When Lloyd Kongsjord helped his father Ray build some timber retaining walls at a private boat access as a young teenager, he found he liked the work. “This is called ‘landscaping,’” Ray told him.

“That was it,” recalled Lloyd. He would go on to graduate with a degree in Plant Industries Management with a specialty in horticulture from the University of Minnesota at Crookston and marry a fellow horticulture student Amber who also had a specialty in agronomy.

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Campaign launches to help customers conserve energy and save money

Did you know that 15 to 20 percent of your electric bill is attributed to lighting alone? By changing something as simple as the type of light bulb you use, you could save up to $30 in energy costs over the course of its life.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, use up to 75 percent less energy to produce the same amount of light — so installing CFLs in your home will not only save you money, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We think you’ll agree — that’s A Brighter Idea.

That’s why Great River Energy and its 28 member co-ops, including North Itasca Electric Cooperative Inc., are launching a new campaign—A Brighter Idea—to provide our customers with ideas and information about how to conserve energy and save money at home. Our goal is for each household in our service area to exchange five incandescent bulbs with CFLs in their home. That would eliminate 211,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is the equivalent of removing nearly 39,000 cars from the road for one year*.

Over the next few months, you’ll see us out in the communities we serve and even at a few of Minnesota’s most-loved landmarks educating consumers about the latest CFL technology and the best ways to use these energy efficient bulbs in your home. We hope you’ll join us in lighting the way for a cleaner, brighter future. For additional information, please visit www.mnbrighterideas.com.

*Based on 600,000 households replacing five 75 watt incandescent bulbs with five 22 watt CFL bulbs.

• -Effie:
  Forevergreen Greenhouse, 1 mile east of Effie on Highway 1. Their twelfth annual Open House is scheduled for Saturday, May 5. Open daily, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Forevergreen carries a full selection of vegetables and flowers, including a large variety of Wave petunias. Call Nick and Missy Francisco at 743-3358.
• -Marcell:
  Tender Tourist Trap, Highway 38 in the center of town. Watching for opening date. Open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. There are lots of hanging baskets--especially of waves and double wave petunias. Also bedding stock including vegetable, herbs, and perennial and annual flowers. Oval and round planters are a specialty. The attached store is known for its dolls, and Dee is also looking for suggestions of general store items she could carry that are not available locally. Crafters are welcome to inquire about consignment. Call Dee Wright-Vallaster at 832-3900.
• - Marcell:
  Lloyd’s Landscaping opens in Marcell and at its location on Highway 2 east of Deer River on Friday, May 11. Open Monday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. On opening day look for a Doorbuster Sale from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.. Store features complete garden and landscaping supplies, hanging baskets, trees and shrubs, bird houses and bird feeders, garden ornaments and landscaping items. Call Lloyd and Amber Kongsjord at 832-3842.
• -Max, Bigfork, Deer River, Bemidji:
  Garden of We’Eden Greenhouse on County 127 off Highway 4, 8 miles west of Spring Lake. The main greenhouse will open Thursday, May 10. Open Tues.-Sat. 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Closed Sunday. Smaller greenhouses will also be open at Kocian’s Family Foods in Bigfork, the Cenex in Deer River and directly across from Leukens South in Bemidji (at Surplus Outlet, 710 Washington S.), all portables open Monday, May 21. The greenhouse carries hundreds of different varieties of flowers, annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs and vegetables with 30-50 new varieties each year. Look for specialty baskets made up especially for Mother’s Day. Call Laurel and Curtis Carlson at 659-2784. If construction is blocking Highway 4 again this year, there will be a free gift for anyone braving the trip, said Laurel.
• -Northome:
  Jungleland Greenhouse on Highway 71, 3 miles south of Northome. Mon.-Sat. 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 1 - 5 p.m. Full service greenhouse has everything from flowers and vegetables to perennials, and also notes it is one of the largest suppliers of fruit trees in northern Minnesota. Call the greenhouse at 897-5007.

Last month we talked about help for repairing washers, so this month let’s talk about things that go wrong with dryers.

If your dryer doesn’t work at all- you should first check to make sure you’re getting power in the outlet. If you have power at the outlet then check to make sure the door switch is not bad. This switch is located on the inside of the machine by the door, and you can get to it if you lift the top off the dryer. If it is bad you will have to replace it. Most dryers have a thermal fuse. This is about an inch long and is generally inserted in black resin and mounted in a white plastic housing. This is a heat sensitive fuse that blows if the dryer overheats and is normally mounted to the exhaust duct on the inside of the back cover of your machine. If the fuse is bad, replace it, you can’t reset it. And one other thing to check if you still have the problem, is where your cord is connected to the machine. Sometimes if the cord is not put on tightly it can arc and burn the wires off the power cord. If this happens, not only will you have to put a new cord on but you will also have to change the mounting block.

Members of North Itasca Electric Cooperative have again generously contributed to area projects through the RoundUp“ program. Almost $10,000 was distributed to 45 local projects, from refurbishment of the Carpenter Township fire department garage to first responder training in Squaw Lake. The complete listing of awards can be found on page 6.

This grant cycle over 50 applications for contributions toward projects worth over $800,000 were received. An independent board of trustees meets each year in April and October to select the grant winners.

All grant requests must be made through the application process, and are made toward specific projects rather than for ongoing expenses. Applications are available through North Itasca Electric Cooperative.

Members allow their monthly billings to be rounded up to the next whole dollar in the RoundUp program; the difference, in each case less than $1, is contributed to local organizations for worthwhile projects. Individual contributions are also accepted, and the Board would like to extend a special thank you to those who have contributed in this way.

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