the lower” where, 

on a truck-mounted crane, you actually drive the crane 

down the road to the job site. He worked his way up, 

gaining experience on job sites, learning how to maintain 

the cranes and set up the rigging required to operate a 

crane and safely get the job done. 

“I wasn’t really interested in cranes at first,” Breidenbach 

admits, “I was actually working at the penitentiary in Sioux 

Falls, S.D., as a stepping stone into a law enforcement 

career. But I happened to see an ad in the paper for a crane 

company and decided to apply for a rigger roll. Later on 

the company announced that they needed a driver, and I 

had a CDL, so I started helping move the cranes around… 

eventually I started doing maintenance on the cranes, and 

soon enough I started the process to become a certified 

crane operator.” 


Fast forward 20 years, and Breidenbach knows the 

whole process start to finish and continues to do his 

own maintenance on his fleet of truck-mounted cranes, 

which range from the 50-ton crane he started his 

company with, all the way up to his largest crane which 

is a 265 ton. 

On the Job 

On any given day, Breidenbach and his crew from High 

Power Crane can be found moving any number of large 

items, including ethanol plant equipment, rooftop 

heating and cooling units, trusses for new commercial 

construction, large propane tanks, hot tub and even 

pools. 

“We’ve moved some crazy stuff,” Breidenbach said with 

a chuckle. “Typically, a contractor calls us up because 

they need something fairly heavy moved on a job site 

and there’s usually some elevation involved, so they 

need a crane to move it. A lot of the contractors when 

building apartment, they’ll call us to set the trusses on 

top of the building. A lot of heating and cooling guys will 

call us to set their units on top of the roofs… take old 

ones down and put new ones up.”

Like most things in life, there’s more to it than simply 

picking things up and putting them back down. 

When the crew pulls up to a job site, they get to put 

on their detective hats and inspect the challenge 

that lay before them. Every job is different, but more 

importantly every job site is different, presenting 

unique challenges for setup and rigging. 

“Experience helps. The biggest thing with running a 

crane is knowing where you can put it, where you can 

set up and where you can’t, because every time you 

pull up to a job site there are different challenges,” 

Breidenbach said. “That’s what makes it so enjoyable 

— every job is different. It takes different rigging and 

different setups. It’s a different scenario every time. 

“We just got done setting a 40,000 pound propane 

tank,” he continued. “We came in with the right 

amount of counter weights, the right size crane, the 

right size pads and the right rigging. We were in and 

out of there in about two hours. Everything went like 

clockwork.” 

And that’s the good life for a crane operator. When 

you’ve got a million dollars hanging off your hook, 

clockwork precision is exactly what you need. 

“I’ve been blessed to run my business alongside my 

wife and a great team of operators,” Breidenbach said. 

“I get to work with so many great customers I’ve met 

over the years. Everyday, doing what I do, because I 

love it.” • 


ON THE COVER | DAN FULLER 

WRITTEN BY: ALEXIS SWENSON • PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 


Destined for Firefighting 

Firefighting runs in West Fargo Fire Chief Dan Fuller’s blood. Much of 

his family has served or currently serves in fire services including his 

sister, dad, uncle and cousin. As a boy, Fuller knew firefighting was the 

only thing he would do when he grew up. As proof of his dedication at 

such a young age, he even has a small picture of his six-year-old self 

dressed in a firefighter’s helmet and jacket tucked into a frame on his 

office wall. 

Fuller found his start serving the public with the Police Explorers 

in his hometown near Boston, Massachusetts. Police Explorers is 

a career-oriented program that grants young adults the opportunity 

to delve into a career in law enforcement by working with local law 

enforcement. This program eventually led Fuller to a job working as 

a Security Officer for one of the malls near his hometown. Since his 

stint as a Security Officer, Fuller has acquired more than 20 years of 

know-how in public safety with experience in law enforcement, fire 

services and emergency medical services. 

Fuller joined the West Fargo Fire Department as Fire Chief in 2015 

after serving as a captain at the Minot Rural Fire Department, a 

senior firefighter with the City of Minot Fire Department, and a 

flight paramedic with Northstar Criticair in Minot, North Dakota. 

