About Eric
In addition to his speaking schedule, Eric Bergeson keeps several other irons in the fire.
Since 1997, Eric has owned and operated Bergeson Nursery, rural Fertile, MN, a business his grandfather started in 1937. With the active participation of his parents, who owned the business for the previous twenty five years, and his younger brother Joe, who is now president of the company, the business has nearly tripled in size during Eric’s ownership tenure.
The holder of a Master of Arts in History from the University of North Dakota, Eric has taught courses in history and political science at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. He is also an adjunct lecturer in history for Hamline University, St. Paul, MN.
During his college years, Eric studied in Cambridge, England; Warsaw, Poland; and Wellington, New Zealand.
For the past three years, Eric has served as the Chairman of the Board of the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, a $42 million non-profit organization devoted to maintaining and improving the quality of life in the twelve counties of rural Northwest Minnesota.
Eric is the author of five books. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune called his fourth book, Pirates of the Prairie, a “Minnesota cultural and historical treasure.”
Eric writes a weekly column called Down on the Farm which is published in 22 newspapers in Minnesota and North Dakota.
For the past two years, Eric has been the co-host and writer for A Little Garden on the Prairie, a cable television show about northern gardening seen in North and South Dakota, as well as western Minnesota.
Eric is a regular performer on the nursing home circuit in Northwestern Minnesota, and performs for senior groups of every sort.
In addition, Eric speaks to nursing home in-services and other groups of health care workers who serve elderly clients. His mix of humor and story-telling, as well as his infectious desire to understand and better serve the elderly mask a serious message: Honoring, appreciating and taking good care of our elders is a vital part of a decent society.
Eric speaks to over fifty groups every year. His topics range from gardening, motivation, customer service, to telling stories about life in a Minnesota small town.
When appropriate and when a piano is available, Eric starts and ends his presentations with a little music.
In June of 2011, Eric was named a fellow by the Bush Foundation. He will use his fellowship to study ways to better the lot of rural elderly people who require daily care.
Eric’s hobbies include Minnesota Twins baseball, Bach organ music, bookstores, hiking, photography, singing old country music with his brother Joe, and watching the wildlife on the swamp in front of his house eight miles outside of Fertile, MN.