I grew up the youngest of nine children. My father was an executive engineer, my mother a full-time homemaker. We didn’t have extra money, that is certain, but my dad loved history and stressed the importance of learning as much as we could about the past. We took summer vacations all over the United States, piled into the station wagon, stopping at every historical marker along the way to each destination. I was raised to believe in the power of education and that our country was a treasure to be explored. My father did what he could, with what he had, where he was.
I didn’t make it to North Dakota until my late 20s, where I promptly fell in love with its Badlands while performing as a Burning Hills Singer in the Medora Musical. In 2010, after a lifetime of traveling the globe, I returned to North Dakota to host the show, deepening my ties to the area. Not only did I fall in love with the history, but also with the historian/author whose quest and passion for the North Dakota is truly infectious. I was deeply enchanted by stories of Roosevelt and the wild west! It’s been more than a decade of celebrating this state for me, through Medora, the arts in Bismarck and touring with shows to help elevate tourism. I’m doing what I can, with what I have, where I am.
We now have an incredible opportunity to make our state even greater. We have been chosen and supported by the family of Theodore Roosevelt to house a presidential library. We have the funds to match those being offered us and the payback will be exponential throughout all of North Dakota. It is not only a way to elevate tourism, but also give us scholastic merit. It could connect us with those families, now piled in their SUV, visiting national parks and historical treasures from Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone, including North Dakota on their journey.
Too many times I hear “We came here because it is our last state,” followed by a gush of how they never imagined the beauty of the badlands and the rich history. Let’s change that. Let’s show them how worthy our state is.
We can do it, we have the opportunity, we are North Dakota.