Additionally, in July 1999, Fuller enlisted in the Air Force where he 

served for 8 years active duty in Security Forces. 

Focusing on Risk Reduction in Light of West Fargo Growth 

In the time that Fuller has been West Fargo Fire Chief, the 

Department has undergone significant growth in order to continue 

effectively serving the rapidly growing West Fargo community. The 

West Fargo Fire Department has transitioned from a 40-member, allvolunteer 

force, to a combined paid on call and career staff system of 

63 members.

“What excites me most is being able 

to shape and mold the department 

to what works best for West Fargo, 

while implementing nationwide best 

practices such as Community Risk 

Reduction.” – Dan Fuller 



Recently, the West Fargo Fire Department unveiled their 

second-ever strategic plan to cover the years 2019-2023. 

With this plan, the Department is anticipating more 

energetic growth of West Fargo and initiating programs 

to accommodate such. The plans include continued 

community risk reduction, an additional fire station, and at 

least 24 more personnel to be hired. 

The West Fargo Fire Department has recently shifted to 

heavily focus on increasing community awareness and 

prevention about various hazards. They’ve transitioned 

beyond presentations at schools to excite kids about fire 

safety and instead aim to connect with the community by 

attending community events, canvassing neighborhoods, 

facilitating workplace fire safety training, and leading 

trainings on active assailant situations. 

According to the Department’s most recent strategic plan, 

“The department isn’t just about responding to fires, but 

rather, responding and reducing all hazards within our 

community. While fire suppression, emergency medical 

services, hazardous materials response, and technical 

rescue are the major operational areas we focus our 

efforts on, it is important to note that equal time should be 

dedicated to Community Risk Reduction efforts.” 

The plan continues to include that, “when an act of terrorism 


occurs, or a natural disaster strikes, the department will be 

on the front line. That is a fact and an expectation of our 

community, as well as communities across our country. 

In addition to the response, if the department can reduce 

the seriousness of an incident through Community Risk 

Reduction, or even prevent it from occurring at all, then we 

are bound to do so.” 

To adequately carry out Community Risk Reduction 

efforts, the West Fargo Fire Department is focusing on 

potential threats that may arise in 2-5 years. Fuller wants 

the community to know that, “issues that will come up in 

six months have already been dealt with. We’re looking way 

beyond that now.” 

“What excites me most is being able to shape and mold 

the department to what works best for West Fargo, 

while implementing nationwide best practices such as 

Community Risk Reduction,” said Fuller. 

The Fuller Family 

Fuller’s active family helps to ensure that he has a full, fun 

schedule. He recently celebrated his one year anniversary 

with Naomi, his wife, who works as a Registered Nurse 

with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota. Their 

blended family of seven guarantees that the couple attends 

at least two sporting events a week as their oldest three

kids are heavily involved in sports including lacrosse, football, track & field, and 

basketball. Although the two youngest aren’t involved with sports yet, Fuller is 

almost certain they will be. 

Serving as West Fargo Fire Chief is, without a doubt, a team effort and Fuller’s 

family plays a huge role in making it possible. 

“My family supports me through understanding that, occasionally, Dad has to 

leave for a fire or emergency and that, a few nights a week, I’m in meetings until 

8 or 9 at night. When I am gone, my wife Naomi really supports me because she 

stays here and takes care of five kids who are involved in several sports teams 

and after school activities. My in-laws live in Fergus Falls, and they are great to 

come and watch the kids when I have out of town meetings and Naomi travels 

with me,” said Fuller. 

Dan at age six. 

“It is making a difference, 

every day, and just maybe, 

leaving the community in a 

better place than when you 

walked in.”– Dan Fuller 

A Learner at Heart 

Aside from reading in his free time, Fuller routinely seeks continued education. 

“Continuous learning leads you to constantly look at the way you are and compels 

you to make changes based on others’ best practices. In the fire department, we 

are constantly changing to meet a moving goal of providing the best services 

possible to the community. I am constantly changing and adapting my leadership 

style to meet the demands of a growing organization and community and readying 

myself for whatever is next in my career,” said Fuller. 

