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      • Efficient Holiday Lighting
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      • Energy Is: Efficiency - Rohe Dairy
      • Look To Your Air Conditioner for Heat and Savings This Fall
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      • Fall Into Energy Savings
      • Manager's Message October 2018
      • Tips to Stay Comfortable This Winter
      • GRE Delivers Transformer to New Substation
      • Stay Focused on Safety During Harvest
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      • Gruenes Receives National Service Award
      • 2018 ORU Recipient: St. John's Community Park
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      • Doege to Lead Stearns Electric Association as Next CEO
      • Road Trip; Recharged: An EV Expedition
      • Manager's Message June 2018
      • Member Appreciation 2018 - Pancake Feed
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      • 2018 ORU Recipient: St. Cloud Amateur Radio Club
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      • What is the Fixed Charge on My Electric Bill?
      • Manager's Message April 2018
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      • Manager's Message March 2018
      • 10 Tips for Spring Energy Savings
      • Environmentally Beneficial Electrification
      • The Value of Electricity Continues to Shine
    • February
      • Manager's Message February 2018
      • Residential Battery Storage is the Energy Trend to Watch
      • What's Hot? The Way You Get Most of Your Electricity
    • January
      • Member Survey - 2018
      • Manager's Message January 2018
      • Touchstone Energy Award 2018
      • How Smart Should You Get When Purchasing a New Thermostat?
      • How Can We Better Serve You in 2018?
  • 2017
    • December
      • Energy Efficiency for the Modern Family and its Many Devices
      • Switch Things Up with Stylish, Efficient Lighting for Your Home
      • Manager's Message December 2017
      • Nominations Are Now Open in Districts 4, 5 and 9
      • 2017 ORU Recipient: Melrose Project Give-A-Gift
      • Appeal of Electric Vehicles Gaining Momentum
      • Holiday Lighting Tips
    • September
      • The Benefits of Air Source Heat Pumps
      • Harvest Workers Urged to Take Time to Reap Safe Harvest
      • Efficient Kitchen Lighting
    • August
      • Local Democracy Legislation Member Forum To Be Held
      • Stearns Electric Line Worker Injured -Update
      • Stearns Electric Line Worker Injured on the Job
      • More Americans Driving Electric Vehicles
      • 4th Annual Member Appreciation Pancake Feed
    • June
      • INVESTING IN RELIABILITY BY ADDRESSING HAZARD TREES AND RIGHT-OF-WAY
      • Managers Message | Electric Cars and Summer Storms
    • February
      • Smartphone Energy Apps
      • EnergyWise Water Heating
      • Virtual Home-Energy Audits
      • Remodeling the Heart of Your Home
    • January
      • What Makes a Utility Great
  • 2016
    • December
      • Nominations Are Now Open In Districts 1, 7 and 8
      • The Consumer-Centric Utility
      • You’re in good company with co-ops
      • $3 Off LED Holiday Lights Promotion
      • Stearns Electric warns of Bill Payment Scam
    • November
      • $1 MILLION capital credit return
      • Companies That Care
      • Busting the Myths about “Smart Meters”
    • October
      • Energy Outlook
      • Energy Explorers | Energy Vampire Activity
      • 2016 ORU Recipient: Project ASTRIDE
      • Why We Celebrate Cooperatives
    • September
      • ENERGYWISE 2016 FALL PROMOTION
      • Operation Round Up Recipient: Kinship of Morrison County
    • August
      • What you need to know about SCADA
      • Women and Cooperatives
      • Manage your Energy Use with These Handy Apps
      • 2016 ORU Recipient: United Arts of Central MN
    • May
      • MAKE THE MOST OF CEILING FANS
      • Improve Comfort and Save Energy by Sealing Air Leaks
      • National Electrical Safety Month Addresses Common Home Electrical Hazards
    • April
      • TRIMMING FUTURE PROBLEMS
      • 2016 Election Results
      • Great River Energy: Meeting the Needs of a Changing Membership
    • March
      • How To Clean Refrigerator Coils
      • Join Fellow Co-op Members at the 2016 Annual Meeting
      • Why We Celebrate Cooperatives
      • DANGER! Outlet Overload
    • February
      • 2016 Director Candidates
      • Youth Tour Empowers Central MN Students with Skills to Last a Lifetime
      • Top Five Energy Users in your Home
      • Be Prepared For Winter Storms
    • January
      • Honor Quilts Recieves 2015 Touchstone Community Award
      • Seal Air Leaks with Caulk
      • Stearns Electric is Looking for the Next Generation of Leaders
  • 2015
    • December
      • Why Electric Co-ops Replace Utility Poles
      • LEDs for the Holidays
    • November
      • 2015 ORU RECIPIENT | POCKETS OF HOPE
    • October
      • #2015Co-op Month: Concern For Community
      • #2015Co-op Month: Cooperative Among Cooperatives
      • #2015Co-op Month: Education, Training, and Information
      • 2015 ORU RECIPIENT | THE SARTELL MILL ART PROJECT
      • #2015Co-op Month: Autonomy and Independence
      • #2015Co-op Month: Member's Economic Participation
      • #2015Co-op Month: Democratic Control
      • #2015Co-op Month: The Power of Membership
      • 2015 ORU RECIPIENT | BECKY’S TROOP CARE PACKAGE PROJECT
    • September
      • Community Solar: A Member Story
      • 2015 Legislative Summary
    • July
      • Electric Bill To Have New Look
    • June
      • Patrick Bleth Named New CEO
    • January
      • 4th Graders Send Letters
  • 2014
    • December
      • Director Nominations Now Open
    • October
      • Stearns Electric Launches SecurePay
      • Slam The Scams
    • August
      • 2014 Member Appreciation Pancake Feed Video Recap
    • June
      • Join Us For A Member Appreciation Event
      • STEARNS ELECTRIC SPONSORS MN TWINS PLAY BALL! MN YOUTH CLINICS
    • May
      • MyMeter To Be Replaced By SmartHub My Usage
    • February
      • SmartHub Launched
    • January
      • MREA Youth Tour

