Calling on YouW e s t R i v e rC o o p e r a t i v e

Te l e p h o n eC o m p a n yWRCTCWRCTC

F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6

Vale Ag ShowOn January 13th, WRCTC, along with several other vendors, welcomed members and customers to the Vale Ag Show in Vale, SD. Many individuals stopped by our booth to sign up for a $25 bill credit, grab a free bag of popcorn and visit with WRCTC employees, Josh Mackaben, 797-4448 Janelle Goddard and Rachel Eggebo. The winners of the $25 bill credits were Scott Sheeler, Vale and Earl Remington, Vale.

Janelle Goddard visiting with members at the Vale Ag Show.

inside this issueNew Year, New Projects ......... 2

Help Us ......................... 2 & 4

Bohnet Retires ...................... 3

Pay-By-Phone ....................... 3

Youth Tour Info ..................... 3

New Members ...................... 4

Find Phone Number .............. 4

$500 Scholarships AvailableATTENTION High School Seniors from Bison, Buffalo, Lemmon, Faith and Newell: Here is your chance to win a $500 scholarship! One senior from each school district will be awarded a scholarship from WRCTC and Grand Electric for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year! Applications are available online at www.wrctc.coop, through the Guidance Counselor at your school or from WRCTC in Bison. Please mail your completed application and any extra documents to: WRCTC, Attn: Scholarship Program, PO Box 39, Bison, SD 57620. Deadline to apply for this scholarship is March 18, 2016.

$2,500 FRS ScholarshipThe Foundation for Rural Service (FRS), a branch of the National Telephone Cooperative Association, is offering 30 scholarships nationwide. These 456-2228 scholarships are $2,000 each, and all high school seniors whose parents are a member of West River Cooperative Telephone Company (WRCTC) are eligible to apply.

Should a student from our service area be selected to receive one of the 30 scholarships, WRCTC will make a $500 matching contribution to the scholarship, bringing the total scholarship award to $2,500! Preference will be given to individuals expressing an interest in returning to work in a rural area following 244-7572 college graduation.

Applications are available online at www.wrctc.coop, through the Guidance Counselor at your school or from WRCTC in Bison. Completed applications require the signature of the Interim Co-General Manager PRIOR to March 1, 2016, to ensure applications are postmarked to FRS before the deadline.

uson facebook

facebook.com/WRCTC

VIPRE AntiVirus Don’t go online without it!

Protect up to three computers with just one low monthly fee of $5. We’ve removed the guesswork by ensuring you have everything you need to stay protected online. To protect your computer(s), contact us at 605-244-5213 or 777.

2.

West River crews have been busy upgrading our Access equipment 244-7574 which is used to provide service on our fiber optic network. They have installed the new Calix E7 equipment in Lemmon, Bison, Meadow, Camp Crook, Newell, Buffalo, Sorum and Nisland Exchanges. They have also been splicing fiber in the Buffalo and Camp Crook area and moving those customers off the copper cable to the new fiber optic cable as time allows.

Anderson Underground has finished about 90% of the fiber optic build in the Lemmon area and has completed a few underground bores under some of the canals in the Newell Exchange in preparation for the construction to begin this spring. Due to the frost in the ground, however, Anderson Underground has suspended their construction until next spring. The West River crews have been busy moving those customers over to the new fiber. Stateline Construction had been working in the Buffalo and Camp Crook area, but they have also shut down for the winter and will resume 375-3617 construction next spring.

We do have one construction project north of Lemmon that needs to be completed yet this winter. The project is a fiber optic cable build to a tower located north of Lemmon for Slope Electric and is about a mile in length. The crews will start on this project very soon.

West River CATV is 257-2383 aggressively getting equipment and signal in preparation to deploy IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) to our rural customers. We will be using the Digital Headend at SDN to deliver the channels. We have ordered the majority of the equipment and will be testing the product in January and February. We are hoping to deliver IPTV to our customers in April.

We have been seeing our bandwidth peaking in the evening on our Internet backbone, so we are in the process of increasing that bandwidth. In preparation, the crews added equipment to our core router last week and are working with SDN to get this additional bandwidth in place as soon as possible.

The Manager’s Columnby Colle Nash, Interim Co-General Manager

New Year, New Projects

Todd & Sara Alyea Lemmon, SD Cedelia M Anderson Plant City, FL Ed & Pam Aurand Vale, SD Nicole Barnett Newell, SD Ken & Sandy Berthelson Lemmon, SD Julie Braswell Newell, SD Sonja Briscoe Rapid City, SD Dianna Brown Lemmon, SD Kim Coleman Phoenix, AZ Gary & Kellee Cordingly Belle Fourche, SD Geno & Jill Corradi Hettinger, ND

Please Help Us Find These PeopleIn the fall of 2015, many of you may remember receiving a 456-2416 capital credit check from WRCTC. However, there are some who have yet to receive their checks or their allocation notices because we do not have current addresses for them. If you know the current address for any of the people listed below, please contact our office at 777 or 605-244-5213 or email us at westriver@sdplains.com.