He recently completed a four-year training course from the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency’s U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy 

Executive Fire Officer Program. The EFOP is a series of four graduate equivalent 

courses with four applied research projects with concentrations on executive 

development, community risk reduction, fire services in emergency operations 

and leadership. 



“Much of my free time was spent on completing the applied 

research projects for the course. Now that the course is 

finished, I’m looking to fill that free time back up with more 

advanced education,” said Fuller. 

Next, Fuller has his eyes set on The National Preparedness 

Leadership Initiative at the Kennedy School at Harvard 

University. The two part course with class time in December 

2019 and June 2020 will “equip leaders with the skills, 

knowledge, and abilities to effectively lead during crisis in 

the 21st century.” 

Giving Back is The Good Life 

The red lights, sirens, and big fire truck are assuredly 

glorious parts of the job, but what consistently fuels the 

West Fargo Fire Chief the most is more intrinsic. 

“I’m passionate about serving the community. My whole 

career has been about that – serving others. As I’ve gotten 

older, have started to slow down a bit, and especially in the 

role I’m in now, what keeps me motivated is the drive to put 

others first,” said Fuller. 

Fuller’s motivation to serve others expands outside of the 

fire station on 1st Avenue as he proudly serves on the 

Advisory Board for the Salvation Army, Sanford Health 

EMS Education, and the North Dakota Fire Chiefs 

Association along with being a member of the West Fargo 

Exchange Club. Previously, he has served on the North 

Dakota Firefighters Association Certification Advisory 

Board and the Professional Firefighters of North Dakota. 

“My favorite part of being on the Salvation Army board is 

seeing the way how that organization does the most good 

for those who are underserved in our communities. From 

providing meals in their downtown center, to coats for kids, 


ack to school haircuts, and helping to 

navigate the path from homelessness 

to getting a roof over their heads, the 

organization does a lot to help. Not 

to mention their emergency disaster 

services, who routinely help the 

fire department with rehab of our 

firefighters and help homeowners 

who have suffered a loss of house, 

food, clothing, etc.,” said Fuller. 

When asked what the good life means 

to Fuller, he thoughtfully said, “To 

me, the good life means serving the 

community you live in through hard 

work and dedication. It is making a 

difference, every day, and just maybe, 

leaving the community in a better 

place than when you walked in.” 

In the short four years Fuller has 

been Fire Chief, he, coupled with 

collaboration from his entire team, 

family, and the city of West Fargo, 

is already helping to create a more 

beautiful and safe West Fargo 

community. • 


HAVING A BEER WITH | SCOTT HENNEN 


WRITTEN BY: MEGHAN FEIR • PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 

Scott Hennen, the popular conservative host of What’s On 

Your Mind? (aired on WZFG 1100 AM and stations across 

North Dakota), has been a part of talk radio since the ‘80s, 

but he started working in the radio industry years prior. 

Hennen’s parents were on the air, enveloping him in a world 

of entertainment, information and opinions. With radio 

programmed into his DNA, Hennen began working at a station 

part time before he turned 12 years old. By high school, he 

was working full time at the local station in his hometown of 

Montevideo, Minn. 

As we visited in Drekker’s Brewhalla, Hennen told me more 

about his life, career and what’s on his mind. 

Good Life: What’s one thing from your childhood you 

wish would get popular again? 

Scott Hennen: Atari video games. They were the most 

primitive thing. You move the little square at the bottom 

and you had to catch the Ping-Pong ball when it came on 

the screen. That’s what passed as a video game when I 

was growing up. 

GL: If you wouldn’t have grown up with such an 

influence in the radio industry, do you think you still 

would’ve ended up in radio? 

SH: It’s hard to say. I feel like it’s almost genetic 

because you don’t know anything else. I had a very 

good friend in high school whose dad was a funeral 

director and they owned a funeral home. I would go on 

a couple of “body runs” with them, as they were called. 

I actually thought, “I could do this.” I was fascinated 

by it and wanted to help people who were grieving. In 

the conversations I had with people who had lost loved 

ones, I kept thinking of what a tough time that would be 

and how I hoped they had faith at that point. Funerals 

often bring people to the faith that often wouldn’t 

have come to it otherwise. They wonder where they’re 

going. That was a way to connect my faith to another 

profession. But all I’ve ever known is radio, so it was a 

thought exercise more than anything. 


