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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 POTATO GROWER 7 Dakota. These were difficult years because Orvils father suffered from pleurisy. Orvil had to take over the farming responsibilities as a young adult. Orvil married Joy Anderson in 1942 and enlisted in the Army in 1943. While on Army maneuvers he was seriously injured when a hand grenade exploded in his hand. For the next year he endured several opera- tions and skin grafts to save three fin- gers on his right hand. Orvil was hon- orably discharged from the Army. Orvil moved back to Grafton and started working for the North Dakota State Seed Department as a potato seed inspector. In 1946 he began farming near Auburn but it took per- sistence because four different lending institutions would not borrow him 1500 because of his disability. Finally the fifth lending institution did and his farming career began. Orvil moved his farming operation to St. Thomas North Dakota where they raised two daughters Karen and Kay. In 1954 Orvil grew his first crop of seed potatoes and continued being a seed producer until he retired in 2005. With a will and determination to be one of the best Orvil along with Toby Tobiason of Tobiason Potato Company built one of the most rep- utable farming and seed companies in the country. Orvil and Toby started shipping seed to Florida Cuba Arizona Washington and Oregon. Orvil started a lot of relationships with potato growers in the South and West and a lot of those relationships are still alive and strong to this day for the familys business. Orvil tried to please the customer as best he could whether it was a new variety they wanted consulting on the phone or making trips to Florida to help the growers. In 1989 Gilleshammer Farms became Gilleshammer Thiele Farms Inc. when Orvil formed a partnership with his son-in-law Johnny Thiele. In 2005 Orvil decided to sell his portion of the corporation to his grandson Preston Thiele. Orvil often said he hadnt retired the fact that he was still the first one at the farm every day proved that true. Orvil continued to help at the farm mainly with tillage work and giving advice that stemmed from many years of experience until he was 92 years old. Orvil had many accomplishments outside of farming. He was a great curler in the 1950s and 1960s win- ning the United States Curling Title in 1960. In 1992 he was inducted into the United States Curling Hall of Fame. He became the first president of the Grafton Curling Club. Orvil was the top sugar producer for American Crystal Sugar Company in 1975. He was awarded 2003 Pembina County O u t s t a n d i n g Agriculturist by North Dakota State University. Orvil was a member of the North Dakota Certified Seed G r o w e r s Association and the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association. Orvil attended the Grafton Lutheran Church. Congratulations to the Gilleshammer family on this well-deserved award North Central Potato Breeding Team The potato breeding programs from four north central state universities once again joined forces to display their newest and most promising vari- eties at Potato Expo 2016. Breeders Susie Thompson from North Dakota State David Douches from Michigan State Jeffrey Endelman from Wisconsin and Assistant Researcher Spencer Barriball from Minnesota were displaying a host of new vari- eties some not yet named for the chip fry and fresh potato industries. Breeding programs from the four state universities have been doing collabo- rative work as a team for many years once under the title of Quad State. The idea of exhibiting together first came from Duane Maatz former President of the NPPGA. He thought our area needed a presence at the 6th World Potato Congress which was North Central Potato Breeders Left to Right Jeffrey Endelman of Wisconsin Susie Thompson from North Dakota State University and David Douches from Michigan State University.