August 2001 • Page 13

Clark ElectricCooperativeYour Touchstone Energy® Partner

A resort for everyoneSunset Pines Resort designed for the

disabled and able vacationer

Dale Petkovsek outside of his Sunset Pines Resort, which isdesigned for the disabled but can be enjoyed by all.

Disabled hunter Verlyn Noah after a successfulhunt. These types of hunts are important, allshould be able to enjoy the outdoors and whatWisconsin has to offer

Local businessman Dale Pekovsek, owner ofDale’s North Mound Tavern has had a fewdreams, which so far he has been able to makecome true. Now that not sound like such a hardidea for most people, but Dale is not like mostpeople, Dale is a quadriplegic. This has notslowed him down it just presents him with adifferent set of challenges, which he overcomes.

Growing up in the Willard area was specialto Dale. As a youth he enjoyed hunting, fishing,softball, and being with his friends. An accidentat 17 changed that for Dale. Because of theaccident Dale is now a quadriplegic, he left forMinneapolis to get therapy at the Courage Center,and he also attended North Hennepin Commu-nity College to study business administration.Missing the Willard area he moved back to fulfillhis first opportunity. He bought the tavern whereDale’s North Mound is now. If you have beenthere you know what a great place he has. Greatfood, and always a good time, no matter whattime of year it is. Open all year Dale’s has its summer visitors who are visiting their cottages or in the

winter from the snowmobilers who will drive many miles tostop at Dale’s.

Dale’s is also known for its outdoor spring concert,which brings many people for a day & night of fun and goodmusic. This year’s concert marked the fifth year that theconcerts have taken place out at Dales with around 2,200 inattendance; they heard great music from The Vic FerrairiBand, Gypsy Rose, and The Fairmont’s.

Dale likes to keep busy; the idea of the resort with accom-modations for the disabled came out of one of his other hob-bies, hunting. Dale being an avid hunter before and after hisaccident has worked with others to promote hunting for thedisabled. Last year Dale helped to setup one of 60 disabledhunts in the State, which are DNR approved. This specialhunt takes place in the first week of October. This specialhunt occurs because of Dale’s neighbors and friends who do-nate there time and land to make this hunt possible. Lastyear 2,900 acres in the Willard area were made available tothe disabled hunters, with everything evolving around Dale’sNorth Mound Tavern. Because of this hunt and the need forenough lodging for the participants the idea for the resortevolved. Lodging for the disabled is unique and Dale knewwhat it takes to make things assessable and comfortable for

Page 14 • R.E.C.News

LocalNews

Clark Electric CooperativeYour Touchstone Energy®Partner

Team Work = The Cooperative WayStudents attend YLC to learn about cooperatives

Nine students representing schoolsfrom Clark Electric Cooperative’s servicearea represented the cooperative at theannual Youth Leadership Conference(YLC) held at UW River Falls this past June.This event is a very important to the co-operatives throughout the state. It lets usteach to eager students about cooperativesand what they are all about.

Yes, eager students. The students whorepresent Clark Electric Cooperative andthe other cooperatives who send studentsto the YLC are all young leaders. Theseare the youths who are involved in every-thing that they can be. Most of the stu-dents are all active in their local FFA (Fu-ture Farmers of America) or FBLA (FutureBusiness Leaders of America) programsat school. It’s quite amazing when you sitdown and listen to what they have doneor plan on doing at their age.

Because these students are allleaders and eager to learn new andimportant information a busy schedulewas laid out for them for the three days and twonights while they were at the YLC. Last year’sstudents who were elected to the Youth Board ranthis year’s program. The program is very success-ful in that the youths get quite a bit of knowledgeon cooperative’s and the cooperative spirit. Thisyear Craig Hillier was back again to deliver hispowerful messages on youth leadership, stretchingtheir creativity and the value of cooperation. Craighas visited many Wisconsin schools delivering hismessages, that why he’s been invited back to theYLC so many times, hismessages are great and thekids like him and learnfrom him.

A highlight this year wasa presentation by BlaiseWinters, an 11-year veteranof the NFL. Blaise let thestudents know that obstaclescan be overcome, that per-severance and determina-tion will help them to over-come these obstacles.Blaise shared his personnelbattles and how he over-came his obstacles.

Other events includedstarting and operating their

One of the Outward Bound Exercises for students; they all learn to worktogether to pick up the cup and poor the water into another cup; without acooperative effort the task is impossible. With teamwork and the cooperativespirit they did it.

Clark Electric Cooperative representatives at the YLC held at UW-River Falls. Front Row:Larissa Fildes, Kendall Liebzeit, Carlene Potaczek. Back Row: Lyndsey Volosek, StephanieMulderink, Shelly Schoen, Jill Hinrichsen, Christina Steinmetz, and Raelynn Burrington.

own cooperative. By doing this they hold meetings thathelp them learn the cooperative form of business. Theydiscuss issues and elect a representative who will be onnext year’s youth board. Clark Electric Cooperative is al-ways looking for interested youths to attend the Youth Lead-ership Congress; we encourage interested students to con-tact their counselors, FFA directors or FBLA advisors whohave the information. Each spring through the REC Newswe announce this program so that we can have a great del-egation to send.

