The ICCPA storyI n t e r - C o u n t y C o o p e r a t i v e P u b l i s h i n g A s s o c i a t i o n

Publishers of the Advertisers, the Inter-County Leader and the Washburn County Register

eaderLServing Northwest Wisconsin

INTER-COUNTY

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“A voicefor us”The birth of the

nation’s first cooperative-owned

newspaperNovember 1, 1933 was a long day and

night for the staff of a newspaper thatwas about to see its first printing.

Despite the excitement in the air, somefought off sleep while others gave in tofatigue and napped as the premiere edi-tion of the Inter-County Leader – thenation’s first cooperative-owned news-paper - rolled off the presses in the early-morning hours of November 2.

The headline across the front pageread, Farmers’ Strike Called OffTemporarily.

It represented the tone of the times. Inthe midst of the Great Depression, farm-ers were being subjected to foreclosuresand bankruptcies because the pricesthey could receive for what they pro-duced was less than their cost of opera-tion. Many farmers felt their concernsweren’t being listened to or reflectedaccurately in the pages of newspaperslocally and throughout the state.

It was from such a setting that theInter-County Leader came into being.

Some of the original organizers weremembers of the Polk County FarmersHoliday Association, the group promot-ing the farm strike called in 1933.

A group of farmers met several timesthat summer and considered purchasingthe Polk County Ledger in Balsam Lake,but liked the idea of starting their ownnewspaper, especially after learning itwould involve a third the cost of pur-chasing the Ledger.

According to longtime Leaderemployee Ray Linden, whose father Carlwas one of the first board members, theirneighbor, Charles Eckels, had an idea tohelp the area farmers.

“He came over one day and told mydad ‘We’ve got to start a newspaper!’”

Linden said Eckels went to all the co-op store managers to get backing.

Area farmers were asked to pitch infive bucks apiece and a cooperative wasformed. While most cooperatives soldfarm products, this one aimed to servethe people with a forum for viewpointsand ideas.

Some of the co-op members knew

See A Voice, page 3

What we do...The Inter-County Cooperative Publishing Association

publishes two newspapers and five Advertisers eachweek, adding up to more than 700,000 papers printedeach month. We also have a commercial printingdepartment that designs and prints business cards,brochures, calendars, posters, and more. ICCPA employsmore than 70 persons with an annual payroll of approx-imately two million dollars a year. Depending on itsyearly success, it returns a percentage of its net profitto businesses and employees.

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The “YellowPapers” become the

catalyst for the cooperative’s

growthFor the past 40 of its 75

years, the success of theAdvertisers, known by most ofNorthwest Wisconsin as the“yellow papers,” has allowedthe ICCPA to expand andimprove its operation whilecreating more employment.

In 1967, on the heels ofinstalling a new offset webpress, the IndianheadAdvertiser was launched.Built on the monthly MilltownAdvertiser, which the coopera-tive had purchased in 1953, theweekly Indianhead Advertiserwas geared to serve all ofBurnett and Polk counties witha new advertising servicewhich would reach everypostal box holder in the area.

Then-manager Ed Grienkecalled Frank Gurksy, knownfor his paste m p l o y m e n twith theE n t e r p r i s e -Herald at Luck,and Gurskybecame theadvertising man-ager and pro-moter for thenew publication.

It wasn’t long before theobvious success of theIndianhead Advertiser led toan expansion of its distributionarea, in 1970.

Next, the cooperative

launched the Tri-CountyAdvertiser, building on thenucleus of the New RichmondShopper, a monthly publica-tion that had been printed inthe Leader plant for someyears. Jim Brinkman was hiredto be the salesman. The Tri-County Advertiser grew rapid-ly, calling for expansion of itsarea to include all of northernSt. Croix County, parts of PolkCounty and other neighboring

areas.A third publication - the

Wild Rivers Advertiser, waslaunched in 1972, starting withan office in Spooner. It wasdeveloped to serve Washburnand Barron counties, alongwith parts of Sawyer and Ruskcounties. Wayne Boniface andErland Quinn were hired as adsalesmen for this publication.

