Thursday, May 17, 2012

Volume 96; Number 47

www.bladepublishing.net

A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560

2012, the International Year of Cooperatives

Syndicated Senior Story By Nancy Leasman The United Nations has declared 2012 as The International Year of Cooperatives. IYC, as its informally known, has goals to raise awareness and celebrate the social and economic contributions of cooperative businesses, promote the formation and growth of cooperatives, and encourage governments to establish policies, laws and regulations conducive to the formation, growth and stability of cooperatives. They assert that co-operatives drive the economy, respond to social change, are resilient to the global economic crisis and are serious, successful businesses creating jobs in all sectors. Cooperation among human societies dates back to the first groups which organized for mutual benefit. Tribal societies were organized as cooperative structures with jobs assigned according to ability and resources allocated according to need. The formal cooperative movement is credited to Scottish social reformer Robert Owen who owned a cotton mill in the early part of the 19th century. He introduced discounted retail shops and passed the profits on to his employees. A cooperative is a non-profit organization or business owned and managed by the people who use its services, a consumer cooperative, or by the people who work there, a workers cooperative. Cooperatives generally function on seven cooperative principles: voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; member economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community. Marilyn Risnes, who is on the board of directors of natural food co-op Everybodys Market in Long Prairie, is a long-time believKay Bradlich, manager of Everybodys Market for the last 28 years, has noticed a trend in co-ops too. It seems about every 30 years food co-ops spring up. Back in the 70s there were lots of them. Many disappeared, but due to membership loyalty we survived. In 2011 we made a profit and paid a dividend to our members, she said, noting a returning profitability of the co-op model. She also noted that they were originally organized 34 years ago as a workers co-op. But when women joined the work force en masse, they no longer had enough volunteers to handle the workload. Thats when they converted to the consumer model and she became the sole full-time employee. Everybodys Market buys wholesome organic and natural foods in bulk and repackages or offers the food in gravity bins for customer packing. It may be important to point out that all health food stores are not co-ops nor are all co-ops related to food. Many co-ops are related to agriculture however loan companies, gas companies, housing, babysitting and toy sharing are among cooperative enterprises following the structure and governance of a co-op. Local credit unions as well as electric and gas companies are larger co-ops with governance by members and offering benefits, services and payments of dividends. The Buckwheat Growers Association of Wadena is another example of a co-op. A Continued on page 16.

er in the co-op model. I cut my teeth on coops. My dad was a member of a grain elevator co-op. There were food co-ops, mechanics co-ops, creamery co-ops, she said of the depression years when people banded together for economic survival. The co-ops began to slide away during the prosperity years following WWII. They made a strong come back during the 1960s and 1970s. By the mid 1980s they began to fade away again.

At 6:18 pm, May 12, an ATV crash was reported on County 15, in the Sauk Lake area, with one victim suffering head trauma. The Todd County Sheriff s Department and Sauk Centre Ambulance responded and found that Shannon Johnson, Sauk Centre, had been driving a Polaris Ranger RZR side by side ATV, owned by Dan Bones Hudalla, with Jonathan Hinnenkamp, Sauk Centre, her passenger when she lost control of the vehicle and rolled it in a field near the roadway. The vehicle landed on Hinnenkamp, who suffered severe head injuries. He was transported by ambulance to Sauk Centre Hospital and air lifted to St. Cloud Hospital. Johnson sustained minor injures and was treated and released. Alcohol was a factor in the crash and criminal charges are pending. On May 7 Carl Layer reported a burglary at his trailer home on 320th St., Browerville. Sometime in March of 2012 person(s) unknown forced entry into the home and stole copper tubing, an outboard motor, and fishing equipment valued at approx. $1100. On May 12 Raymond Reed reported that sometime on May

ATV accident leaves one person seriously injured

11 person(s) unknown entered at his residence on 450th St., and stole a 19 color flat screen TV. At 3:59 pm, May 11, Kathryn Olander called the sheriff s office to report that she had arrived at her residence on 460th St., Section 36, Bartlett Township, to find a female burglar inside her home. The female did not steal any property from inside the residence, except some prescription medication. No one was injured and the female and her male passenger fled the scene in an older white four door sedan. Anyone with information about the any of these incident sis asked to contact the Todd County Sheriff s Office at 1-800794-5733.

Spring Concerts are prelude to end of 2012 school year

Students enjoy spring cookout

Christ the King, above, and Browerville High School, below presented their Spring Concerts in the past week. Both mark the end of the 2012 school year, which ends Wednesday, May 30th. Additional photos on pages 8, 9.

Browerville elementary students were treated to a cookout lunch served by school faculty on a sunny Thursday afternoon.

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT

Wed. May 16 Mostly Sunny 74/53 Thur. May 17 T-Storms 78/57 Fri. May 18 Partly Cloudy 80/62 Sat. May 19 T-Storms 75/57 Sun. May 20 Partly Cloudy 71/49 Mon. May 21 Sunny 72/52