August 2001 • Page 15

Local

News

Clark Electric CooperativeYour Touchstone Energy® Partner

everyone involved. Thus the idea of Sunset PinesResort was established and created in a matter ofa short time.

The cabin can sleep up to six comfortably withTV, VCR, stereo, and washer & dryer included.The master bedroom has a full size bed, which isopen underneath for special lift devices that aguest may have or need to get in and out of bed.The master bathroom is totally designed for thedisabled with a wheel chair accessible shower,and sink area that makes things convenient forthe guest. The rest of the cabin is also tailored forwheel chairs and any guest really, the place hasall hardwood floors and the doorways are all verywide made for ease of use. You also have a beau-tiful view of the 4.5-acre pond, which has the dis-abled fisherman in mind with access for fishingwith two piers. The pond will be stocked withwalleye, bass and bluegills. The outdoors trailsystem is made available and accessible for all,no matter what their limitations are, the trails windthroughout the property for all to enjoy nature’sbeauty. Other amenities include the availabilityto rent a pontoon boat and enjoy boating aroundMead Lake, and while at Mead Lake their will bebeach and water accessibility for wheel chairs sothat the family can enjoy their time together.

The future holds more ideas for Dale. As Sun-set Pines Resort grows Dale has more cabins inmind to accommodate more disabled and able va-cationers in the Willard Area. To find out moreon Sunset Pines Resort Contact Dale Petkovsek atW9210 Rock Creek Rd., Willard, WI 54493, 715267-6889 or you can view and get great informa-tion on the web at www.sunsetpinesresort.com.

Clark youth on2002 YLC board

Jill Hinrichsen from Abbotsford was electedto the Youth Leadership Congress (YLC) Boardduring this June’s YLC gathering at UW-RiverFalls. Jill will be a Junior at Abbotsford HighSchool when school starts up this fall.

Jill is very active in school and with herextracurricular activities; she belongs to both theFFA (Future Farmers of America) and FBLA(Future Business Leaders of America) chaptersin Abbotsford where she is Vice-President ofboth organizations. She is also a member of theNational Honor Society.

One thing that stood out during Jill’s stay atthe YLC was the team building exercises thatthe participants took part in. Jill said, “I learnedhow to communicate in different ways, I wasn’table to talk and had to get a message to myteammates.” Jill is looking forward to next yearwhere she will help plan the 2002 YLC forstudents just like her.

Planning for their future

A bathroom which is accessible for all is a majorfeature at Sunset Pines Resort, as is the rest ofthe cottage, from the hardwood floors to verywide door ways to accommodate wheel chairs.

e-mail us at info@cecoop.com or at jknox@cecoop.com

Dick Adler, ManagerJohn J. Knox, Editor

124 N. Main StreetP.O. Box 190Greenwood, WI 54437

WWW.CECOOP.COM

For information onClark Electric Cooperative's

Dairy Farm Wiring Program & Loan Program with free inspections

Contact John Knox Director of Member services

715-267-6188 • 800-272-6188

Page 16 • R.E.C. News

Your Touchstone Energy® PartnerClark Electric Cooperative

Safe... Quiet... And efficient electric heating for your home

Consider ETS this winterHave comfort and affordability...

As winter is approach-ing many customers arewondering what theirheating bills will be likethis year? Know oneknows what the price ofgas will do this winter, butwe do know that your elec-tric rate will not be goingup and out of sight like gasdoes. In fact if you com-pare your electric rateagainst your gas rate youwill see how volatile gascan really be!

This winter why notconsider adding an Elec-tric Thermal Storage Unit– ETS to your home. ETScan replace existing base-board electric heat or canbe used as an independentheat source to take care ofyour family’s comfort. ETSstores the electric heat en-ergy to be used whenneeded. By utilizing oneof Clark ElectricCooperative’s electric heating rates you can heat yourhome very cost effectively, while knowing that youare using a clean, safe and efficient way to heat yourhouse. ETS units can have up to 16 hours of storedheat available. This is why they fit great into ClarkElectric Cooperative's electric heat strategies. Whenwe need to activate our load management system theETS units have heat ready to fulfill your needs. ETSunits also work great with our TOD (Time-of-Day) rate.The time of Day metering can control your ETS unit toturn off during the peak hours and charge only dur-ing the off-peak times, leaving you nothing to worryabout except enjoying your nice warm home.

To provide the comfort small fans located insidethe ETS unit distribute the heat throughout the roommaking the room very pleasant to live and sleep in.They are quiet and efficient, again making it great tobe in any room that you want to enjoy and want tobe comfortable in.

Contact Clark Electric Appliance & Satellite, Inc.next door to the Cooperative’s office where they canshow and explain to you what the ETS units have tooffer. You can call Clark Electric Appliance &Satellite's Office at 715-267-6544 or toll free at 1-866-6544. Rita Sladich or John Koschak can help you ingetting ETS installed in your house before wintertakes its grip on us.

Heating this winterWhat are you doing to

make your energy dollarsearn your respect!

Are you considering a new heating system?

If so what will you choose?

Have you considered Geothermal or ETS asyour main heating system?

Contact Clark Electric Appliance & Satellitethey can show you how to save money andbe energy wise in spending money on heat-ing this winter.

715-267-6544 or toll free 1-866-279-6544