Today, the cooperative pub-lishes five Advertisers - theIndianhead, Wild RiversNorth, Wild Rivers South, Tri-

County North and Tri-CountySouth.

The success of theAdvertisers, which led togrowth of the company andneed for more space, led to thesecond move of the coopera-tive, in 1974, from the plant onOak Avenue in Frederic to itspresent location on NorthWisconsin Avenue (Hwy. 35).From 1966 to 1974 the coopera-tive tripled its total income andwithin 10 years it realized atenfold increase in advertisingsales alone - and by 1979 ad

sales broke $1 million. Today,sales from the Advertisers rep-resent well over $3 million ofthe cooperative’s approximate$5 million in total sales.

The Advertiser made it pos-sible to expand a workforcethat now includes more than 70employees, injecting more than$2 million in salaries, wages,taxes and benefits into the localeconomy.

And using more than 2 mil-lion pounds of newsprint -most of it yellow.

Birth of the Advertisers

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T H E I C C P A S t o r y

Bennie Bye and approached him to bethe editor and manager. Bye had news-paper experience, working with areanewspaper publishers W. R. Vezina atSt. Croix Falls and E. E. Husband at theLedger in Balsam Lake. A GrantsburgHigh School graduate, Bye was a print-er’s apprentice at the office of theGrantsburg Journal.

“Carry the truth”“The Inter-County Leader enters the

newspaper field with no sense of ani-mosity toward our present weeklypapers,” wrote O.A. Bloom, one of theoriginal organizers. “The Leader isowned by men and women in all walksof life; farmers, business and profession-al men from all parts within our countyand without. Our mission shall bemutual cooperation for the best interestsof all of us. The Inter-County Leaderspeaks for no special privilege. It will bean organ through which any and all ofus may voice our opinions; in otherwords, a free press.”

Bye reinforced Bloom’s message withhis own words in the premiere issue ofthe Leader, including the followingwords:

“The principal way in which weexpect to make this paper different fromthe common run of papers is that we arein business for service and not for prof-it, and intend to carry the truth to thepublic regardless of whose toes getpinched.”

Early growthIn the early years, Bye and his family

lived above the print shop on Centuria’sMain Street, with very little earnings.The net earnings for the cooperative inits first four months of operation wasjust over $500.

But the popularity of the Leader wasevident by its subscription list, whichgrew from to 1,400 in its first weeks.

By the third year of its publication, theInter-County Leader had outgrown itsquarters in the small two-story buildingon the south side of Centuria’s MainStreet, and the start of 1936 saw thecooperative move into the big Sievertauto garage.

Once remodeled, the garage providedplenty of room for a print shop and edi-torial space to provide a weekly paperfor 3,000 subscribers – nearly twice asmany as in 1934, the paper’s first fullyear of production.

A new press – a large Duplex fromScotts Bluff, Neb., arrived at the shop ona cold January day, followed closely bya truck with another five tons of equip-ment, being moved across town.

Centuria, according to the ICCPA’s 20-year anniversary chronology, was enjoy-ing the distinction of being a publishingtown.

Before long, the new press was turn-

ing out 10,000 Leaders in about threehours time – once a week.

After printing 12-page issues eachweek, Editor Bye felt they could accom-modate all the news items piling up onhis desk, but it didn’t work out that way.Only extra advertising justified increas-ing the page count to 14.

By the end of October 1936, theLeader was printing 22 pages broad-sheet on a regular basis – a “phenome-nal growth” for a paper that startedfrom scratch three years earlier, Byenoted.

The Inter-County Leader publishedwas a lot of national, state and mostimportantly, local news. All for $1.50 ayear.

RefreshingIn 1938, The Capital Times newspaper

in Madison took note of the young pub-

lication, editorializing “When the news-papers of the state and nation are solargely dominated by the big interests, itis refreshing to note that progress isbeing made in a different, idealistic typeof journalism.”

Bye commented in his column a fewmonths later that while most newspa-pers shape their editorial policy accord-ing to advertising patronage, the Leaderjust couldn’t do that. “The fact that onecertain candidate runs a good-sized addoes not guarantee him a good news oreditorial write-up in this paper.”

