Former state representative Marvin Nelson of Rolla will receive the Spirit of the NPL Award at the 14th Annual Burdick Dinner on Saturday in Fargo.The award honors those who embody the values of the Nonpartisan League.

Nelson has served as secretary of the District 9 Democratic-NPL for many years. He was elected in 2010 and served 12 years in the N.D. House of Representatives. Nelson was the Democratic-NPL candidate for governor in 2016.

“He is proud of his NPL roots as the organization was always for the people and against the big corporations, the banks, the insurance companies and the millers. The NPL exists to give the people a fair shot,” said Mark Nelson, Marvin’s brother.

Marvin Nelson was born and raised on a farm in Pierce County near Rugby and attended public school there. Nelson attended North Dakota State University Bottineau Branch and Institute of Forestry for two years. He then went to NDSU in Fargo, where he earned a degree in entomology. He was a state apiary inspector during his college years. He’s traveled the many nooks and crannies of the state and has likely driven down every prairie trail. After university, he took a job as a crop consultant in Rolla.

When his wife, Susan, needed more room for her local business, he helped build a new store on Main Street in Rolla. Their daughter, Jessica, owns the Furniture Connection in Rolla, and Nelson often can be found there fixing and maintaining things and clearing the parking lots of snow in the winter.

The keynote speaker for the 14th Annual Burdick Dinner is Rachel Bitecofer, a political scientist and election forecaster turned political strategist.