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| A Different Kind Of Baseball Fan 10-year-old Vincent Stio admires baseball umpires so much that he mimics (accurately!) their moves at every Carolina Mudcats home game. |
Not Your Childhood Treehouse Watch this fascinating time-lapse film of building the biblioteque (library) treehouse in Utopia, Texas, where you can stay overnight. |
News
BAND Featured Story – Feil Farms
BAND Featured Story – Feil Farms
In the winter, it’s quiet out at Feil Farms. The 3,500-acre farm is 20 miles northwest of Langdon, far from the hustle and bustle of town. Sean Feil grew up here watching his grandfather and father work the land, growing barley and wheat. Later, they would start planting canola, and years later, soybeans. Each day was spent outdoors, and each day was different. Sean couldn’t imagine any other life.
“I enjoy being outside,” he says. His voice is low, thoughtful. “Being your own boss. Watching the crops grow each year.”
It’s a familiar lifestyle to many families in rural North Dakota, where agriculture is the leading revenue-producing industry and accounts for about one-fourth of the state’s economic base. From Williston to Wahpeton, this is the heart of “America’s Breadbasket,” where we value the art of working the land. In fact, 39.1 million acres — nearly 90% of North Dakota’s land area — is in farms and ranches.
And yet, what does living in rural America look like in a world that is growing increasingly connected? What does it look like in a post-dot-com society where the internet is no longer a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have?
Questions like these are why in 1953, a group of North Dakota telephone cooperatives had the forethought to band together to keep North Dakota connected. They met at the Patterson Hotel in Bismarck, with a mission to guard against unfavorable legislation and ensure the highest quality communication systems would remain available across North Dakota.
They had no idea how much would change.
This committed organization has ebbed and flowed through a revolutionary era of communication. At the time of the association’s creation, a majority of rural North Dakota residents had party-line service, wires were strung from pole to pole and “long distance” calls were prohibitively expensive. Today, rural areas of the state have access to some of the fastest and most affordable broadband technology found anywhere in the United States.
Today, 65 years later, this organization now serves North Dakota as BAND — the Broadband Association of North Dakota. And while so much has changed, their mission has not; to ensure the highest quality communication systems are accessible to all North Dakotans. Their hard work over the decades laying over 45,000 miles of fiber across the state has changed the lives of folks across North Dakota. Folks like Sean, and his family, on their farm in Langdon.
As Sean reflects on the broadband services he uses to sustain his farm, he shakes his head with a smile.
“My dad could have never imagined this,” he says.
Living in a rural area, Sean was used to not having a good connection from the farm to the ‘outside world’. The phone reception was choppy, and if he needed to look up equipment on the internet, he had to wait until he went back into Langdon. Every day, he said goodbye to his wife and kids and made the 20-mile drive to check on the farm. At night, he often lay awake worrying if the crop and equipment were safe — but he had no way of knowing.
That is until he brought up his challenge to his uncle, who works at United Communications, a member organization of BAND. He suggested Sean try out installing a wireless access point and a security camera system, to allow him to check on the farm remotely.
Sean was sold. With the help of United Communications, he installed four cameras throughout his farm. Now, Sean gets a text any time motion is detected by the sensors or the cameras, and can even see who it is. Everything is also recorded on his DVR, so he can rewind and review video footage if needed.
“I have a lot more peace of mind,” Sean said. “I don’t worry so much when I’m gone.”
In addition, his broadband provider dug fiber out to Sean’s farm and set him up with a wireless access point so that he now has a point-to-point internet connection throughout the yard. Now, he can keep up to date on markets, weather, and look up equipment parts right from the field.
Far more important for Sean, however, is that he can spend more time with his wife Brittany, his 4-year-old daughter, his 3-year-old son, and their new 15-month-old little girl. Before, his frequent trips took time away from home. During busy season, when work requires him to stay overnight at the farm, he was forced to say goodbye and had little to no connection with his family. Now, with the broadband services from his local broadband provider, Sean is able to stay connected.
“During the busy times, I can still stay in touch with my wife and ask how things are going back home,” he said. “And every night before bed, I FaceTime my kids to say goodnight and tell them I love them.”