HAVING A BEER WITH | SCOTT HENNEN 

GL: What is your faith? 

SH: I call myself an Evangelical Catholic. I spent a lot of 

my years as a Catholic thinking that just meant to go to 

church on Sunday. Most of my adult years were just about 

going to mass. My grandparents were devout Catholics. 

My dad converted before he married my mom. My mom 

was a very devout Catholic and a strong pro-lifer, so that 

was really instilled in me, but honestly, it isn’t as though 

we talked about Jesus a lot at home. I’ve since come to 

have my faith grow and come to understand that no 

matter if I’m Catholic or Protestant, it has to be more than 

going to church. It has to be more than just being a good 

person. It has to be about having a personal relationship 

with Jesus Christ. And the more I’ve learned that the more 

I’ve blossomed in the faith. I love the Catholic faith a lot 

because it’s so rich. The first university was Catholic, and 

healthcare — so much has come from the Catholic faith. 

GL: What do you think is one thing people prioritize 

too much these days? 

SH: When I grew up, I’ll never forget my mom and dad 

looking at a house that had two garage stalls when we 

were going to move into a new house in Montevideo. That 


made me think, “We’re the Brady Bunch! We’re like that 

house on TV!” Now it’s not uncommon to see four-car 

garages. Honestly, I have nothing against people having 

things. I have a three-stall garage at home full of junk, 

so I’m not perfect in any stretch, but we're going down a 

dangerous path as a culture, valuing stuff more than we 

value what we can take with us, and it's none of this; it's 

not a lake home or a nicer truck. 

GL: If you were to turn into any celebrity for a day, 

whose life would you want to live for 24 hours? 

SH: I love Johnny Carson because he was such a great 

interviewer. He was funny but you really learned 

something about the person he was interviewing. 

He had great interviewing skills. As a talk show host 

and an interviewer, you know where you want the 

interview to go, so you kind of push it that way, rather 

than just letting it happen and ask a lot of questions. 

My dad always said to just listen intently and don’t 

worry about what you’re going to ask next, just listen 

to them because in their answer you’ll get your next 

question. 

GL: Well, I’m not doing that very well. 

SH: You can’t! You have to go to the next topic.

GL: If you could start a secret society, what 

would it be about? 

SH: Jesus. 

GL: Would you want it to be secret, though? 

SH: Well, you don’t want Jesus to be a secret, 

but I think there are a lot of people that are 

good people that really think they have all the 

elements they need. “I go to church. I don’t steal 

from anybody. I’m a good person.” But I’d love to 

tell people that just being a good person doesn’t 

mean they’re going to Heaven. You’re saved by 

grace from God alone, and you get that from a 

personal relationship with him. I'd say, “This is 

the most important meeting you’ll have of the 

entire week.” I'd want to get people to come who 

wouldn’t if they knew it was about Jesus. By the 

way, I love talking to people about it. What I don’t 

like doing is forcing it on people. If it creeps you 

out or you think I’m shoving it down your throat, I 

get it. That’s fine. I would just love to have a nonthreatening 

conversation about it without any 

judgment. 

GL: What does living “the good life” mean 

to you? 

SH: I think everyone has to find their own good 

life, but for me the good life is not far from what 

I have. The time with family, the time building a 

company with a great partner and the chance 

I get to talk on the radio every day — that’s the 

good life. You always want more time for more of 

the things you love, so more time to do all of that 

would make the good life even better. I love the 

life I have. I really do. • 



Holiday 

Giving 

Urban Toad Media and The Good 

Life Men’s Magazine would like to 

wish our readers and contributors a 

happy and healthy holiday season. 

Please consider donating to one of 

these incredible organizations. 

One less gift under your tree could 

make the world of difference to 

someone else. 


LOCAL HERO | KEVIN PALLAS 

Fargo Police Sergeant Kevin Pallas 

leads with inspiration, kindness and innovation. 

