Nearly 400 Attend Garden Valley’s 110th Annual Meeting

Nearly 400 persons, including 201 registered members, were in attendance at the 110th annual membership meeting of Garden Valley Telephone Company held at the Win-E-Mac School auditorium near Erskine on Tuesday, June 2, 2015.

As members registered and received their attendance gift, entertainment was provided by “The WoodPicks,” a northern Minnesota band specializing in Gospel, Bluegrass, Country and Americana music. Members and guests were also treated to coffee and donuts prior to calling the business meeting to order.  

The business meeting included reports from President Vernon Hamnes and Treasurer Joe Sandberg. Garden Valley employees were also on hand to answer questions about the cooperative’s products and services.  

Prizes were awarded and lunch was served following adjournment of the meeting.  The winner of the adult grand prize, a 32” HDTV, was Diane Benson, of  Mentor, and winning the children’s drawing for a 24” bicycle was Raven Hanson.

Directors 

Elected to Board

Directors Arlene Novak, Vernon Hamnes and Ronald Engelstad were re-elected to serve on the cooperative’s Board of Directors for the next three years.  Ms. Novak, St. Hilaire, will continue to serve as Garden Valley’s Director from District 3 (Red Lake Falls & St. Hilaire exchanges); Mr. Hamnes, Gonvick, will continue to serve as Director from District 6 (Clearbrook, Gonvick & Leonard exchanges); and Ronald Engelstad, Grygla, will continue to serve as Director from District 9 (Gatzke, Goodridge & Grygla exchanges).  

New General 

Manager Introduced     

Tim Brinkman was introduced at the Annual Meeting as Garden Valley’s seventh general manager.  With a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications-Public Relations and a minor in Economics, Tim has spent numerous years working in telecommunications, including the last seven years at Park Region Companies with headquarters in Underwood, Minnesota.

Tim, his wife Christine and their 14-year old twin sons look forward to settling in and becoming active in the area communities.

Board Names 

Corporate Officers

Following the June 2nd annual meeting, Garden Valley’s Board of Directors elected the following Directors to serve as officers of the cooperative: President - Vernon Hamnes; Vice President- Jerry Freitag; Secretary - Bryon Ness and Treasurer - Joe Sandberg.