Dennis Bergquist, a retired Ridgewater College dairy herd management instructor, has become the Hutchinson area’s unofficial ambassador to the world. But one country — Guatemala — seems to have grown especially dear to his heart, as shown by the six trips he has made there in recent years.

Bergquist made his latest humanitarian mission to the Central American country last month accompanied by his wife, Vonnie, and eight other Hutchinson area residents, most of them fellow members of Shalom Baptist Church. They built a pair of small cow shelters, distributed 400 pair of reading glasses, 750 Beanie Babies for the children and 500 pairs of Croc shoes, and showed Guatemalana how to fashion solar ovens and “rocket” stoves so as to cook with much less firewood.

The Hutchinson contingent came back with a future challenge — helping the rural, mountain highlands village of Xenimajuyu Km build its first secondary school. As Bergquist’s team was preparing to depart, the village’s mayor came to them and asked for help raising money to build a simple high school.

“We are reaching out to people to help, one classroom at a time. This won’t be anything fancy — cement block with a tin roof,” Bergquist said. Checks made out to Waterstone can be sent to Dennis Bergquist, 1155 Fairway Ave. N.W., Hutchinson, MN 55350. For more information, call (320) 587-5463.

For photos and and more about the trip, read the Aug. 7 print edition of the Hutchinson Leader.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)