Olson Ag has been around for a long time, although you may know it by its former name, Olson’s Custom Farm Services. Olson Ag is a 3rd-generation company. It was founded in 1930 by Melvin Olson when he started managing the Sebeka Pederson-Biddick store and remains family owned and operated.
Melvin’s son Murlin purchased the business in 1974 and expanded it through acquisitions:
Murlin’s son Mac Olson worked alongside his dad, and in 2007, Mac took over the business.
Olson Ag has locations in Sebeka, Verndale and Staples. It serves farmers, ranchers and hobby farmers throughout central Minnesota and offers a wide array of ag-related products and services, which include feed, seed, fertilizer and chemical needs. The Sebeka location offers a wide variety of supplies in the store and features a convenient drive-through dome for loading up your supplies. The business also carries a full line of farm equipment parts and offers crop and livestock equipment for sale or rent. Being rural, Olson Ag tries to source their products locally whenever possible.
When asked what makes Olson Ag stand out, Mac said, “Working with our customers to get them what they need is the most rewarding part of my job. What makes us stand out is that extra mile we’ll go to provide the best customer service.”
Olson Ag relies on West Central Telephone for phone and internet services as well as a surveillance system so Mac and his team can keep an eye on the business even when they’re not on location.
Olson Ag’s main location is in Sebeka at 29238 US Hwy 71. For more information, you can call 218-837-5749, or visit www.olsonscustomfarmservices.com. Follow them on Facebook .
Brian Hagen has been a business owner for over 35 years. One of his latest endeavors is the restaurant formerly known as Maasconi’s, which he’s renamed The Pirate’s Den Bar & Restaurant. When he purchased the restaurant, there were no operating gas stations in Verndale. Brian really wanted a gas station in town, and ever the entrepreneur, he added a Cenex C-Store and station to the business.
The Pirate’s Den Bar & Restaurant can accommodate large or small groups and private parties, offering a full menu and full bar. It’s a fun environment with a friendly staff ready to serve you. Their winter hours are Monday through Saturday from 11 am to 10 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 8 pm.
The C-Store opened in January 2021 and sells hot deli food, frozen foods, and a wide variety of groceries. A customer favorite and “must try” is the broasted chicken. Its hours of operation are Monday through Thursday from 6 am to 9 pm, Friday from 6 am to 10 pm, and Sunday from 6 am to 8 pm.
Brian relies on West Central Telephone for his phone, internet, and Manage MyWiFi services. He does most of his advertising on Facebook, posting specials of the day or week, and with the volume of takeout orders, he’s thankful for reliable phone service.
The Pirates Den Bar & Restaurant is located at 210 W Service Dr. in Verndale. You can reach them by calling 218-445-2855. For daily specials, check their Facebook page.
| For a good cause… ten-digit dialing must be implemented in all areas of the U.S. This is due to technical reasons supporting the new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) directive adopting 988 as the three-digit number to be used nationwide to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline. For 988 to work in the 218-area code, 10-digit local dialing must first be implemented, which means you will need to change the way you dial local calls. The 988 hotline is starting July 16, 2022. Customers should continue to dial 1-800-273-TALK to reach the Lifeline until July 16, 2022. What will be the new dialing procedure? To complete all local calls, you will now need to dial 218 + telephone number. This applies to all calls within your area code that are currently dialed with seven digits. Who will be affected? Anyone with a telephone number with the area code 218 will need to make this change from 7-digit local dialing to 10-digit local dialing. When will the change begin? Beginning April 24, 2021, you can and should begin dialing 10 digits (218 + telephone number) for all local calls. If you forget and dial just 7 digits, for now, your call will still be completed. Beginning January 1, 2022, you must dial 10-digits (218 + telephone number) for all local calls. On and after this date, local calls dialed with only 7-digits may not be completed, and a recording will inform you that your call cannot be completed as dialed. You must hang up and dial again using the area code and the 7-digit number. Reprogram Your Auto Dialers In addition to changing the way you dial local calls, all services, automatic dialing equipment, or other types of equipment that are programmed to complete calls to 7-digit local numbers will need to be reprogrammed to complete calls to 10-digit numbers. Some examples are life safety systems or medical monitoring devices, PBXs, fax machines, Internet dial-up numbers, fire or burglar alarm and security systems or gates, speed dialers, mobile or other wireless phone contact lists, call forwarding settings, voicemail services and other similar functions. Be sure to check your website, personal and business stationery, advertising materials, personal and business checks, contact information, your personal or pet ID tags, and other such items to ensure the area code is included. What will remain the same? • Your telephone number, including current area code, will not change. • The price of a call, coverage area, or other rates and services will not change due to the dialing change. • What is a local call now will remain a local call regardless of the number of digits dialed. • You will continue to dial 1+ area code + telephone number for all long-distance calls. • You can still dial just three digits to reach 711 (relay services) and 911 (emergency services). • 211, 411, 511, 611, or 811 services can still be reached by dialing their three-digit codes. • The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can still be reached by dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Who may you contact with questions? If you have any questions regarding information provided in this notice, please call our office at 218-837-5151 or access www.wcta.net for more information. You can also visit the FCC website. And remember, if you or anyone you know needs it, beginning July 16, 2022, dialing “988” will quickly route your call to National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline. For more information see the FCC Announcement. |
| The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is adopting 988 as the three-digit number to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline. Use begins July 16, 2022 nationwide. You should continue to dial 1-800-273-TALK to reach the Lifeline until July 16, 2022. For more information see the FCC Announcement. |
Driving through Main Street in Sebeka, the back-country roads of Wolf Lake or Wadena, from cabins in Menahga all the way to farms in Staples and Verndale… the picture is rural.