2018 ORU Recipient: St. Cloud Amateur Radio Club

 

May 26, 2018


Through the Operation Round Up® (ORU) program, Stearns Electric Association gives our member-owners the opportunity to give back to the community. The rounded-up funds (between 1¢ and 99¢) are placed in a trust fund that is administered by a trust board appointed by the Cooperative's elected Board of Directors. Operation Round Up® funds are given to local civic organizations and worthy causes through an application and selection process. In March, the St. Cloud Amateur Radio Club was chosen as one of those recipients.

 

St. Cloud Amateur Radio Club.jpg

 


HAM Radio

HAM radio is popular hobby where licensed individuals come together to operate radio electronics in order to communicate across town, around the world or even into space. HAM radio has been around for over a century. The St. Cloud Amateur Radio Club began as the Mic and Key Club in 1917 and is one of the top ten oldest clubs in the nation.

 In 1922, the club affiliated itself with the American Radio Relay League and became the St. Cloud Amateur Radio Club (SCARC). Today, the club has nearly 100 members. Headquartered in their own clubhouse on Fourth Street North in Waite Park, club members range from teens to 80-year old’s, and include farmers, radio engineers and financial professionals, to name a few.

“We have two main focuses in the SCARC: public safety and community,” Charlie Chirhart, volunteer and member, said.

NWS Connection

The SCARC houses the National Weather Service (NWS) SKYWARN Program for Benton and Stearns counties in Central Minnesota. SKYWARN is a program where trained volunteer weather spotters provide first-hand reports of severe and hazardous weather conditions. Spotters help meteorologists issue severe weather warnings, which are oftentimes life-saving. Despite the advanced Doppler Radar technology available to the NWS, weather spotters are necessary to help determine accurate and credible weather conditions in order to issue timely severe weather warnings.