For the 18 local broadband providers across North Dakota that make up BAND — this is why we do what we do. It’s stories like Sean’s that illustrate what it looks like to live in rural America today; how North Dakotans can enjoy the beauty of rural living while maintaining quality broadband and connection across the state. Serving the people of North Dakota is how it all started 65 years ago — and no matter where the adventure of communication services takes us, BAND’s mission will remain true for the next 65 years and beyond.
Learn more about BAND and how you can connect with your local BAND organization, at broadbandnd.com.
SRT Kicks Off 2019 Hometown Grill Tour
SRT Kicks Off 2019 Hometown Grill Tour
MINOT, N.D. – SRT is pleased to announce the start of the 2019 SRT Hometown Grill Tour! SRT employees, management and board will be visiting 10 area events this summer to show appreciation to our members. Each event is different, but SRT will be there to provide a free meal to the community at each of them.
The tour kicked off in Westhope on Friday, May 24 and continued on Monday, May 27 in Sherwood, serving hamburgers and brats to over 400 hungry visitors. We were happy to have the opportunity to participate in these community celebrations and thank our members for being such loyal and integral parts of our company and grilling hamburgers, brats, and hot dogs at these events is our way of showing that we value the people, communities, and businesses in our area.
Moving forward, SRT has plans to visit Burlington, Lake Metigoshe, Minot Air Force Base, Velva, Berthold, Lorraine, and more. Check out the SRT Facebook page and srt.com/hometowngrilltour for updates on when and where the grill tour will be traveling to next. We hope to see you soon!
SRT Communications located in Minot, North Dakota is the state’s largest telecommunications cooperative. SRT services include Internet, Security, TV, Phone and Business Services and has served north central North Dakota since 1951, employs more than 200 people, and serves over 48,000 customers.
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Two Area Students Represent SRT in Washington, D.C.
Two Area Students Represent SRT in Washington, D.C.
MINOT, N.D. –
SRT and the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) are proud to announce that Téa Boeckel from Our Redeemer’s Christian School and Cody Frounfelter from TGU-Granville High School will be attending the FRS Youth Tour, an all-expense paid educational tour to Washington, D.C., taking place the first week of June.
Téa and Cody were selected by their schools to represent SRT and North Dakota as they learn about the regulatory process and impact of legislative decisions on the telecommunications industry in rural America. They will have the opportunity to visit many historic sights, the U.S. Capitol, and the Supreme Court along with 110 other high school students from across suburban and rural America.
“This is a unique opportunity for these two students to join fellow high schoolers from across the United States and gain a first-hand look into how regulatory decisions are made within government, and how this relates to telecommunications in their home communities,” said Steve Lysne, SRT CEO/General Manager. “We hope they are inspired to be even more active in their communities and possibly spark a career interest in telecommunications.”
The FRS Youth Tour is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. FRS is sponsored in part by telecommunication companies, including SRT. FRS is the philanthropic branch of NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association, of which SRT is a member.
SRT Communications located in Minot, North Dakota is the state’s largest telecommunications cooperative. SRT services include Internet, Security, TV, Phone and Business Services and has served north central North Dakota since 1951, employs nearly 200 people, and serves over 48,000 customers.
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Short Tutorial/FAQ
Short Tutorial/FAQ
Question: I’ve been hearing so much about smart speakers that I’ve started to think about getting one for myself. But I’m not sure how I would actually use it. What are the most popular uses of these devices?
Answer: Smart speakers, like Alexa-enabled Echo products or Google Home products, can perform a wide variety of functions. Here are just a few:
Answer: Smart speakers, like Alexa-enabled Echo products or Google Home products, can perform a wide variety of functions. Here are just a few:
- Play music. You can tell your smart speaker to play your favorite radio station. It can also play music from apps (called “skills”) like Pandora.
- Tell you the weather forecast or news updates. Just ask your speaker to tell you the weather forecast or news headlines, and it will do exactly that.
- Set timers. You can use the smart speaker like a kitchen timer — just ask it to set a timer for the amount of time you need.
- Perform voice searches. This action is similar to doing a Google search on your computer, only you use your voice and get a voice response back.
- Play games. Some of the skills include fun games like Jeopardy! or Twenty Questions.
- Operate your smart home. Connect smart appliances, light bulbs, thermostats, and other items in your home to your smart device, then use your voice to command them.
- Make phone calls. There are several ways you can make phone calls with your smart device, including linking it with your Skype account.