The formation of cooperatives, gov-ernment legislation affecting farmers – itwas all part of the early Leader’s agen-da, as promised. What began as literalcivil unrest in the streets was manifest-ing in the newspaper.

And readers were eager to participate.At one point the Leader began charging15 cents for every 100 words over 1,000words of a letter to the editor.

People had found a forum - and somegot a bit carried away.

A woman from Clear Lake wrote todemand Bye investigate nepotism andother wrongdoings in Polk County’srelief program, writing “why is the com-mittee chairman’s wife permitted to beforeman when she is too dumb to do theclerical work?”

Bye published it. The letter writer, edi-tor and cooperative soon faced a $12,000libel suit, settled peaceably in October of1939.

But the spirit of the paper was neverbroken and another move was beingmade - to Frederic - in a building thewest side of Main Street, described bythe editor as “a dandy.”

“The Leader directors and manage-ment are not unmindful of the fine treat-ment that has been had at the hands ofmost of the business people of Centuria,and it is with regret that we moveaway,” said a 1939 editorial by editorBennie Bye.

News and advertisingThe building on the west end of Main

Street, which stands yet today, offeredthe newspaper elbow room for growth.Nearing a circulation of 3,800, theLeader had more than doubled its out-reach in its first half-dozen years, prom-

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The first editorial, published Nov. 2, 1933,by editor Bennie Bye

Excerpts...“All right, folks, here is the first

issue of the long talked-of, long her-alded cooperative newspaper servingPolk and neighboring counties. Whilewe are swamped with work and hard-ly have time to write anything, a briefoutline of the steps taken to establishthis paper ought to be part of thisissue.

This is not a Farmers Union paper,though it has been advertised as suchthrough both talk and published arti-cles in neighboring papers. However,we are not ashamed of the platform,aims and principles of the FarmersUnion and wish every one of themcould be put into practice. But thereason the establishment of this paperhas been referred to as a FarmersUnion movement is undoubtedly dueto the fact that the individuals belong-ing to the organization have done agreat deal to ‘put the venture over.’

Five of the seven members of theboard of directors are Union mem-bers, but a rough check-up shows thatmore stock has been bought by non-Union members than by members.Stock has been bought by Union,Holiday and Equity members, by peo-ple belonging to none of these organi-zations, by business and professionalmen.

No lines have been drawn, but allstock has been sold with the under-standing that this is to be a coopera-tive paper serving the best interests ofthe common people, whether they befarmers, professional men or businessmen. The welfare of one group shouldmean the welfare of the other groups.

The principal way in which weexpect to make this paper differentfrom the common run of papers isthat we are in business for service andnot for profit, and intend to carry thetruth to the public regardless ofwhose toes get pinched. In otherwords, our policy will be shaped by adevotion to the greatest good for thegreatest number, and not by what is orwhat is not apparently best for theimmediate swelling of the cash box.

So, when the first stockholders’meeting was held on Monday, Oct. 9,Centuria was readily decided on asthe location. Articles of incorporationwere adopted without difficulty, andthe meeting insisted that the commit-tee of seven who had worked so faith-fully on the paper deal from the startshould be elected to the first board ofdirectors. The election was unani-mous. Here they are: J.W. Hanson,Luck; P.TH. Peterson, Johnstown;Chas. Eckels, Wolf Creek; AmilMarkee, Apple River; O.A. Bloom,Osceola; H.A. Mittelsdorf,Farmington; Carl Linden, BurnettCounty.

J.W. Hanson had served the com-mittee as president, and Chas Eckelsas secretary, and they were elected tolike positions on the board of direc-tors, with Herb Mittelsdorf as vicepresident.

The above committee worked hardand tirelessly toward the goal of acooperatively owned and operatednewspaper. It would be impossible toknow where to place the most credit.Then there were dozens of othersthroughout the townships of thecounty who worked hard to sell thenecessary stock. While the shareswere only $5 (non-assessable) yet ithardly necessary to comment on thescarcity of $5 bills. But, the job is doneand the new paper is a reality and willbe for some time if we live throughgetting out this first issue of 8,500, 16-page papers.

