2010 - Good Deed Gets Rewarded
Each year the Minnesota DNR honors someone from the state with a Deer Hunter’s Ethics Award. This year the award became special to our community when Jerry and Nancy Graham of Cromwell were named the winners.
April 13, 2010 • Voyageur Press
Each year the Minnesota DNR honors someone from the state with a Deer Hunter’s Ethics Award. This year the award became special to our community when Jerry and Nancy Graham of Cromwell were named the winners. Jerry and Nancy built a special deer stand for Dick Huhta, who must use a wheelchair. This special stand was equipped with a mechanical winch used to hoist Dick into the stand. The Grahams built the stand purely out of the goodness of their hearts and are humbled by the award.
“We didn’t think anything of it,” started Jerry. “We just had a neighbor that couldn’t go hunting, and we wanted to make it possible for him again. I know if I couldn’t go hunting, I wouldn’t be happy.”
Nancy and Jerry tackled the project over the summer and had a stand ready for Dick opening morning of rifle season. Dick couldn’t have gone hunting without the help of Jerry and Nancy, and he wouldn’t have been able to shoot his deer on opening day. The stand meant a lot to Dick.
Although Dick could not have been happier to be able to hunt again after four years of medical obstacles, the Grahams don’t believe they deserve any special recognition. “I didn’t think it was anything special myself,” urged Jerry. “It was just something that I thought needed to be done, and Nancy was there to help me build the stand.”
“We were really surprised to get the letter saying we won the award,” added Nancy. “We didn’t even know we were nominated.”
Not only did the Grahams not know they were nominated, they are also unsure of who nominated them and how. “The letter just says that Donald Persson nominated us. Neither of us know who that is,” pointed out Nancy.
The couple can only make guesses at who the mystery nominator was. It could possibly be someone that Dick knows or maybe someone who read about the stand in a previous issue of the Voyageur Press. For now the source will remain anonymous.
“It really was just a neighborly thing to do,” insisted Nancy. “That’s why we were so surprised when we got the letter.”
Nancy and Jerry both feel like this good deed was just one of the many the Cromwell community deserves. “We have only lived here for a short while,” shared Jerry, “but everyone here is so great. I don’t have a single bad thing I could say about anyone from this community. Everyone was so nice when we first came, and when I need anything, someone comes to help. This was just our way of giving back.”
The Grahams will be receiving their award on Wednesday, April 28, at the Lake Superior Chapter Banquet in Duluth, although that is not truly what they are excited for – they have already made plans to build Dick another stand. This time the stand will be a bit bigger, and he will also be deer hunting if he gets a license. Seeing Dick happy is what is truly exciting for both Nancy and Jerry.