Solway Junior Wins Paul Bunyan Essay Contest, Earns D.C. Trip

Zivah Zebro, a junior at Bemidji High School who lives in Solway, has won the Paul Bunyan Communications 2026 Youth Tour Essay Contest, earning a fully paid trip to Washington, D.C., June 1–5.

Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor Brian Bissonette described what the experience means for a student from this part of Minnesota. "The FRS Youth Tour is a unique opportunity for a local student from our area to visit Washington D.C. to gain a better perspective on how regulatory decisions impact our cooperative and rural areas," Bissonette said. "They will also get the chance to see a lot of historic sites in our nation's capital!"

The cooperative has sent a local high school student to the Youth Tour every year since 1996. Recent winners from the region include Joseph Loehlein of Turtle River in 2025, Julia Frenzel of Blackduck in 2024, Michael Van Horn of Blackduck in 2023, and Amelia Scherling of Bemidji in 2022. Zebro's win marks the first time a Solway student has taken the honor in at least the past four years.

Paul Bunyan Communications serves most of Beltrami County and portions of Aitkin, Cass, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, and St. Louis Counties through what it describes as the region's largest all-fiber optic network, spanning more than 6,000 square miles. The Bemidji-area cooperative provides broadband internet with upload and download speeds up to 10 Gig, digital voice services, and managed IT business services, and also operates as Northern Minnesota's certified Apple Service Center and an authorized DIRECTV dealer.

Zebro's trip to the capital is scheduled for June 1–5, with all costs covered by Paul Bunyan Communications.