More than 2,000 members, employees, directors and exhibitors enjoyed celebrating the cooperative spirit at the 2003 Meeker Cooperative Member Appreciation Day Saturday, Sept. 20. The event took place at the Nelson Farm in rural Litchfield for the fourth consecutive year. Nelson Farm is a destination for thousands of visitors each fall, and the cooperative shows its appreciation to members by inviting them out for a free day of fun and fall festivities. The Nelson family hosts the members of Meeker Cooperative one week before opening to the general public. The cooperative initially selected the Nelson Farm venue as a way to draw more young people to an event, and members responded. Nelson Farm provides many child-friendly activities such as pony, combine, soap box derby and horse-drawn trolley rides, a corn maze, petting zoos, scarecrow stuffing, pumpkin painting and the crowd-pleasing pumpkin catapult show. Along with a free meal featuring riblet sandwiches, Meeker Cooperative provided bucket truck rides, safety demonstrations, landscaping and HVAC contractors, a question and answer booth, and free root beer floats. The cooperative also worked with the Minnesota Masons and local law enforcement authorities to set up a child ID booth for the event. The Meeker Cooperative Operation Round Up® Trust Board presented more then $10,000 in grants to 22 area non-profit organizations at Member Appreciation Day. The Operation Round Up® program is funded by cooperative members who round up their utility bills to to the next highest dollar and employees rounding their paychecks down to the next lowest dollar. The board has presented $118,278 to 3,078 worthy projects over the past 4 and a half years. Members were asked to donate new school supplies at the event, and the cooperative was able to provide those to the Salvation Army who delivered them to schools in the area. Obviously, the cooperative spirit is alive and well at Meeker Cooperative, and members were again shown the value of cooperative membership at a fun and festive Member Appreciation Day.
