Both an Eminent Farmer and an Eminent Homemaker, recognized by South Dakota State University, are from Lake County this year. Each year, two homemakers and two farmers are recognized.
Millie Gross of Madison is receiving an Eminent Homemaker award and Ron Alverson of Wentworth is receiving an Eminent Farmer award in a banquet on Sept. 11 in Brookings.
SDSU has given out these awards since 1927. The program began to express appreciation to rural leaders and innovators who have made differences in their communities. The program is a joint effort of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, the College of Education and Human Sciences, and the South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service.
Also being recognized this year are Larry Gabriel of Quinn and Rae Jean Gee of Brookings.
Millie Gross
Gross is familiar with the Eminent Homemaker award. Past recipients include her late mother-in-law, Mrs. Ellwood Gross, who was honored in 1959.
As an SDSU graduate, Gross and her husband John have made several trips to Brookings in support of SDSU athletics, the foundation and alumni events. She has taken her grandchildren to the Agricultural Hall where photos of past recipients are on display.
"When we would walk the hall and see the photos of past (Eminent Farmers and Homemakers) honorees, there was a sense of pride in seeing John's mother among them," said Gross. "For me, there's a lot of pride in being included in this group."
Receiving the honor as Eminent Homemaker wasn't something that Gross expected.
"When I received the news, I was surprised. It was a big surprise," Gross said. "I just feel there are so many women in the state that are more deserving than I am."
Gross graduated from SDSU in 1955 with a degree in home economics. She was a teacher at both Lennox and Chester before becoming the librarian at Washington Elementary School in Madison, a position she held for 18 years until her retirement in 1989.
She currently sits on the steering committee for the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at SDSU. She is a member of the Madison Library Board, Christian Women, Women's Connection and a 50-year board member of PEO Chapter BN. She is co-treasurer of the Retired Teachers Association. She has taught Sunday School, been a member of the choir, and volunteered at the United Methodist Church to serve The Gathering and help in the library.
Gross delivers Meals on Wheels and volunteers at Prairie Village, where she maintains the Gross Store and works in the auxiliary lunch stand at the annual Threshing Jamboree.
While her children -- John, Allan and Kathy -- grew up, Gross was an active 4-H leader who helped organize exhibits and judged arts and crafts, clothing and food exhibits.
"It's fun to see Achievement Days and the activities that take place," she said.
Gross' husband received SDSU's Eminent Farmer award in 2008.
Ronald Alverson
Alverson has helped to shape South Dakota's corn industry. He is a founder and past president of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association, a founder of the South Dakota Corn Check-Off Program, and a founder and president of Dakota Ethanol LLC, South Dakota's first producer-owned ethanol production cooperative.
For him, receiving this honor was also surprising.
"I feel humbled and almost as if I do not deserve such an honor. It shocked me," said Alverson. "To be considered among those Eminent Farmers of the past -- true leaders of South Dakota -- is something that makes me hope I can live up to the traditions."
In 2002, Dakota Ethanol near Wentworth was chosen to host President George W. Bush. Alverson had the honor of introducing the president to the crowd.
He also was a member of the National Corn Growers Association board of directors and promoter of the South Dakota Ethanol Producer Incentive Program.
Alverson farms approximately 2,500 acres with his son Keith and his brother Larry. The productive corn and soybean operation specializes in ridge-till farming. Alverson was one of the first farmers in South Dakota to utilize GPS technology with variable-rate nitrogen applications.
Working with his parents and uncles on both sides of the family gave Alverson a perspective he still maintains.
"They all carried a true love of rural life, a deep love of farming, and a high standard of excellence. I looked up to them growing up," he said. "I feel proud to be part of a group that has had a positive impact on the state."
A member of the SDSU Foundation Council of Trustees, Alverson is a past member of the Franklin Township Board. He served as president for both the Chester Booster Club and the Chester Booster Foundation, which has raised nearly $500,000 for projects to remodel local schools.
In 2006, the SDCGA presented Alverson with the Excellence in Agriculture award for his lifetime contributions to the corn industry in South Dakota. In 2007, the South Dakota chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta, the honor society of agriculture, recognized him as a distinguished alumnus.
Alverson has been a champion in both the irrigated and dry-land divisions of the SDCGA corn yield contests. He and his family were selected as the Sioux Empire Farm Family of the Year in 2003.
He graduated from SDSU with a bachelor's degree in agronomy. Alverson and his wife Sue have two children, and each member of the family holds a degree from SDSU.
Rae Jean Gee
Over the past 35 years, Gee, of Brookings, has taken on many leadership roles in the Northview Lads and Lassies 4-H Club, Brookings Homemakers Club, State & National Iris Society, and McCrory Gardens.
"When I got the Eminent Homemaker letter, I felt very humbled," said Gee. "It was a big surprise, and I feel very honored to have received this title."
Gee volunteered to chair the SDSU Festival of Champions, an event honoring academic and athletic accomplishments of more than 200 student-athletes, their parents and supporters.
Gee graduated with a degree in home economics from the University of Minnesota. She worked for a year at the SDSU Poultry Department and from 1966-2000 at the USDA North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory.
She has traveled nationally and internationally with her husband Dan as he led the South Dakota Agricultural and Rural Leadership program.
"It was a big task, but with my husband's help, we felt we were able to bring everyone forward, supporting generous, helpful people and giving them tools in education, vision and communication," Gee said. "I feel that the people we worked with learned from us, and we learned from them."
The Gees have three daughters; all earned a bachelor's degree from SDSU.
Larry Gabriel
Gabriel served as the state's secretary of agriculture from 2000-07. As such, he served as an advocate for agricultural research and the Cooperative Extension Service. Gabriel's public service includes terms as Haakon County Commissioner, legislator, House Majority Leader, Cabinet secretary and community volunteer. He said his service to the state rose from the values that started on his ranch home in western South Dakota.
"My childhood, growing up on a ranch where hard work was the norm, shaped my policies and my position on many things," Gabriel said. "When I received the (Eminent Farmer) honor, I questioned if I was worthy. I feel humbled and truly honored to be named."
Gabriel was instrumental in revitalization of the State Fair and creation of the South Dakota Certified Enrolled Cattle program. He worked to increase livestock feeding in South Dakota, restructured the Department of Agriculture and created the Division of Wildland Fire Suppression.
Gabriel helped create the Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center to provide coordinated leadership to all risk incident agencies. He oversaw the development of the Black Hills Interagency Fire School, which trains more than 2,800 firefighters each year. Gabriel was instrumental in developing a scientific drought assistance program, which served as the basis of a pilot USDA Risk Management Agency program.
He helped establish funding for livestock producers to complete engineering designs for animal feeding operations and to comply with federal water pollution control laws.
Gabriel worked with SDSU and the Midwest Dairy Institute to encourage the robust expansion of dairy processing. He guided an increase in dairy cattle numbers and helped reverse a 70-year decline in the state's dairy industry.
Gabriel has served for more than a decade on the board of the Phillip Health Service, where he continues as vice chairman. He was a driving force in a fund-raising campaign for a new facility to replace the aging acute care hospital. In 2002, this community-wide project received the Outstanding Philanthropic Community Award for South Dakota.
Gabriel said change is not something to fear.
"My dad taught me to look for new ways of doing things, and he was using F1 crossbreeding in his operation long before it was commonplace," he said. "You have to look at life almost like going to college. You should learn something new every day."
In 2004, he was awarded the SDSU Distinguished Alumni award and the following year was elected president of the Midwest Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
Gabriel graduated from SDSU with a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics. Doane Advisory Services named him Outstanding Ag Economics student shortly before his graduation.
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