Park Region draws 400 to Underwood meeting, elects Bakken to board

More than 400 Park Region members and customers turned out to Underwood Public School on Thursday, underscoring how much local households care about the cooperative’s board decisions, finances and fiber buildout. Lee Bakken won the open Underwood director seat in a ballot vote, giving members in Underwood and across Otter Tail County a new voice on a nine-member board that guides the company’s next steps.

Stephany Wold was the other nominee for the Underwood seat. Pat Dillon and Tom Murphy were re-elected by acclamation to their director positions for the Erhard and Maine exchanges, keeping two familiar names in place as Park Region continues investing in fiber-to-the-home technology throughout its service area.

The annual meeting at Underwood Public School blended business and celebration, but the business mattered most. Matt Holmquist, Park Region’s controller, presented the 2025 financial report, while General Manager and CEO Dave Bickett reviewed the previous year’s activities and previewed what lies ahead. For members, those reports are more than routine paperwork. They are the clearest public look at how a company founded in 1906 to provide telephone service to Dalton and the surrounding area is managing the utilities, internet service and future expansion that rural customers depend on.

Park Region says it now serves communities including Rothsay, Browns Valley, Underwood, Dalton, Elizabeth, Maine, Erhard, Fergus Falls, Battle Lake and Vining, and employs about 50 people. That footprint makes the annual meeting a countywide event, not just a town gathering, especially as the company pushes fiber-to-the-home service deeper into its territory.

The evening opened with a pork chop dinner from the Underwood Lions, followed by registration, visits with staff and board members, and product demonstrations. Underwood High School student Chloe Cruz sang the National Anthem before the vote and financial reports. After the meeting, prize drawings handed out a 65-inch Samsung TV with Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, two Minnesota Vikings tickets, four Minnesota Twins tickets and a $200 bill credit.

Park Region had promoted the April 16 meeting in advance as starting at 6:30 p.m., with doors opening at 5 p.m., and the turnout suggested the formula still works. In a rural area where broadband reliability, board oversight and long-term infrastructure spending can affect nearly every household, the crowd in Underwood was a reminder that members are paying close attention to who represents them and where the cooperative is headed next.