[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 30 (Thursday, March 16, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO CONSTANCE AND DELBERT LORENSON ON THE OCCASION OF THEIR 50TH 
                          WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 16, 2000

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak briefly tonight about 
a married couple that have had an incredibly wonderful and positive 
impact on my life. I use the occasion of the golden wedding anniversary 
of Connie and Delbert Lorenson on February 11 to reflect on the 
important values I learned from them as a young man. I learned much as 
a friend of the family, a frequent visitor and guest at their home in 
Gladstone, Michigan, and as a Boy Scout under Delbert's leadership.
  In 1950, so the Escanaba Daily Press reminds us, Delbert Lorenson 
married the former Connie Jacks of Detroit at the Trinity Lutheran 
Church in Stonington. 1950 was certainly a different world, as most of 
us know, and the tiny town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula where they 
were married was in some ways even more remote from today. Nowadays, it 
seems the expression ``family values'' often applies to a concept in 
political campaigns; in 1950 in this most rural region of the Midwest 
it was--and it remains--a foundation of our way of life.
  Not that we thought ourselves rural or remote. Television was just 
about to be beamed north from Green Bay, and the Interstate Highway 
System was about to be born. Cars were about to become sleek and 
common. The world was becoming much smaller in that post World War II 
world for this veteran and his new bride.
  In reality, however, our world would remain slower and quieter for 
another decade. I spent a lot of time with the Lorensons' son, Rick. 
Although he was one year older, we participated together in high school 
sports, especially in football and track and field. Perhaps most 
important to my ties with this family, we were also Scouts together.
  Delbert was my Scoutmaster, helping Rick and me achieve the goal of 
becoming Eagle Scouts. So it's natural, I suppose, that when I have 
recalled my time with the Lorensons, the memory of working for merit 
badges and attending troop meetings is bound together with the memory 
of dinners at the Lorenson home and camping trips together.
  But today, as I think of Connie and Delbert's 50 years together, the 
values learned in Scouting are foremost in my mind. These values aren't 
mere categories of accomplishment checked off as one moves up the ranks 
of Scouting. Scouts are taught life skills--discipline, responsibility, 
perseverance, teamwork, respect for others, a sense of community, 
sacrifice--and we were taught these skills in the context of love, 
concern and a pervasive spirituality. What better skills can a couple 
possess to allow them to remain lovingly together for 50 years! What 
better skills can they teach to the next generation that might 
justifiably wear the label ``family values!''
  Rick and I have gone our separate paths, but our values were clearly 
formed in the same crucible. I have entered public service as a Member 
of Congress, and Rick has become a minister. Two other children, Tom 
and Pam, recently joined Rick in hosting a dinner and dance to 
celebrate their parents' 50 years together.
  I treasure the wisdom I learned from the Lorensons. I wish them many, 
many more years of love, health and joy.

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