The Governor introduced Betsy as his "soul mate" during his speech to announce his run for governor.

by Deb Seminary

Growing up just outside of Detroit, Michigan, North Dakota’s First Lady Betsy Dalrymple learned early in life how to make a difference in her community. “My father was a lawyer and my mother was a stay-at-home mom. She did volunteer work and really encouraged me,” she said. “When I started getting involved, I had some friends whose parents were equally interested in having them do things in the community. I have always enjoyed volunteering.” (more…)

Her story: When this story published, Nancy Jones Schafer was heading home from Washington, DC. Her husband, Ed Schafer, had completed his term as Secretary of Agriculture and Nancy was looking forward to some quiet time.

IW: Did you get that quiet time, or jump into something else right away?

NJS: Since Ed served as the Secretary of Agriculture during President Bush’s last 15 months in office, we had the incredible privilege of being included in myriad ‘wrap up’ events that took place. In addition to Ed’s responsibilities as Secretary, we attended countless programs, ceremonies, and White House receptions, lunches and dinners. Most every day was filled from early morning to late night. And then the moment Barack Obama took the oath of office, the responsibilities ended! (more…)

Her story: As the executive director of the Central Dakota Humane Society (CDHS), Sue Buchholz works tirelessly to give animals a second chance. She has rescued dogs from puppy mills and cats and dogs from Hurricane Katrina. In 2008, one of her biggest challenges was lack of space.


IW: Do you still struggle to find space for animals?

SB: Desparately. That is an ongoing challenge. We have been here 15 years and we have four acres, which is plenty of room to expand. It was our dream to expand here, but we are on a septic system and last year we used 700,000 gallons of water.
We need to get on a city sewer system, find a place that the neighbors don’t object to, that is ‘industrial’, but close enough to town. We want to be an asset to the community, not a detriment. It has been a long process.
We were negotiating on some land, but Burleigh County has pulled all of their land for sale for potential sandbag recovery. We are looking at several sources and considering all options. (more…)