Alan Sorensen Havre Daily News asorensen@havredailynews.com
When the fair booths opened at noon Wednesday, Norm Gorder was coming to the end of his shift at the Lions Club Pronto Pup stand. And Michael Hulett was in the midst of getting the 4-H Chuckwagon ready to open at 4 p.m. Both have been longtime fair booth volunteers, but Gorder has a decided in edge in years of service. This is his 42nd consecutive year in one of the most popular local booths at the Great Northern Fair. His wife, Margie, has been a regular in the booth, too, since her retirement 20 years ago. “I started (working in the booth) in 1966,” Gorder said during a break from putting hot dogs on sticks so his coworkers could dip them in a special batter and put them in deep fat fryers. Gorder’s history with Havre Lions goes even further back 55 years back. “I was a charter member in 1952,” he said. The Lions Club got its first start in Havre in 1931, he said, but was disbanded when World War II broke out. It wasn’t until 1952 that the club was revived and begun again. He said he has 43 years of perfect attendance in the club. Gorder’s coworkers were quick to express their awe of and gratitude for his labors. “He’s just a great guy,” Dick Nault said after pulling the last of popular fair fare from his fryer. “He’s been around longer than God.” Dave Rice took a break from his cooker to sing Gorder’s praises. “He does all the cleaning in the morning, getting things ready,” Rice said of the man who managed Heltne’s Exxon for decades. “He’s used to getting up early. The guy who used to start your car is the guy who starts your pronto pup booth.” Doug Larson, who was catering to customers’ needs, said Gorder’s volunteerism isn’t limited to the Lions Club. “He’s probably the most dedicated guy in town,” Larson said. “He’s always doing something for somebody.” Gorder, on the other hand, was high on his club and the people in it. “We do well,” he said. “That’s why I stay with the Lions, is we donate to the community. I know where the money goes, where the needs are.” His list included the Havre Food Bank, Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line, Boys and Girls states, Legion Baseball, Lions baseball park, Lions Campground in Beaver Creek Park, the addition to the North Central Senior Citizens Center and the Havre Community Swimming Pool. Gorder said the pronto pup booth, the brain child of Bert Breitenbuther, was begun in the mid 1950s. It is part of a Lions International franchise with its own secret batter made from a franchise flour. The Havre Lions pronto pups have another not-so-secret ingredient no other club has. “We stay with the Rocky Mountain hot dogs,” he said. When it was begun, the Lions booth was a smaller, mustard yellow building south of its current location, Gorder said. Some of the clubs Gorder remembers being active at the fair when he started still have their booths, but he has seen many other clubs come and go in his time. The most successful of the newcomers is the scone booth. Others he menTioned were the Optimist Club, Rotary Club and Montana State University-Northern Lights football team Vikings booth sponsored by the Sons of Norway. Among the old-time booths still active, he said, are the Chuckwagon, Vets, Boy Scouts, American Legion Beer Garden and Kiwanis Club. “The Eagles (Club) were here for years, but they’re gone now,” Gorder said. Over the years, Gorder said he’s performed every duty in the booth. “Mixing batter to sticking dogs, pouring pops, sticking the customers for the food they eat, etc.,” he said. “That’s why they like to keep me up here doing things. I help to keep it organized. “They all want to know, Norm, what do you do with this or what do you think of this,’” he added. “We have a lot of good workers. Jim Ward and Paul Tonjum have been very instrumental every year in organizing and putting in together. Jerry Becker’s another one.” But the booth would be nothing without its customers, particularly the repeat customers. “Most of the customers are pretty good,” Gorder said. “We’ve had several who’ve come back and eaten 10 or 12. Sandy Butler at the city used to do that.” Gorder said the Lions Club reached its peak membership during the late 1970s and early 1980s. “During the energy crisis years, we had 128 members in our club,” he said, “when the railroad was going at full speed here with 1,200 to 1,500 railroaders, and Big Bud was going strong. “I’d sell a lot of fuel, stay at the station all long until 2, 3 in the morning.” The secret of the Lions booth’s success is no secret to Gorder, a success he hopes will continue for years. “It’s the same products, same quality service, enthusiastic Lions raising funds for the community,” he said. While the Chuckwagon is among the longest running eateries at the fair, it is staffed with some of the youngest help, Hulett said, while getting the inside of the stiflingly hot building in shape. “4-H clubs provide the volunteers,” she said. “The leaders and parents help, but it isn’t all parents. It wouldn’t work without the kids. They help out behind the counter, clear the tables, make the milk shakes, serve your pop, dump the garbage. They make it fun.” Hulett volunteered at the Chuckwagon when her children were in 4-H and is in her 11th year of being the only paid person at the booth. “They’ve always paid their manager,” she said, as she hefted a bucket of ice floating on a couple of gallons of water out the back door. “Here’s an example of volunteering,” she said, dumping the icy water into a swamp cooler outside the east side of the kitchen. “Murdy and Bernice Rismon knew it was hot in there for the kids and donated this air conditioner.” Hulett said she considers refusing the job every year but has always capitulated. “Every year I think I’m not doing it again, but I love it when I’m here,” she said. “I’ve met the most lovely families.”
