Ron Hipp gives us a look at his ancestors in Europe and follows them as they immigrate to America and establish their lives in and around the little village of Hankinson, in the Dakota Territory. Like most of the country they struggled through WWI, the Great Depression, and WWIIÑsome more successfully than others. His fatherÑmotivated by patriotism and povertyÑjoined the Navy shortly after Ron was born in 1942 and returned from the south Pacific three years later.
ThatÕs when RonÕs story really begins. He writes with humor and affection about growing up in the 1950s as part of an imperfect family in a little windswept prairie town in Òthe exact geographic center of North Dakota. And nowhere is his affection more obvious then when heÕs involved in some shenanigan with his friend ÒMexÓ or hunting ducks in the fall with his dad and Mr. Lee.