By Bernie Hunhoff

Every once in awhile we run into people who should be better-known. Art Huseboe is one of those fellows.

Oh, he's beloved and famous in the Augustana College community. And the South Dakota literary community knows him. But beyond that, the quiet professor has lived away from any limelight.

Still, 300-some people crowded into the Augie dining hall last night to honor Art's work as a teacher and longtime chief of the Center for Western Studies. And after the night was over, we were all reminded of the old axiom that one man can make a big difference (especially, as one speaker noted, if he was married to Doris).

We all learned that Art can recite from memory some of local musician and author Ron Robinson's songs. That he and his wife, Doris, met Mary Hart (of Entertainment Tonight fame) at the Sioux Falls Airport with the college marching band when Mary arrived home after the Miss USA Pageant. That he reviewed 25.5 miles of his students' famous "blue books" (according to student Jane Torness Rasmussen of Sisseton). That he credits much of his success with things he learned as a Boy Scout and as a Scout leader.

We could go on, but you get the point. What a difference a caring teacher makes in peoples' lives. Art and Doris never had children of their own, but their careers at Augustana College will forever make South Dakota a better place.