Dylan Haynes of Grand Rapids has been selected to receive the Bud Morrow Scholarship for the 2022-2023 academic year from the Minnesota Telecom Alliance Foundation!

The Bud Morrow Scholarship is one of six $2,000 scholarships being awarded by the MTA Foundation this year. Dylan will be attending the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science/Pre-Veterinary Medicine. She is the daughter of Dave and Carol Copp.

“Throughout my education, I have chosen a more rigorous path to prepare myself for post-secondary education.  My primary goal is to become a veterinarian.  I’m elated for the opportunity to work with animals and cannot wait for what is to come” said Dylan in her scholarship application.

In awarding the scholarship to Dylan, Gary said, “We’re excited to have this chance to make an investment in Dylan’s college education.  Rural communities need educated and talented young people like Dylan to be our leaders of the future.  It makes us all proud at Paul Bunyan Communications when one of the statewide winners is selected from our area.

The Foundation is part of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance, a trade organization based in St. Paul representing over 44 telephone companies and cooperatives in the state.

The AccuWeather Network has been added to Paul Bunyan Television service and is now available to all PBTV main subscribers on channel 298 or PBTV HD channel 798.

 AccuWeather Network provides 24/7 “All Weather, All the Time” programming with documented Superior Accuracy™ from the most trusted global brand in weather forecasting. Every day millions of people rely on the breaking weather coverage provided by the AccuWeather Network to help plan their lives, protect their families and businesses, and get more from their day. The AccuWeather Network delivers coverage on a local, regional, and national scale as well as compelling and dynamic weather news content, including hyper-local forecasts, advanced severe weather warnings and weather preparedness tips and tools. Backed by an expert team of meteorologists and broadcasters, AccuWeather is the leader in global weather forecasting and the “go to” authoritative source for weather events anywhere in the world.

Amelia Scherling of Bemidji has been selected as the winner of the cooperative’s 2022 Youth Tour Essay Contest.  Amelia is in 11^th grade and will attend the 2022 Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. June 1-5, with all expenses paid by Paul Bunyan Communications.

The trip features a comprehensive overview of the telecommunications industry, including careers in telecom, the critical role telecommunications plays in rural America, and how legislative and regulatory decisions affect the industry.  The tour allows youth to meet with members of Congress who represent rural constituents.  They also participate in educational sessions about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  Students visit some of the nation’s most historic sites, including Mount Vernon, the Smithsonian Museums, and a beautiful night tour of our Washington D.C.

“The FRS Youth Tour is a unique opportunity for a local student from our area to visit Washington D.C. to gain a better perspective on how regulatory decisions impact our cooperative and rural areas.  Amelia will also get the chance to see a lot of historic sites in our nation’s capital!” said Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

The Foundation for Rural Service is dedicated to informing and to improving the quality of life throughout rural America.  Each year, it organizes the Youth Tour, designed to educate rural youth about the telecommunications industry and the federal political process.  The FRS is a subsidiary of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA), of which Paul Bunyan Communications is a member.

This is the 25^th year that Paul Bunyan Communications has participated in sending a local high school student to the Youth Tour.

The District 9 Caucus will be held on Tuesday, March 29 at 7 p.m. at the Turtle River Township Town Hall.  The doors open at 6:30 p.m. The caucus is only open to members of District 9.

The purpose of the in-person Caucus is to select two pre-qualified candidates to seek election/re-election to be the district’s representative on the Paul Bunyan Communications Board of Directors to serve a five-year term through 2027.

The current director for District 9 is Board Treasurer Tim Hins and he has applied for re-election.  Karl Mork has also applied for the position.

Based on the results of the Caucus Election, the names of two candidates are listed on the ballot to be voted on by the general membership of the Cooperative.  Votes are tallied at the Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 25, 2022.  The candidate from each respective district with the greatest number of votes from the general membership is elected/re-elected as the Director for such district.

Paul Bunyan Communications is pleased to announce that the new Red Lake Nation Radio Station WRLN 105.3 FM has been added to Paul Bunyan Television (PBTV) service.

WRLN 105.3 FM can be found on PBTV channel 960 or PBTV Fusion channel 1060.