WRITTEN BY: ALEXIS SWENSON • PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 

As a police officer, Sergeant Kevin Pallas is as humble as 

he is good. The 56-year-old West Fargo resident has been 

an officer for 23 years with the Fargo Police Department 

and is presently serving in his 35th year as a North 

Dakota Police Officer. Currently, he supervises the School 

Resource Officer (SRO) program, Community Trust 

Officer (CTO) program, Cultural Liaison Officer (CLO) 

program and the Park Liaison Officer (PLO) program. 

A Full Resume 

Originally from Superior, Wisconsin, Sgt. Pallas still 

upholds his status as a bona fide Cheesehead proudly 

supporting the Green Bay Packers. Upon graduating 

from Superior Senior High School, he attended the 

Law Enforcement Academy in Hibbing, Minnesota from 

1983-85, along with attending the Community College 

in Hibbing as well. He received his first law enforcement 

position as an officer in Bowman, ND in 1985. 

“Being so young, the instructors always said, ‘Go where 

you get hired first and get some experience.’ That ended 

up turning into Bowman, ND. The southwestern town was 

smaller - about 2,500 people, so that was helpful. It was 

a busy little city just coming out of the first oil boom in 

the mid-80s with a lot of travelers coming through for the 

Black Hills,” said Sgt. Pallas. 

The following year in 1986, he became 

an officer in Wahpeton, ND through late 

1996. He enjoyed his years in Wahpeton as 

a patrol officer and was able to be the 

first school liaison officer to the schools 

while developing a crime prevention 

program in the city as well and in January of 

1997, he joined the Fargo Police Department 

as an officer. 


LOCAL HERO 



Sgt. Pallas was initially drawn to Fargo because, “We 

have so many different divisions. I knew that a larger 

department is going to give a person more opportunities 

to experience and challenge oneself. The more you 

can do and experience, it’s fulfilling, and it gives you a 

purpose.” 

Sgt. Pallas was promoted to Sergeant in March of 2001 

and has since served in several different positions 

including in the roles of Defensive Tactics Instructor, 

Police Training Officer, Training Sergeant, and the 

Negotiator Team Leader for the Red River Valley SWAT 

team. 

“Being in a larger, progressive department that really 

is looking forward as our administrators do, there are 

so many opportunities to be able to go into. We’re very 

fortunate that we have support with our administration 

as well as our city commission going forward with 

having the best equipment, the best training, and the 

best facilities,” said Sgt. Pallas. 

Steadfast Supervising 

With 12 officers currently reporting to Sgt. Pallas, he 

maintains a full schedule. “I strive to keep the programs 

that I oversee operating in the best way possible by 

allowing new things to come into play, always looking 

forward and not just settling on what we’ve done to 

date,” said Sgt. Pallas. 

Some of the projects that Sgt. Pallas is grateful to have 

overseen include the Unity and the It’s Time music 

videos, Fargo United, summer youth camp, an outdoor 

activity summer program, and a collaborative school 

assemblies initiative created with the CTO team. 

With the CLO program, most recently, CLO 

Vince Kempf and CTO David Carlson started a 

New American swimming program. Through 

the support of Sammons Financial, 

the pair partnered with Concordia 

College and Family Wellness Center 

to offer swimming lessons for New 

American children to help them 

build confidence in the water. 

The program was developed by 

both officers after two tragic 

drowning accidents during the summer of 2018 in the 

FM area involving New American children. 

At 18 years old, the SRO program serves as a resource 

for the schools, to build relationships with the students 

and do enforcement action when necessary. There 

is an officer in each middle school and high school. 


Ultimately, the program acts as a liaison between the 

police department and the school district. Contrastingly, 

the PLO program is fairly new at just over a year old. 

PLO Josh Marvig works to make a connection with 

the parks, to be visible in the parks, and during park 

engagements with the community. 

Sgt. Pallas cites the most motivating part of his work 

as the officers he supervises and works with daily. 

“I’ve been a supervisor for 18 years out of my 23 years 

here and working with officers that do everything 

that they possibly can to provide the best service is 

extremely inspiring. They always come up with great, 

positive ideas. That’s what’s so inspiring about working 

with officers who have vision, energy, excitement, and 

youth, I might add. It’s fantastic seeing some of these 

guys that are in their 20s and 30s have that energy 

and motivation to make Fargo a better place,” said Sgt. 