A new paperT H E I C C P A S t o r y

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A voice/from page 1

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said.Asper, a graduate of Luck

High School, had worked at avariety of jobs in the area buthad little journalism experi-ence, aside from an office job atthe Enterprise-Herald at Luck.Her high school journalismteacher had told her she wouldmake a good journalist but dueto the shortage of money dur-ing the Depression years, andwhen her father gave her $300to help her on her way, sheended up going toMinneapolis Business College.

One of her first stories towrite, just a few weeks afterbeing hired, was that of theassassination of PresidentKennedy.

She soon began a personalcolumn, “As Per Bernice,”which drew a followingamong readers and allowedher to render opinions on anumber of personal and politi-cal issues, in a homespun man-ner.

Asper was the only editorialstaff person in those days, cov-ering a number of meetings inperson and by phone, comingin at 4 a.m. most days to get thejob done. She did the payrolland helped insert papers.

Manager Greinke and press-man Clyde Kunze would helpout with photo and sportsassignments. Kunze penned“Kunze’s Korner,” a weeklylook at local sports that drew aheavy following.

Longtime proofreaderBernice Abrahamzon added tothe mix with her popular

“Behind the Signpost,” col-umn, the longest-running localcolumn in the Leader’s history,continuing today.

In the 1970s, a part-timereporter position was createdto help cover assignments fol-lowed a few years later byanother, full-time position.

It was while Asper was edi-tor that the Inter-CountyCooperative PublishingAssociation began to publishthe Advertisers (see separatestory), allowing for furthergrowth beyond the base of thecooperative, which had beennewspaper production and jobprinting.

After retirement, Asperstayed on the job, continuingher personal columns for a fewyears and covering a variety ofassignments part-time. Sheentered full-time retirement in1993, after 30 years as an editorand journalist for the Leader.She later served on the PolkCounty Board of Supervisorsand continues her interest inthe newspaper and local gov-ernment issues.

1983-2008Upon Asper’s stepping

down from the editor’s posi-tion in 1983, Gary King waschosen for the editor’s chair.He had had been hired by thecooperative in 1977, workingas a darkroom technician and asportswriter before taking thehelm of the Leader.

Under the guidance of man-agers Frank Gursky andGursky’s successor, DougPanek and support from theboard of directors, has openedsatellite offices in Siren and St.Croix Falls and expanded itsnews coverage to include moresports coverage and countyand local government news.

In 2004, the cooperative pur-chased the Washburn CountyRegister newspaper, based inShell Lake.

With the addition of fullcolor photographs andexpanded coverage, both theRegister and Leader haveexperienced growth in readercirculation, the Register’s pressrun at nearly 2,000 and theLeader’s at nearly 8,000.

Both the Leader and Registeroffer a Web site and the Leadersite offers a virtual edition of

ising a voice for not only thefarmers but everyone who“needs a voice.”

Separating the editorial andbusiness end of the newspaperwas important to maintain credi-bility among readers. Yet somespace was found each week toremind folks how the Leaderoffered the best value for theiradvertising dollar.

From a Dec. 12, 1939, issue:“When Mrs. William Gehrkeinserted an ad in the Leader lastweek that she had 100 WhiteRock and Giant pullets, a planelanded in the yard the next dayafter the paper came out, pur-chasing the whole flock at a goodprice.”

News and advertising in onearticle, editor Bye might havedecided.

As the war years arrived theLeader offered up much of itsspace to news of servicemen -often tragic news - and for everylocal aspect of the war front.Calls for enlistment, working inthe shipyards, promotion of warbonds, gas rationing and generalpatriotism crowded each page ofthe Leader.

Bye, now editor and manager,in a 1943 issue, called to taskCongressman Alvin O’Konskifor a column that never saw pub-lication.

“This week we publishCongressman O’Konski’s newsnotes and comments, after skip-ping it last week,” Bye wrote.“His last week’s letter was suchthat, in our opinion, it wouldhave been a disrupting influenceon national unity in a time ofwar, and the Leader did not wantto be a party to it.”

O’Konski wrote Bye andadmitted his words were “a littletoo strong.”