WRLN 105.3 FM is the Red Lake Nation’s first radio station and is a multi-format station that will play almost all genres of music in three hour blocks of different formats including country, rock, pop, pow-wow, etc.  The station also provides news stories, local weather updates and sports information to let people know what is going on in the community and the positive news that comes out of Red Lake.

“We are very excited to have Red Lake Nation Radio added to Paul Bunyan Television! After a decades long effort to get our own radio station, WRLN 105.3 FM went on the air on Feb 1^st 2022 and the response has been tremendous. People can listen by radio, streaming on WRLN.com and many of our tribal members also have PBTV so now they can listen to us there too!” said Jerry Loud, WRLN General Manager.

“One of the unique features of Paul Bunyan Television is that we provide many of the local radio stations as part of the service.  We’ve heard from many of our customers who appreciate the opportunity to tune in to local radio through their televisions. When we heard about Red Lake Nation Radio going on the air we started working with them to get it on. It’s great to now have WRLN 105.3 FM a part of PBTV service!” said Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

Paul Bunyan Television is the only provider in the region offering local radio stations as part of the television service lineup which includes over 20 radio stations and Radio Talking Book services for the visually impaired.

As a cooperative, Paul Bunyan Communications is governed by a seven-person member-elected Board of Directors.  In 2022, there are 3 Board of Directors positions up for election representing Districts 3, 7, and 9.

Article III, Section 3 of your Cooperative’s Bylaws requires any member interested in serving as a Director to submit a candidate packet to the Cooperative headquarters at least 25 business days prior to the Caucus Election date.

District 3

The current director for District 3 is Tracy Mistic-Schaar and she was the only applicant.  As a result, her uncontested director re-election to the board for District 3 will be ratified by the members at the annual meeting.

District 7

The current director for District 7 is Board Secretary Bruce Campbell and he was the only applicant.  As a result, his uncontested director re-election to the board for District 7 will be ratified by the members at the annual meeting.

District 9; In-person Caucus Tuesday, March 29 at 7 p.m.

The current director for District 9 is Board Treasurer Tim Hins and he has applied for re-election.  Karl Mork has also applied for the position.  As a result, the District 9 in-person Caucus will be held on Tuesday, March 29 at 7 p.m. at Turtle Lake Township Town Hall.  All members in District 9 will be notified of the Caucus by mail.

The purpose of the in-person Caucus is to select two pre-qualified candidates to seek election/re-election to be the district’s representative on the Paul Bunyan Communications Board of Directors to serve a five-year term through 2027,.

Based on the results of any contested Caucus Election, the names of two candidates are listed on the ballot to be voted on by the general membership of the Cooperative.  Votes are tallied  and then announced at the Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 25, 2022.  The candidate from each respective district with the greatest number of votes from the general membership is elected/re-elected as the Director for such district.

The GigaZone Gaming Championship presented by Paul Bunyan Communications returns Saturday, March 12 with a Spring Break Halo Infinite 4 v 4 Mixed Mode virtual tournament!

It’s FREE to enter but there is a limited number of teams so get more information and register your team now at www.gigazonegaming.com

As a cooperative, Paul Bunyan Communications is governed by a seven-person member-elected Board of Directors.  In 2022, there are Board of Directors positions up for election representing Districts 3, 7, and 9.

Article III, Section 3 of your Cooperative’s Bylaws requires any member interested in serving as a Director to submit a candidate packet to the Cooperative headquarters at least 25 business days prior to the Caucus Election date.  This enables the Cooperative to properly verify the eligibility of all candidates to serve as a member of the Board if elected.  Members interested can find the candidate application packet and related information online at https://paulbunyan.net/cooperative/documents/

The deadlines for completed Director-candidate packets to be returned to the Cooperative are:

District 7 deadline is February 17

District 9 deadline is February 22

District 3 deadline is February 24

If there are less than two pre-qualified candidates seeking election/re-election to the Board of Directors from the same district (an uncontested district election), no in-person Caucus and Caucus Election for that district will be held.

If there are two or more pre-qualified candidates seeking election from the same district, the in-person Caucus will be held and all members residing within the district will be notified by mail of the caucus date, time, and location.  The purpose of the in-person Caucus is to select two pre-qualified candidates to seek election/re-election to be the district’s representative on the Paul Bunyan Communications Board of Directors. Directors serve a five-year term through 2027, however in the case of District 3, the election will fill the remaining four years of the existing term ending in 2026.

