JUNE 2020

“Heart of the Driftless” Photo Contest Winners

The “Heart of the Driftless” Photo Contest depicts photos of rural living. The contest appeals to photographers from the area with many beautiful photos of the Driftless Region. Be sure to see this year’s entries in the 2021 VC Co-op calendar. The contest winners are: Grand Prize - Jennifer Miller - Boys on the Gate, Karen Hermsen - John’s Farm at Sunset, Karen Hermsen - May and Marshmallow in the Morning, Roger Hanson - 4th of July Fireworks.

Thank you to everyone who entered photos into this contest and we look forward to next year’s submissions.

Boys on the Gate John’s Farm at Sunset

May & Marshmallow in the Morning 4th of July Fireworks

Community ChannelsFind local people, businesses and events on our Vernon Communication Community Channels!

We capture exclusive information on what’s going on in our communities and bring it to our members.

VC Co-op was humbled to help create a virtual Memorial Service to honor the sacrifice and duty of our law enforcement. Thank you to police officers that vow to protect and serve our communities.

Vernon County Sheriff John B. Spears reports the week of May 10-16 was National Police Week.Annually, officers who make the ultimate sacrifice to serve their communities are honored during this week. Over thirty years ago, retired Sheriff Geoffrey Banta began holding local services not only to honor the fallen, but to thank officers in all of our communities for facing every-day conflicts and dangers. This tradition continued under the leadership of retired Sheriff Gene Cary and now current Sheriff John Spears.

Sheriff Spears says, “This uninterrupted tradition of honor and appreciation will continue and this year was no exception”. A virtual ceremony was held on May 12th, at 10:00 AM. “We regret the community could not attend, but we hope the video will cause you to pause, honor the memory of the fallen, and thank those who continue to serve during these challenging and uncertain times.”

Sheriff Spears would like to thank law enforcement in all of our communities. “Normally, each and every law enforcement agency throughout the county are represented at our annual service as well as our formal Honor Guard. We would also like to thank Lieutenant Jason Crume for planning the logistics throughout the years.”

Sheriff Spears would like to thank Vernon Communications Cooperative. “Not only did Vernon Communications loan us their video equipment, their Video & Digital Media Coordinator edited the video, creating an excellent finished product”. See Local Channel 14 to view the presentation. Video link:https://youtu.be/Tad_z6OsNqQ/s/ John B. Spears, Sheriff

Now that more and more people are working from home due to COVID-19, extra precaution needs to be taken for your security. Working from home will grow in popularity as more and more organizations embrace employees working remotely. In order to maintain privacy, remote security needs to be embraced. By staying committed to general security awareness and using the following guidelines, you will be ahead of cyber criminals:

• Use strong, unique passwords for every account

• Update software and enable automatic updates when available

• Think before you click

• Always be skeptical of requests for sensitive information

• Shred or destroy sensitive documents before discarding

• Separate business from personal data.Use business issued computers and mobile devices for work only. If you don’t have an organization-issued device, be sure to check with your employer about using personal devices to access your organization’s data or networks. Consider creating separate user accounts to isolate work from personal accounts by setting up specific logins for each.

• Never use your work email for personal reasons or vice versa. This segregation helps maintain the confidentiality of the data collected and your privacy.

• Secure your home network. Update the username and password of your router. Most routers ship with default login credentials that are public knowledge.This means anyone within range could log in and change settings. Protect your network with a strong, unique password. Obviously, never use the same password for your network and your router. If you need help with general router maintenance or advanced network security options, there are plenty of “how-to” guides on the web that offer great advice in easy-to-understand language.

• Don’t forget about physical security. The comfort of your own home is no reason to allow a relaxed attitude towards physical security. Simple acts like keeping doors locked and not leaving mobile devices unattended in plain sight (such as in a vehicle) are simple, non-technical ways to improve security.

Sourced by KnowB4.com

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Summer Help

VC Co-op has hired two college students for summer help. Derek Helgerson, left, attends Minnesota State University - Mankato, majoring in commercial aviation. Skyler Bagstad, right, attends University Wisconsin Madison School of Business, majoring in finance and management. Both students will be pulling copper pedestals that are no longer needed due to fiber construction.

June 20Summer Sols� ce

June 21Father’s Day

Remember to call Diggers Hotline

before you do any kind of digging

VC Co-op would like to congratulate all graduati ng seniors.

We wish you the best of luck in your future.

Storm season is upon us and with that comes the worry of outages and lightning damage. Making sure you have good surge protection for your electronics is essential. An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a power source that provides emergency power to load when the input power source or main power

fails. Protect sensitive electronics and equipment during power surges and blackouts with a UPS.

Let’s Get Grilling

1 lb ground beef

1/4 C. fresh, minced parsleysalt and pepper to taste

1/2 C. minced red onion

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Cheese of your choice

It’s grilling season and there is nothing more satisfying in summer than a fresh burger on the grill.

Combine ground beef, parsley, salt, pepper, onion and Worcestershire sauce. Make into patties and layer cheese in-between the two patties. Pinch together and grill burgers until done. Add your favorite condiments to a bun and you have a summer delight!

Storm Season

Premiering On Demand Movies!Check your guide for start dates.

A homeless youth travels the country to shed light on the epidemic of youth homelessness

A young couple fi ghts for survival in the Australian wilderness

Aft er a 12-year-old’s science experiment goes awry, he forges a telepathic connecti on with his dog

Objectives and Key ResultsBecause VC Co-op is a diverse cooperative with 2 locations that offers many products and services, communication is critical. A collaborative goal setting tool called OKR’s (Objectives and Key Results)is used to set challenging and ambitious goals with measurable results. The process guides an objective with a solution and ultimately ends with a key result driven by employees on designated committees. These committees have been formed to expand on improving processes within the cooperative. They are as follows: Customer Experience, Innovation and Technology, Wellness & Safety, Buildings & Grounds and Marketing. Ultimately, the members and employees benefit from these groups as they focus on member satisfaction, education for the latest technology, the safety of our employees, buildings and equipment, and the promotion of our products and services.

Terrance Jindrick was voted director for District 3 (Viola/Yuba). Terrance is not new to the board, as he has been a past director for the Yuba district from 2006-2014. The district changed to what is now the Viola/Yuba district in 2014. Terrance is the owner/operator of a small dairy, beef, crop farm that has been in his family for 154 years. Terrance has 2 adult children, he has been the village trustee in Yuba for the past 18 years, the current president for the Yuba Fire Association, Richland County EMS committee representative and the Czech cemetery board treasurer.

For the first time in the Cooperative’s history, VC Co-op held it’s 2020 Annual Meeting on April 30th via virtual platform. Because of COVID-19, and to protect the health and safety of our members, the meeting was held online. Members were able to view CEO, Rod Olson presenting a power point of the status of the Cooperative for 2019. The secretary’s report, financial report, status of fiber construction, Marketing campaign, new employee announcements, the presentation of the 2020 scholarship recipients and more, were reported. Also, during the meeting the results of the director elections were announced and they are as follows:

District 1 - Steven Woodhouse (incumbent)District 2 - David Dregne (incumbent) District 3 - Terrance Jindrick

2020 Annual Meeting

Steven Woodhouse David Dregne Terrance Jindrick