Pallas. 

Coping With The Job 

Working in law enforcement for 34 years does not come 

without its challenges. As such, Sgt. Pallas has been 

exposed to several difficult situations and experiences. 

“Having somebody in my life 

over the course of my career 

who has been with me right 

from the very start of the 

academy – she’s been my 

rock.” – Kevin Pallas 

PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: KEVIN PALLAS 

“We see the darker side of things. Especially when it 

comes to people hurting each other, people passing 

sooner than they obviously should due to violence or 

automobile accidents. Anything like that is always 

tough to see. Abuse and domestic violence, of course, 

are always difficult to be a part of too,” said Sgt. Pallas. 

Resources available to Fargo police officers include 

the Employee Assistance Program through the 

Village available for communication needs and the 

Peer Assistant Crisis Team which is comprised of 

nearly a dozen officers available to be confided in and 

for conversation when needed. Talking with those 

resources, along with family, has proven extremely 

helpful for Sgt. Pallas in working through some of the 

tougher situations he’s been exposed to. 

“I’m very fortunate; I’ve been married to the same girl, 

my high school sweetheart, for my whole career. Kris 

and I dated in high school and we got married a year 

after graduation. Having somebody in my life over the 

course of my career who has been with me right from 

the very start of the academy - she’s been my rock. My 

colleagues have been supportive as well. We’re very 

close in law enforcement so to be able to talk through 

things is important. 

So, over the years to have that connection with my 

wife and to be able to communicate with her has been 

huge. I’m not necessarily sharing all the details, but I 

am able to communicate generalities of some of the 

darker things, and, of course, all the great things too,” 

said Sgt. Pallas. 



Beyond Policing 

Aside from the support, affirmation, and companionship 

from Kris, Sgt. Pallas has also benefited in receiving free 

haircuts. “Kris has been a stylist for over 25 years - she 

does a fantastic job. I haven’t paid for a haircut in 27 

years,” said Sgt. Pallas. 

Celebrating 38 years together, the couple enjoys simply 

spending quality time together. 

“In the summer months we enjoy being out and about. 

We bought a Camaro convertible a few years back and 

treated ourselves for our 50th birthdays. We do some light 

travel to Lake Superior and the countryside of Northern 

Wisconsin to visit family and enjoy the lake.” 

“We’ve been to well over 100 concerts since we’ve been 

together. We enjoy live music from different genres. My 

wife is a fantastic cook and baker. So, we like to experience 

different foods and restaurants,” said Sgt. Pallas. 

Heart First 

Although Sgt. Pallas’s track record is undoubtedly 

impressive, what truly stands out the most about him is 

his heart. In every role that Sgt. Pallas has held, he has 

sought to lead with his whole heart while striving to do 

his best each day on the job. Simply put, he’s the kind of 


“I couldn’t have asked for a 

better career and being part 

of a such a large picture of what 

it’s all about. It’s about community 

service and knowing that you have 

made a difference in people’s lives, 

along with getting to know people and 

making connections. That’s priceless.” 

– Kevin Pallas

police officer that any citizen would want to look out for 

them. 

“I couldn’t have asked for a better career and being part 

of such a large picture of what it’s all about. It’s about 

community service and knowing that you have made a 

difference in people’s lives, along with getting to know 

people and making connections. That’s priceless,” said 

Sgt. Pallas. 

In reflecting on his storied career, Sgt. Pallas highlighted 

about the importance of developing close relationships 

with family, friends, and people of the same mindset. 

“In law enforcement, fire services and first responders in 

general, because of the nature of the work, we just have 

a different kind of closeness because we experience so 

many things that are very sensitive. I won’t say that we 

have a better kind of closeness because everybody in 

their professions have their closeness. However, having 

that relationship builds that - that good life of connecting 

under a common purpose. 

To me, the good life is knowing at the end of the day that 

the work that you do means something at the end of a 

career. It’s a “well done” and knowing that everything 

that one would do has meaning when a career comes to 

an end,” said Sgt. Pallas. •

The Good Life – November-December 2019

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