The first presentation of The Duane R. Lund Award  for Lifetime Achievement in the Staples Community to its namesake, Dr. Duane R. Lund in appreciation for years of service and dedication to the community of Staples
	May 6, 2004
Duane Lund was born in Brainerd, Minnesota.  He is the only child born in the family of Richard and Ruth Lund.  His father, Richard, was a machinist at the Burlington Northern Railroad shops at Brainerd and his mother, Ruth, was a country school teacher.  Both sets of Duane's grandparents came from Sweden.  His father's father was a sailor on a clipper ship that sailed into New York from Sweden and had dry docked for a layover period.  His grandfather decided to visit his sister in Brainerd and never went back to New York to collect his wages or return to his ship.  He met his future wife in Brainerd and went to work for the Burlington Northern Railroad Company in Brainerd as a blacksmith.  His mother's parents had been farming in Upsala, Minnesota and also moved to the Brainerd area where Ruth's father also got a job working for Burlington Northern Railroad.
Duane Lund was a good student and was put on a fast track in the elementary school where he was given something called a "double promotion" which allowed him to graduate from high school at the young age of 16.  He was offered scholarships from both Hamline University and Macalester College and chose Macalester College he got $50 more on his scholarship.  He made that choice even though his girlfriend at the time chose Hamline University.
Duane's father was an avid hunter and fisherman and Duane spent much of his time as a youth hunting and fishing with his father in the Brainerd Lakes area.
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