How did the partnership begin between the NWS and St. Cloud Amateur Radio Club?

“A few years ago, Stearns County was looking for an organization to take over the SKYWARN program,” Chirhart said. “The SCARC was the perfect fit.”

Many SKYWARN volunteers are amateur radio operators already, which allows for easy, and more importantly, quick communication between a spotter on the ground and the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minn.

“Our spotters are all trained by a SCARC volunteer, who is certified as a spotter trainer through the NWS,” Chirhart said. “Reports from spotters are considered official.”

When there is a potential for severe weather, area spotters are paged. Spotters call in to net control, which is essentially three to four people back at the SCARC clubhouse who direct the spotters where to report during the storm. Spotters then send detailed weather information back to net control and net control turns around and reports that information directly to the NWS in Chanhassen, Minn.

“We [the club] recently invested in three new LED screens to help our net control see the weather radar better,” Chirhart explained. “Each spotter’s location is indicated on a map so net control knows the exact location of all spotters, who are watching storm direction and conditions.”

Chances are, if a severe weather or tornado warning is issued in our area, spotters from the SCARC were directly involved.

“When you hear a tornado siren in your community, it most likely means that one of our spotters identified spinning within a storm or even saw a tornado,” Chirhart said.

Disaster Preparation

In addition to storm spotting, amateur radio clubs are available to help communicate in any disaster, no matter how large or small.

Every year, clubs around the country participate in a 24-hour emergency drill, which helps members stay up-to-date on training and allows clubs to be ready to react in any disaster. These drills allow the SCARC to practice setting up their broadcasting equipment in a timely manner, even in remote areas.

“We need to be able to put our antennas up in a heartbeat,” Chirhart said. “We have been known to use trees, hay wagons, firetrucks and one time even a toilet to get our antenna up and ready.”

“When 9-11 happened, HAM operators stepped in to help with communication, not only for the general public, but also for fire and police departments,” he said.

“We are not the main communicators in a disaster, but we are the backup,” he continued.

This means that in emergency situations where communication infrastructure is overloaded, (i.e. downed cellular phone networks,) the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can permit HAM radio operators to communicate with organizations like FEMA, the NWS, the military, public service organizations and more to help organize and assist in disaster relief efforts.

Community Focus

In addition to public safety, the SCARC prides its club for its community involvement.

The Club partners with many local and statewide events including the Tour of Saints, Tour de Tonka, Annandale Triathlon, as well as the MS 150 and MS 500 bike rides.

“Our club provides the communications for these events. For instance, at the annual Tour of Saints, based in St. Joseph, we manage the safety and first aid communications,” Chirhart said. “Our net control station is at St. Benedict’s and we have five trucks patrolling the bike route to help bikers in need.”

When a biker needs a repair or first aid of any sort, those bikers call the control center, which then radios the patrol trucks to go assist as needed.

Moving Forward

Community involvement is also one of Stearns Electric Association’s organization values. The Operation Round Up® program helps the Cooperative give back to hundreds of area non-profit and community organizations every year.

Although organizations can use Operation Round Up® funds for a wide-range of projects, the SCARC plans to focus the funds received on energy improvements for their clubhouse.

“This donation will go toward efficiency upgrades for our building, specifically toward new windows and electrical upgrades,” Chirhart said. “We want to keep our carbon footprint low and keep costs down as we are a non-profit organization.”


Through the Operation Round Up® (ORU) program, Stearns Electric Association gives our member-owners the opportunity to give back to the community. Since the program’s inception in 1993, ORU and Stearns Electric members have awarded over $1.6 million to local non-profit organizations and community service programs.

 

More than 70 percent of Stearns Electric Association members participate in ORU by allowing the Cooperative to round up their monthly electric bill.


Since the program’s inception in 1993, Operation Round Up (ORU) and Stearns Electric members have awarded over $2.1 million to local non-profit organizations and community service programs. In March 2018, Stearns Electric and ORU contributed $48,900.




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