The Austin High School Alumni and Friends Association announced its two “distinguished” alumni in light of the upcoming homecoming festivities.

Dr. Richard Nordin, class of 1949, and Bret Hesla, class of 1975, were chosen as the 2018 Distinguished Alumni and will be honored during Austin High School’s homecoming festivities next week.

Both honorees will be part of a reception and dinner on Thursday, Sept. 20, along with partaking in homecoming festivities on Friday, Sept. 21 with an afternoon parade and Packers football game against Faribault. The public is invited to the reception and 6 p.m. dinner at the Hormel Historic Home. Dinner tickets need to be reserved by Friday, Sept. 14, by calling the Alumni and Friends Association’s chair Jeni Lindberg at 507-433-4557 or emailing her at jeni.lindberg@austin.k12.mn.us. Tickets cost $30 per person, with a school assembly set for 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 20, at Knowlton Auditorium, where Nordin and Hesla will speak.

Nordin

Nordin is a retired Austin optometrist and ran Nordin Optometric Center from 1958 to 2000 in Austin, and served as president for various state and local organizations and was honored with many awards for community service. He earned a doctorate in optometry in 1954 from Ohio State University before serving as a U.S. Navy lieutenant in naval security from 1955 to 1958, including in Hawaii and with the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C.

After serving the military, Nordin started his optometry practice in 1958 and started a career that included being president of Minnesota Vision Services and Minnesota Optometric Association, which awarded him with its Distinguished Service Award in 1974 and 1980, which was an honor Nordin shared with his wife, Gloria, who died this spring.

Following his father’s advice of “don’t be average,” Nordin followed that mantra throughout his career and life.

“Success can have many different definitions and certainly shouldn’t be defined in just monetary terms,” he said. “It doesn’t make any difference what occupation you choose. Just be the best you can possibly be.”

Nordin served in leadership roles for several nonprofits, including the Jaycees, Kiwanis, Austin Park and Recreation Board and Austin Area Chamber of Commerce. He was also the original captain and leader of the Spamtown Belle paddlewheel boat, which he got running for the public more than a decade ago at Austin Mill Pond and East Side Lake. In the early 1970’s, Nordin led a committee that was instrumental in the initial development and long-term planning of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center.

“The world is full of people ready to tell you why something won’t work, why you can’t do a particular thing, or what is wrong with your community,” he said. “You can decide what your prevailing mental attitude is going to be: pessimism or optimism.”

Hesla

A musician and songwriter, Hesla led several music-related nonprofits, including Bread for the Journey and Minnesota Community Sings, and has consulted for nonprofits including Advocating Change Together and Heart of the Continent Partnership.

Since 1986, Hesla has been a musician, composer and performer who focuses on highlighting issues of social change at church and public events. He graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and first worked as a field ecologist from 1979 to 1985, working in East Africa; southwestern United States; and northern Mexico. From 1980 to 2002, he also worked as a teacher at various levels, including elementary, high school, university and adult international students.

Hesla’s singing and songwriting also focus on adults with developmental disabilities and issues of civil rights for Advocating Change Together (ACT). During the last decade, Hesla has coordinated the Heart of the Continent Partnership that works with various officials to promote the health and sustainability of forests, lakes and towns along the Minnesota-Canada (Ontario) border.

Hesla also advised students to pursue goals by working in groups to find common ground, and his songwriting aimed to motivate people to make the world and their neighborhoods into an inclusive place.

“Anything worth doing is worth doing imperfectly,” Hesla said. “Fill out those corners of yourself. Trust your hands.”