I hope you had a nice September. I was able to get away for a few days to Sturgis, SD. I have a friend who is the CEO of a cooperative there so I went to visit him. It was after the motorcycle rally so I missed the huge crowds. The morning I left there was about 3 inches of snow in Spearfish and I heard they got 10 inches in Deadwood.
The early snow reminded me that winter is coming. Now is a great time to ask your heating person to check out your furnace to make sure that it operates safely. While you’re at it, change your filter. If you have a standard filter, they should be replaced every 3 months. When you’re running your air conditioning, the air is going through your filter so it gets dirty even in the summer.
While you’re outside raking leaves, check the approach to your propane tank. Please make sure there are no hazards between your tank and where the delivery driver will park to make your delivery. Especially hazards that will be covered by the snow. Our delivery personnel have a difficult job and appreciate it when they can easily get to the tanks in the foulest of weather.
As much as I like talking about safety, there is only so much I can do in the limited space available each month. The Propane Education and Research Council has some good consumer safety videos available. Go to propane.com and then click on SAFETY in the blue banner. Then click on CONSUMER SAFETY. There are short videos on that site that tell you how to read a tank gauge, how to turn the tank off, what to do if you suspect a gas leak and a few other topics. It’s a great refresher or if you’re new to propane it’s a good learning tool.
As your local cooperative, one of our favorite things is being able to support our member's businesses. In collaboration with AK Designs and EP Graphics of Mt. Horeb, we were recently able to get our Energy Specialist Addison's truck wrapped. Make sure to say hello when you see him out and about!
The harvest is going to begin soon if it hasn’t already in your area. If you purchase propane to dry your crops, our delivery personnel are ready to serve you. Please get a good partnership established with your driver and work with him to make sure your deliveries are completed in a timely manner. Our folks cover a lot of ground this time of year so please work with them so you both can be as efficient as possible.
With the additional farm equipment on the road this time of year, we all need to be extra careful to make sure it’s a safe harvest. As the highway signs say, “Give ‘em a BRAKE”.
At the end of September I was fortunate to take part in a tradition again this year. Several of the men I was in Iraq with get together to remember two men we lost to a roadside bomb on September 26th, 2005. We form a convoy and visit their gravesites to honor their sacrifice and to renew the bonds of friendship that were forged under difficult circumstances.
We ended up in Green Lake where one of our fallen hero’s mother and stepfather had arranged a feed for us at the American Legion. Can you imagine? They had lost their son and they had arranged this luncheon for us. What incredibly strong, amazing people. It really helped to renew my faith in America.
Have a great October and thank you for your business.