To those who live here our communities offer the vital space to live out our independent spirits. We experience our communities as active and vibrant; full of fun-loving, hardworking people. Throughout this report, you’ll see pictures of our employees and their families ejoying life in our area. Just like you.
Yet, to an outsider the wide-open spaces can look different. A simple, but underdeveloped Main Street, or an occasional dilapidated rural building, might look sleepy. One home every mile, compared to many in just one block is the lifestyle difference. More specifically, in the United States, rural areas have just 6% of the overall population, but about 50% of the territory.
Despite the appearance and density differences, there is something else that makes us quite unique.
Someone unfamiliar might be surprised to know that running silently underfoot is a lit-glass communication system that rivals any in the world. This ‘lit-glass’ is a fiber-optic network that connects directly to each business and residence in our area. On it, ultra-high-speed broadband internet is available to every corner of our service area.
Because of our early adoption to this fiber-optic network, your cooperative, with technical experts and leading management continues to expand and transform this region into a communication powerhouse ripe with opportunity for every rural corner.
As evidence of our leadership, we regularly give input to legislative offices such as Amy Klobuchar’s on telecommunications issues affecting rural areas. The public and cooperative investments made here are a rural model for advancing telecommunications infrastructure.
We work hard every day to make this rural area a great place to live and work. We invite you to secure the opportunities and embrace our leading technologies. Thank you for making us a part of your rural life.
Tucked away in a Menahga family cabin is where Ida Moen Johnson retreated with her husband during the Covid-19 shutdown earlier this year. As the outside world was in turmoil, peace and tranquility descended upon them as they enjoyed their stay in the area.
For Ida, the time was extra special. Not just because she got to enjoy cabin life, but she was able to use the time to finish her PhD in Scandinavian Languages and Literatures at the University of California, Berkeley in May. The idea came when her father (former MN Representative Clark Johnson, 19A from 2013 to 2018) had praise for the cooperative and their communication services. He knew it was a special place where she could accomplish something.
How could a PhD in Menahga be possible? Well, it starts with directly connected fiber-optic internet provided by West Central Telephone. According to Ida, she was allowed flawless on-line research capability from the middle of very rural Minnesota. She communicated effortlessly worldwide from San Francisco to Scandinavia and points in between. The service and support she received were better in Menahga than big-city metro areas where she has lived in the past.
With the rural fiber-optic internet network that connects to every corner and every cabin of the West Central Telephone service area, the possibilities are limitless for development. As a communications cooperative our first mission is to assure the region has access to the technology it needs to thrive in the 21st century. And because there are no investors to pay first, every dollar invested quickly goes to make sure the internet service to every corner of the service area is built. Fast, reliable internet is a reality to even the most remote places.
This rural fiber-optic network investment by West Central Telephone is made possible through years of diligent management dedication to developing technology infrastructure for the area. As a cooperative this is a perfect example of implementation of trailblazing rural services created by co-op community partnerships.
The result is that from rural business operations, to work-from-home, and student situations like Ida’s, anything is possible with direct fiber-optic internet.
When Ida was approached to tell her story, she was happy to do so because having access to great internet is good for democracy and the future of rural America. Ida moved on and thanks to the PhD she was able to acquire while here, is now a Visiting Assistant Professor at St. Olaf College. We wish her well and will be glad to see her and the entire crew visiting at the Menahga cabin as the family tradition continues.
For more information about direct fiber-optic internet in rural Minnesota, please reach out. We’re happy to tell our trailblazing story of how fiber-optic internet is changing the landscape of our region… making it ready for any development to come. Thank you for choosing West Central Telephone.
“They are a technologically far superior and advanced telephone company compared to bigger city companies. Great customer service to boot!”
“Very helpful.”
“Josh was right on time and didn’t leave till everything was working. Thanks again.”
“Right from the initial phone call, West Central Telephone was more than willing to help get things running. It felt like I had a business partner.”