Electric cooperatives team up for Day of Service

Dairyland Power Cooperative and 10 of their member cooperatives kicked-off National Co-op Month with the 2nd Annual Cooperative Day of Service on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Dairyland coordinated six service projects throughout its service territory and joined forces with employees from local electric cooperatives to showcase the cooperatives’ dedication to the cooperative principles, Concern for Community and Cooperation Among Cooperatives.

Projects included:

• Sackett Lake in Taylor County – Painting, sealing floors, tree trimming, updating pavilion, parking lot work. Participating co-ops included Dairyland Power, Taylor Electric, and Jump River Electric.

• Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall Creek. – Brush clearing, trail maintenance, painting/staining, and splitting wood. Participating co-ops included Dairyland Power, Eau Claire Energy, Dunn Energy, St. Croix Electric.

• Gramercy Park in East Dubuque, Ill. – Brush clearing on the North Bluff of the park. Participating co-ops included Dairyland Power, JCE Co-op.

• Humane Society of Burnett County in Webster – Upgrade cat rooms, painting, animal socialization/care, cleaning, etc. Participating co-ops included Dairyland Power, Polk-Burnett Electric.

• Kickapoo Valley Reserve in La Farge – Trail work/invasive clearing, cleanup on Kickapoo River, additional prep for upcoming event. Participating co-ops included Dairyland Power, Vernon Electric.

• Oxbow Park/Zollman Zoo Byron, Minn. – Winterization, tree clean-up, wood splitting/stacking, shop cleaning/ painting. Participating co-ops included Dairyland Power, People’s Energy, MiEnergy.

“The dedication and hard work demonstrated by 200 Dairyland employees and our member cooperatives today really highlights how serious our commitment is to the communities we serve,” said Dairyland President and CEO Brent Ridge. “Seeing the positive impact we achieved together in such a short time is inspiring. The Cooperative Day of Service truly embodies the ‘Cooperative Difference,' and we are proud to spearhead this event celebrating National Co-op Month by putting the Cooperative Principles into action.”

Headquartered in La Crosse, Wis., Dairyland provides the wholesale electrical requirements for 24 distribution cooperatives and 27 municipal utilities. These cooperatives and municipals, in turn, supply the energy needs of approximately 700,000 people in the four-state service area. Dairyland delivers electricity via over 3,300 miles of transmission lines and 233 substations located throughout the system’s 44,500 square mile service area.

Local project

All of the board members from Taylor Electric joined with crew members from the cooperative and from Jump River Electric to work with the county on the Sackett Lake Project.

While some workers replaced boards and repainted picnic tables at the park others removed and replaced rotting wooden fence posts separating the parking area from the beach area. Crews also worked to rehabilitate the shelter at the park. The ground shifted over the years and it was no longer level. Crews dug out the posts and reset them making improvements to the shelter. Board members and crew were also busy putting new paint and stain and refurbishing the bathroom and concession building. County buildings and grounds supervisors Joe Svejda praised the work done by the volunteer crew in bringing increased value to the popular county park.

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