Paula Cowles Lemmon, SD Geneice Dauwen Crestview, FL Jessica Davidson Winner, SD Benjamin Denney Cross City, FL Double C’s Tavern Vale, SD Corey Erikson Black Hawk, SD Clay Ewing Winner, SD Lisa Felion Newell, SD Nancy Feller Sturgis, SD Amanda Flegel Newell, SD

(continued on page 4)

3.

Students ages 16 or 17: Experience History in the Making!Join students from across the U.S. for the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) Tour to WASHINGTON, D.C. on June 4 - 8, 2016!

To apply for this trip, please 374-7925 submit a 500-word essay on the following topic: Discuss the Challenges of Providing Telecommunications Services in Rural America.

All essays must 374-5262 be typed and include a cover sheet which states the title of the essay, the entrant’s name and the school they attend.

Essays must be postmarked by Wednesday, March 28, 2016.

Please submit essays to: WRCTC Attn: Rachel Eggebo PO Box 39 Bison, SD 57620 OR email your essay to reggebo@wrctc.coop Questions? Call 777 or 605-244-5213 Students must be 16 or 17 years of age at the time of the tour and a dependent of a WRCTC member to be eligible.

Make a payment on your bill over

the phone using a debit/credit card

or check. Available 24/7!

TERRY BOHNET, Area Journeyman Combination Technician, recently retired from the Newell outpost. Terry was with WRCTC for 16 years. He came to work for West River on July 15, 1999.

Terry and his wife, Linda, reside in Vale. Terry has two kids and seven grandchildren. He enjoys 375-3482 working in his yard.

Congratulations on your retirement, Terry!

Bohnet Retires

WRCTC’S PAY-BY-PHONE

844-252-5267

4.

New WRCTC MembersBison, Meadow, SorumBarlow, Douglas 866-4687 Gebhart, Matt & Lisa 788-2893 Ingalls, James & Tashonna 866-4465 Johnson, Tanner 244-7547

Buffalo, Camp CrookRolph, Matt 375-3554

LemmonBrinkerhoff, Ryan 374-4476 Parmley, Christine 374-4354 Hilkemeier, Tony 374-4478 Schickendanz, Kevin & Ashley 374-4142

NewellBrist, Admiral 456-5968 DeYoe, Tracey 456-1410 Hogan, Frank 456-3836

NislandHansen, Wyatt 257-2907 Stephen, Jimmy 257-2908

ADDRESS CORRECTIONPlease make the following correction in your new 2016 WRCTC directory: Stark, Ryan & Allison from PO Box 122 TO: 13492 Valley Township Rd, Vale, SD

Find Your Phone NumberTen telephone numbers were hidden in the last newsletter. Those members who hunted and found their number were: Lloyd Vansickle, Newell; Kelly Serr, Bison; Darwin Oliver, Shadehill; Lois Lindholm, Buffalo; Carl Foos, Vale and Theora Carlson, Bison.

Hidden in this issue are ten new numbers. If you find YOUR number, all you have to do is notify our office. The $10 will then be deducted off your telephone bill. New connect numbers do not count.

Deadline is February 22, 2016.

$10bill credit

Help Us Find These People (continued)

Heidi Gatzke Newell, SD Dalmin & Amy Gibson Newell, SD Davienne Halpin Nisland, SD Erma Hanna Lemmon, SD Nathanael Harvley Isabel, SD Shawn Hinsz McLaughlin, SD Doug Hoffer Meadow, SD Vernice Holmes Lead, SD Alan & Tessa Homola Lead, SD Theresa James Lemmon, SD Donald & Shirley Johnson Belle Fourche, SD Richard & Sarah Jukkola Chico, CA K D’s Collectibles & Antiques Newell, SD Dawn M Kaessmann Rapid City, SD M K Littleton Nampa, ID Jim Lyon II Sturgis, SD Logan C McDonald Stillwater, OK Susan Messer Lemmon, SD Donald Neelen Belle Fourche, SD Tina O’Connor Lemmon, SD Terri Olson Nisland, SD Wiley Orr Newell, SD Greg Palermo Saratoga, WY Paul & Kim Quickstad Newell, SD Roy & Nicole Riley Sturgis, SD Paul Schild Rapid City, SD Pastor Patrick Southam Sioux Falls, SD Harvey & Laura Sylvester Rapid City, SD Christi Taylor Lemmon, SD Shirley & Donald Van Matre Winner, SD Shirley & Gary Waddell Vale, SD Sally Weber Sturgis, SD Meri Welton Bison, SD Dan Wiest Jacksonville, FL Sheryl Willey Newell, SD

Happy Valentine’s

Day!