Even those who’ve lived in Douglas County a long time can learn something new. Just ask the busload of residents who took part in the annual Runestone Electric Association (REA) member tour on October 2. The tour is a celebration of National Co-op Month and showcased the unique energy needs of an REA business, a university research facility, and two county sites.
REA’s Ryan Rooney led the group, which was mostly retired couples, from the REA headquarters in Alexandria to Andes Tower Hills, Pope Douglas Metal Recovery and Ash Landfill, Kensington Rune Stone Park, and West Central Research and Outreach Center at the UofM-Morris.
At Andes Tower Hills, the group learned the popular ski area is the third highest user of electricity from REA. Much of the use comes from snow-making machines. With his father Paul and Uncle Vern by his side, Andes Tower Hills General Manager Tom Anderson, aka Hollywood, enthusiastically shared how the business started. “There were six guys who paid a buck a piece to go down the hills”. Today, about 49,994 more people go down the hill each year. The tour wasn’t all talk. Anderson made sure there was some adventure. He loaded the men and women onto carts pulled by vintage jeeps and up the hills they went to enjoy some of the most spectacular fall scenery around. Retired Douglas County Commissioner Keith Englund and his wife Bonnie were among the passengers.
At the next stop, Nick Trinka, with Pope Douglas Solid Waste, provided a show and tell of a seldom seen resource in the county. It’s where metals are recovered from the ash created when garbage is burned at the incinerator in Alexandria. He showed the group how the ash goes onto a series of conveyor belts that shake the metal fragments from the ash then he shared bags of what’s pulled from the ash to the folks on the bus who passed them from seat to seat.
He also shared bags of compost and had the bus pull up to what he called a hybrid compost system. This is where hills of food scraps and compostable bags turn into valuable compost that will be rich in nitrogen and eventually available for purchase.
The final morning stop was Kensington Rune Stone Park. Brittany Johnson, Douglas County Historical Society Executive Director, provided the history of how the land became a park. She shared how the Runestone Park Foundation worked with the county in 1974 to purchase the famous property. And how an additional 114 acres were purchased in 2010. The visitor center was built in 2018 using mostly grant funds. It’s open year-round and is filled with information on the discovery of the rune stone and its significance.
After lunch, the group headed to the West Central Research and Outreach Center at the UofM-Morris, to visit the Ag Energy Lab and the green ammonia plant. The final stop was a coffee break at The Grounds at Homestead in Morris. Details were shared about the Grant County Wind Farm and the Roseville Substation as the bus traveled along Hwy 59 north of Morris on its return to REA.
Plans are underway for the 2027 tour.
REA serves over 15,500 accounts in rural areas of Douglas, Pope, Grant, Stevens, Ottertail, Stearns, and Todd Counties.