“It was one of those days,Bennie, when I was investigatingsome of the ship building con-tracts and investigating the auto-mobile situation in Washington.And I think I should have cooledoff a bit before I wrote thatnewsletter.”

Bye wrote, “We do not wish tobe a judge of what our readersshould read or not read, but wedo reserve the privilege of draw-ing the line as to what we printand become responsible for.”

Promotes cooperativeBye crusaded for the local

farmers through his writing butalso worked behind the scenes,helping to publish a FarmersUnion newspaper and gettinginvolved with state editorialassociations and attempting tofurther the cause of the commonman.

He died on a Wednesdaymorning, the publication day forthe Leader. It was all his co-workers could do to publish thatweek’s Leader.

“We shall miss his patient atti-tude when trials and tribula-tions rise. We shall miss hisgeniality and kindliness, his tol-erance and quiet unassumingpresence,” stated a eulogy print-ed on the front page. “In a verymodest way, he was a princeamong men.”

1953-1963Just a few days after Bennie

Bye’s death in 1953, RomainBrandt was named editor andpublisher of the Leader. Brandtfell into the role with ease, pen-ning a weekly column titled“Pause A Moment.” He relied onco-worker Elmer Haumant, whohad worked for The Star and washired by the Leader upon theLeader’s acquisition of thatpaper.

Haumant was sportswriter,compositor, linotype operatorand advertising manager beforebeing named editor and shopforeman in 1958 upon Brandt’sdeparture for another job atBerlin, Wisconsin. Brandt wenton to become the executive direc-tor of the Wisconsin NewspaperAssociation and died in the early1990s.

Haumant, who had grown upin Frederic and had become wellknown for his “Sports Flashes”and “Sports Corner” columns inthe newspaper, was a naturalchoice to edit the paper. Heknew most people in the villagewell and filled the newspaperwith insights on the news storieshe covered. He wrote a columnentitled “The Way We See It.”

The Leader was now the onlynewspaper in Frederic. Due to“changing conditions in theprinting field which made italmost impossible for twopapers to exist in one town,”according to The Star’s editorHarvey Oleson, the Leader pur-chased the Star in 1951. It wascalled the Inter-County Leaderand Frederic Star for awhile buteventually returned to its origi-nal title.

In late 1963, Haumant resignedhis position, and manager EdGreinke hired his replacement –on the spot.

The Asper yearsBernice Asper entered the

world of small-town journalismon November 1, 1963, 30 years tothe day that the first Leader hasbeen assembled for printing.

The first and only woman edi-tor of the paper to date and theonly female newspaper editoraround at that time, she recallsthat filling the position seemeddaunting in those first months.And it didn’t help that she wasreceiving angry letters from aphantom writer.

“There were some people whofelt I was in over my head, and ofcourse, I thought I was, too,” she

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Since 1933Board of Directors

J.W. HansonHerb A. MittelsdorfCharles EckelsAmil MarkeeP. Th. PetersenO.A. BloomCarl LindenEd LarsonF.W. WieseGuy ClarkWalter C. HelbigPaul BosleyHarry HallquistArnold BiedermanLeonard LindenRaymond NelsonJohn NorthquestClifford OlsonDale KnauberMickey L. OlsonViola OlsonVivian BylDelroy PetersonCharles JohnsonRobert DueholmEvald “Bob” GjerningJanet OachsHarvey StowerMerlin Johnson

ManagersBennie ByeRomain BrandtEd GreinkeFrank GurskyDoug Panek

EditorsBennie ByeRomain Brandt Elmer HaumantBernice AsperGary King

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A Voice/from page 3

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Doug PanekManager

Management and Board of Directors • 2010

Vivian BylChairman - Luck

Charles JohnsonTrade Lake

Merlin JohnsonGrantsburg

Konnie DidloAsst. Manager

Janet OachsGrantsburg

Carolyn WedinFrederic

the newspaper – with everypage of the weekly newspaperoffered online.

Technology keeps changingbut the mission remains thesame; providing a publicforum and endeavoring to tellstories and events that reflect,create and sustain the commu-nities we serve.

T H E I C C P A S t o r y