Calendar of events for Lake Country Power members

As a member-owned cooperative, we encourage members to participate in the variety of activities and events offered by Lake Country Power. 

Monthly Board Meetings
Lake Country Power’s nine-member board of directors and staff meet once a month at 9:30 a.m. The board meetings are open for members to attend and are scheduled at Lake Country Power’s service centers on a rotating basis. Members are given an opportunity to speak at the beggining of the meeting and at the end of the meeting.

Monthly Schedule:   

• July 27 at Grand Rapids service center 
• August 24 at Kettle River service center 
• September 28 at Mountain Iron service center 
• October 26 at Grand Rapids service center 
• November 30 at Kettle River service center 
• December 21 at Mountain Iron service center 
• 2011: 
• January 18 at Grand Rapids service center 
• February 18 at Kettle River service center 
• March 29 at Mountain Iron service center 
• April 26 at Grand Rapids service center 
• May 31 at Kettle River service center 
• June 28 at Mountain Iron service center 

Annual Meeting

Bring your family to enjoy a meal on the co-op, listen to musical entertainment, win prizes and learn about your co-op at the annual meeting.

Directors are also elected. Districts 2, 4 and 8 were up for election in 2010. In 2011, Districts 3, 6 and 9 will be up for election.

The 2010 annual meeting was held Saturday, June 5 at the Vermilion Family Wellness Center near Tower, Minn. Registration started at 8:30 a.m. with the business meeting starting at 9:30 a.m. Lunch was served from 11:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

The 2011 annual meeting will be held Saturday, June 4 at the Myles Reif Center in Grand Rapids. The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m., with registration/breakfast beginning 8:30 a.m.

Project GreenTouch

GreenTouch will be held Saturday, May 1, 2010 at McCarthy Beach State Park near Side Lake from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Lunch will be served for volunteers.

GreenTouch is a state-wide event sponsored by Touchstone Energy Cooperatives. Co-op members, employees, directors and guests volunteer to spruce up a state park by raking leaves, picking up litter and doing other tasks the park needs done before the busy summer season begins.  

If you’d like to join the fun and volunteer for GreenTouch, please call 800-421-9959, extension 7152.

Conservation Days 

Each year Lake Country Power holds a member appreciation event at each of its service centers which includes a family picnic and sometimes energy seminars and bucket rides for the kids. The events have been held in May, June and August. Please stay tuned for announcements in Newsline.

Rural Electric Youth Tour 

The 2010 Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., will be held June 12 - 18. The application deadline for the 2010 trip was March 1.

Lake Country Power sponsors one student to attend the Rural Electric Youth Tour each year. Our Youth Tour application contest is open to high school juniors and seniors whose parents/guardians are Lake Country Power members. Nearly 30 students from Minnesota and 1,500 students from across the country attend the Youth Tour.

Students on the tour learn about electric cooperatives, American history and U.S. government. They attend educational seminars and visit with their representatives in the House and the Senate. They see historical sights in and around Washington—the U.S. Capitol, the monuments, the Smithsonian, Arlington Cemetery, Mt. Vernon and countless other places—and they learn about the cooperative business model.

The Rural Electric Youth Tour started in 1957 and has been going strong ever since.

For more information, visit www.youthtour.org. Applications for the 2011 Youth Tour will be available in early 2011.

Coal Creek Tour

The 2011 bus tour to Bismarck and Underwood, North Dakota is scheduled for September 13, 14 and 15, 2011.

The Coal Creek Tour provides members an opportunity to see first-hand how electricity is generated, beginning with mining coal at Falkirk Mine. Members also receive a personal tour of the Coal Creek Station power plant, which is owned and operated by Lake Country Power’s wholesale power supplier Great River Energy.

The tour also drives past Stanton Station and stops at Fort Mandan for a tour at the Headwaters Fort Mandan Visitors Center.

The Lake Country Power group travels together in one air-conditioned charter bus and stays two nights at the Ramkot Hotel in Bismarck, ND.

To register, please contact Lake Country Power at 800-421-9959 and ask for Tami Zaun, or e-mail tzaun@lakecountrypower.com.  

Wind Farm Tour

The next annual Wind Farm Tour to southern Minnesota will take place in fall 2011.

The Wind Farm Tour allows members to tour the Prairie Star Wind Farm where 60+ modern wind turbines, each costing about 1.5 million dollars, stand tall. Co-op members will also receive a tour of Pleasant Valley Station, a 415 megawatt peaking plant located in Dexter, Minnesota (near Austin).

You’ll learn about wind power and the costs, construction and capabilities of a wind turbine. Plus, you’ll get to see where your power is generated on peak demand days and look inside the base of a turbine.

The tour bus also stop at the Great River Energy headquarters building in Maple Grove for lunch, a presentation about the energy-efficient building and a tour.

The Lake Country Power group travels together in one air-conditioned charter bus and typically stays in Owatonna, Minnesota. Cabela's is an evening option. After touring the turbines and peaking plant, the bus heads for home that day.

To register, please contact Lake Country Power at 800-421-9959 and ask for Tami Zaun, or e-mail tzaun@lakecountrypower.com.