The Pope County Corn & Soybean Growers drew a large crowd for its annual meeting on Friday, April 5 at the Minnewaska House Brewing Co + Grill in Glenwood. A total of 75 people attended the meeting that featured a recap of their events from the past year, updates from Minnesota Corn and Minnesota Soybean and a keynote presentation from past Minnesota Corn Growers President Richard Syverson.

Sharing the stage at the meeting was Jan Arneson of Pope County Families in Need. Arneson highlighted the many accomplishments of the Glenwood-based organization. To show their appreciation for Arneson and Pope County Families in Need, the Pope County Corn & Soybean Growers presented her with a $500 check to the organization. 

“We greatly appreciate all that Pope County Families in Need has done towards getting people back on track. We are lucky to have them in the community,” said Pope County Corn & Soybean Growers President Paul Freeman. 

Freeman also highlighted the events and activities that the Pope County Corn & Soybean Growers have participated in over the past year, which included hosting a Plot Day, serving burgers at the Pope County Fair, donating two sets of soy-based tires to the Pope County Car Care program and awarding six scholarships to students headed for a career in agriculture.  

The board also recently held their annual reorganizational meeting. The board appointed Paul Freeman as President, Jon Reichmann as Vice President, Vernon Pooch as Secretary and Bruce Zavadil as Treasurer.