On Wednesday, December 6, 2023, Jim was the featured speaker at the opening luncheon of the Joint North Dakota Water Convention and Irrigation Workshop in Bismarck.
By show of hands, the audience of 250 let Jim know that they had attended country school, a commonality among many of the people whose stories appear in Dakota Attitude.
In late 2020, Jim and Sharon Puppe endowed two $2,500 nursing scholarships at North Dakota State University, where Sharon received her bachelor’s degree in home economics education. In September 2021, the first scholarships were awarded.
Jim and Sharon recently heard from one recipient, who hopes to eventually become a nurse anesthetist or acute-care nurse practitioner. She wrote, “This scholarship has been a blessing, as I have worked very hard in school while also working very hard at my jobs so I can pay for school. Thank you for this opportunity to devote even more of my time toward getting my degree and graduating this December.”
She shared she’d also recently bought a copy of Dakota Attitude. “I hope I can employ the same level of dedication you have as I earn my degree.” Isn’t that a fine Dakota attitude?
Reporter Kevin Wallevand spent some time with Jim Puppe in his home, the two of them talking about the journey it took to create Dakota Attitude. The feature aired on December 1, 2022.
Listen in to this December 9, 2022 studio visit between Jim and Joel.
Jim was honored to address the Joint Session of the North Dakota Veterans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary at its state convention in Bottineau on June 5. As a Vietnam veteran, he has a Life Member of the VFW for over 50 years.
In his remarks, Jim highlighted many of the interviews he conducted for Dakota Attitude of former prisoners of war and combat veterans, and their families.
Dakota Attitude is dedicated to Puppe’s cousins, Elmer and Lester Puppe (brothers) who were killed during Operation Husky, the 1943 invasion of southern Europe in World War II. The brothers are buried at the Rome-Sicily American Cemetery just south of Rome.
With an eighth printing of Dakota Attitude now available for purchase online and in bookstores, Jim is also open to presenting to your group. You can reach him at [email protected].
Thanks for your continued interest in the stories of North Dakotans who exhibit the Dakota attitude that makes the state such a wonderful place to live and work.