Sweets, meats and a bucket truck fleet

Clayton Gubbels was in Member Appreciation Days planning mode for six months. By the middle of June, the member services manager for North Star Electric Cooperative had secured the necessary employee volunteers, lined up industry education booths and, of course, locked in a menu to feed hundreds.

“This year, I had to probably order almost 200 more brats because we ran low last year,” he said, and then laughed. “I had to make an emergency run to the grocery store and clear off their shelf, and you don’t want to do that.”

The smell of grilled meat, fresh cotton candy and popcorn created pure carnival ambiance in North Star’s Baudette garage on June 12, as more than 500 members and guests filed through for day two of Member Appreciation Days. The first day, held at North Star’s Littlefork offices, welcomed another 300 people, an estimated tally based on the number of brats and sauerkraut served. How delightfully Minnesota.

“This is our chance to bring the membership together and celebrate the unity of the cooperative world,” said North Star General Manager Kevin Holen, grinning as more families walked through the doors to register. “And it’s a little something extra than our annual meeting.”

In its 25th year, Member Appreciation Days certainly feels different than an annual meeting. Instead of a business session with rows of chairs, members gather at tables to enjoy a meal and conversation. Instead of making a motion or offering a second, families are in motion, offered seconds on cookies and lemonade.

“We have all the things that kids like,” said Robyn Sonstegard, the co-op’s finance manager. “We have popcorn, we have cotton candy, we have face painting, balloons, bucket truck rides…”

“And we don’t even limit the bucket truck rides to kids,” added Gubbels. “Yesterday in Littlefork, we had a 100-year-old lady go up in the bucket because her grandson is a lineman. She wanted to experience it and see what it was like.”

Outside, little Amelia Fickert, with a pink butterfly already adorning her face, harnessed up and hopped into the bucket of a bucket truck. She was thrilled to make the 50-foot trip skyward as her mom Christen and brother Colton watched from the ground.

According to her mom, Amelia took a bucket truck ride at last year’s Member Appreciation Days and ended up on the front page of the member newsletter.

“They used her picture again for advertising the event this year,” Christen said, adding that the party has become a family favorite. “My mom personally knows so many of these guys out here who do this, and it's really great to come and see everybody. They're the only company around that I know that does something like this.”

Holen takes pride in the experience his team has built over more than two decades. He shares a secondhand story from North Star board director Randy Bergan. “Last year, a young person came up to him and asked if she could have her birthday party here. That's the kind of atmosphere we've developed, and that’s the kind of atmosphere we're striving for,” he said.

Electrification education

At 12:30 p.m., a small crowd of attendees gravitated to a trailer outside the co-op’s shop, equipped with short power poles, transformers and other electric equipment. North Star lineworkers Blake Huwe and Josh Hamm stepped forward to put on a show of sparks and arcs – for the sake of safety.

“We’re going to show you what 7,200 volts looks like,” Huwe said. He lifted a hot stick affixed with a charred stuffed animal, perhaps a lion at one point, to the transformer on one of the poles. A blue-gold bolt hissed between them.

The high-voltage demonstration trailer, built from scratch by North Star lineworkers more than 20 years ago, is one of several safety and technology elements worked into the day. This year, the safety team from Minnkota Power Cooperative used a tabletop display to teach attendees to “Watch the Wires” on the farm. North Star also invited electric technology vendors specializing in furnaces, heat pumps, backup generators and battery storage to answer member questions. Visitors could see what the insulation of an electric water heater really looks like and examine the interior-exterior setup of a mini-split heat pump.

“It helps keep the members involved in what's going on and how everything's evolving, because technology changes so fast,” Gubbels explained. “It's nice for them to see it firsthand instead of just us talking about it.”

The electricity industry moves fast these days, and that change isn’t relegated to technology. Power resources are changing, rates are changing, policy is changing, and it’s challenging to keep up with it all. But by engaging in face-to-face conversations, building trust and sharing a cookie (or two), the North Star team has found a way to navigate that change as a co-op community.

“It’s nice seeing that everyone's interested in what the cooperative's doing and takes the time to come here. We enjoy these one-on-one discussions and just making sure everyone's needs are met as best we can,” Holen said. “The co-op world, it’s like a family. You've heard that many times before, but it really is.”

MAIN IMAGE: Young Amelia Fickert (left) gets ready for a bucket truck ride with North Star journeyman lineworker Blake Huwe. (Minnkota/Jenny Erickson)