The current director for District 7 is Board Secretary Bruce Campbell and he has expressed his intent to seek re-election.

The current director for District 9 is Board Treasurer Tim Hins and he has expressed his intent to seek re-election.

The current director for District 3 is Tracy Mistic-Schaar and she has expressed her intent to seek re-election.

Based on the results of any contested Caucus Election, the names of two candidates are listed on the ballot to be voted on by the general membership of the Cooperative.  Votes are tallied at the Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 25, 2022.  The candidate from each respective district with the greatest number of votes from the general membership is elected/re-elected as the Director for such district.

At their monthly meeting in November, the Paul Bunyan Communications Board of Directors accepted Kathy Peterson’s retirement notice and appointed Tracy Mistic-Schaar to fill the District 3 seat.

We thank Kathy for her dedication by serving over 25 years on our cooperative’s Board of Directors!  Kathy was first elected in 1995 and led our cooperative as Board President for an incredible 20 years from 1998-2018.

So much has been accomplished in the two and a half decades Kathy has been on the Board of Directors it is hard to put into words.  Our cooperative has grown significantly in membership, employees, and the technology and services we offer.  When Kathy first started on the Board, Paul Bunyan Net was just formed to offer dial up Internet service, cellular service was transitioning from bag phones to flip phones, and there was no such thing as Paul Bunyan Television, high speed Internet, or the GigaZone.  It was under Kathy’s leadership that Paul Bunyan Communications developed into one of the most progressive communications cooperatives in the United States now providing an industry-leading multiple gigabit Internet service across 6,000 square miles of northcentral Minnesota.

“Kathy is very humble and I know she won’t take any personal credit for the many accomplishments and progress our cooperative has experienced over the past 25 years, but her steady leadership has played a pivotal role in all of our growth and subsequent success.  She and fellow board members had the foresight to diversify our service offerings and to boldly authorize the construction of one of the largest rural all-fiber optic networks in the country nearly a decade before most other service providers.  Recognizing the critical role broadband now serves in education, healthcare, work, e-commerce, government, and entertainment, you cannot overstate Kathy’s impact on the lives of thousands across our region.  Her sincere dedication to our cooperative and our members has been incredible and we can’t thank her enough.  We are going to miss her leadership, support, and positive attitude, but wish her the very best in retirement,” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager.

As is called for in the Cooperative’s bylaws, the Board has appointed District 3 member Tracy Mistic-Schaar as the new District 3 Board Member.  We look forward to working with Tracy and appreciate her willingness to serve on behalf of the members of District 3.  That position is up for election/re-election this year.  Tracy has expressed her intent to seek re-election.

For the second time in as many games, there was a winner of the Paul Bunyan Communications Hockey Hot Shots Promotion during a Bemidji State University men’s home hockey game!

Brittany Perry of Columbia, MO made her shot at center ice during a period intermission at the Beavers game Friday, December 31 against St. Cloud to win a 70” Smart HDTV.  Brittany was in town for the holiday with her boyfriend Sam Rydeen who graduated from BSU in 2018.  It was the first time she’s attended a college hockey game and the first time she held a hockey stick.

“We thought it would be a good idea to leave 61 degree weather to come to the coldest weather we had ever been a part of, -15 with a “feels like” -30. The BSU game was the first college hockey game I had ever been to and I’m not sure another could ever top it after this!” said Peterson.

“We’ve sponsored the contest for a long time but have never seen a win like Brittany’s.  She had never held a hockey stick before and you could tell.  She missed the puck on her first four tries and it seemed was about to give up but wouldn’t you know it, the fifth time she connected and it went straight down and in!” said Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

You can see video of Brittany making the shot on the Paul Bunyan Communications YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKUI-3TAISg

The Paul Bunyan Communications Hockey Hot Shots contest is held during an intermission at select Bemidji State University Men’s Hockey home games. Three contestants are selected at random to participate each night. All contestants receive a coupon for a free PBTV On Demand movie rental, any contestant hitting the board receives a Paul Bunyan Communications Bluetooth speaker, and a contestant who puts the puck in the net through the middle of the Hockey Hot Shots board wins up to a 70” Smart HDTV.