On Demand Movie Nights!• Rent the newest releases up to

28 days before Netflix or Redbox.

• Enjoy over 5,500 movie and TV titles.

• On Demand is much more than movie rentals

• FREE movies and current TV shows, available with your VC Co-op TV subscription.

PREMIERING IN NOVEMBER

Check your guide for start dates.

NOVEMBER 2019

Cashton Fall Fest Parade. Viola Horse & Colt Parade Retreat Two-Way Parade

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Sometimes rodents, reptiles and insects get into our pedestals, hand-holes and cabinets that house electronics, which can cause problems and can create an outage. It is not uncommon for us to go to a site in question, only to find these creatures in our equipment. Mice are a common problem especially in the spring and fall, due to the change of season’s. (Pictured right, is a mouse nest). Because it is warm and dry, they also are often times trying to keep warm. This snake (far right) was trying to find a clean, dry area and was found in one of our pedestals in the De Soto area.

Elements Of Nature Can Cause Outages

Parades VC Co-op employees, children and pets brave all elements to participate in our local parades.

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Fiber Construction UpdatePlowing is complete and cable is in the ground for our fiber construction project in the grant areas for the season. Fiber Construction will begin again in the Spring. Splicing will continue for most of the winter.

New Marketing Campaign

VC Co-op “Superheros”, are seen in our Marketing materials above. Recently a photo session by “Hanna Agar Photography”, depicting supernatural hero’s displays our heroic employees and the problems they solve in communications. You will soon see these fun photos on billboards and print. A Superhero has abilities that are set apart from other people, helping others in need. They were first introduced in comic magazines in the 1930’s. Our employees are professionals and have the knowledge and skills to solve our members communication needs. The campaign portrays our employees having concern for the members and communities we serve. We hope you enjoy seeing these familiar faces in our new Ads.

Headquarters103 N Main St. Westby

(8:00 AM - 5:00 PM)(608) 634-3136

Technology Center 214 N Main St. Viroqua

(8:00 AM - 5:00 PM)

Community ChannelsExclusively on Vernon Communications Cooperative’s community channels you will find local people, local businesses and local events! We capture what’s going on in our communities and bring it to our members.

Channel 14 features new shows, community and educational shows!

Channel 15 is our religious channel and features local, weekly church services.

In honor of Veterans Day, our office will be closed

November 3rdDaylight Savings

Don’t forget to Fall Back

November 28thOur office will be closed

Happy Thanksgiving

November 11th Veterans Day

November 29th

See us at the Twinklefest Parade

What is a Social Media Bot?

A social media bot is a piece of software that is programmed to run a simple, automated task over the Internet. Social media bots are generally used to spread a specific agenda or message. These messages can range from responding to general inquiries. Have you ever gotten a generic message from a chat box on a company website? That’s a social media bot at work, spreading a political agenda through fake Twitter accounts. In addition to the billions of human beings using social media, there are also millions of robots, or bots, residing within. Bots help to propagate fake news and inflate the apparent popularity of fake news on social media. Unlike humans, bots are able to spread their message 24 hours per day, and can even be programmed to respond to commands and even interact conversationally with people. Unfortunately, bots have been used to spread damaging politic misinformation and even disrupt protesters in certain countries.

How can I recognize a Social Media Bot?Bots are actually very common on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, despite violating their terms of use. It’s estimated that at least 15% of Tweets are generated by Bots. The first thing you can do to try to “spot the bot” is to check the profile of the poster. Does it read like a real person wrote it? Is the profile picture a silhouette or a regular picture? Another way to identify a bot is to check with teams that actively seek out automated accounts, such as the website https://botcheck.me. If you find that you’ve identified a bot, you can report it to your social media platform of choice and get it removed.

Did you know if you have our TV service, you have WatchTV Everywhere at no additional charge?

Watch TV Everywhere gives you access to current TV shows, movies and more. Register your VC Co-op account with watchTVEverywhere at watchTVEverywhere.com and click on the network you want to watch. If the network you selected has an app available you will be directed to the app store.

NEW show “Local Artists of the Driftless”

This program will help you educate and explore local artist’s in the Driftless Region and their passion for what they create and the inspiration behind their work.Premiering in November on local channel 14, Diane Splinter from Viroqua, WI is a local artist who paints using acrylic and watercolor mediums. “My work is a joyful expression of my life and its inspired views, usually in nature.” She gives her background as well as the detail that goes into her paintings. Throughout the show, you’ll be joyfully inspired by her passion and her display of work.

Every child deserves to receive a gift for Christmas. It may seem early, but it’s that time of year, when we need to start thinking about Christmas and those in need. Drop off a NEW toy at our Viroqua or Westby offices and we will match the donation and distribute them to Bethel Butikk. Families can then go to Bethel Butikk the first 2 weeks in December and pick out toys for their children.

Savory Squash Soup1 (3 lb.) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

1 TBS. olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

8 strips chopped bacon

1 large onion

6 stalks chopped celery

6 chopped carrots

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. curry powder

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cubed

4 cloves minced garlic

1 C. apple cider

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 1/2 C. sour creamPreheat oven to 3750. Coat squash with olive oil and mix to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a cookie sheet and roast until tender and carmelized for 30 minutes.

Heat bacon in a Dutch oven until evenly browned. Remove and place on paper lined plate and reserve the drippings.

Place onion, celery, carrots, bay leaf, curry powder, thyme, salt and pepper in the Dutch oven. Cook in bacon drippings until the carrots and celery are soft. Mix in the apples and cooked squash and cook another 5 minutes. Stir the garlic into the mixture, reduce heat and simmer to medium low. Allow mixture to reduce its volume in half. Stir in the chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes.

Puree small amounts of the soup in a blender. This will be hot, so allow steam to escape. Stir the nutmeg into the soup and garnish with sour cream and bacon.

Name: ___________________________________________ Date: ___________________

November

1. IAOCSL DEMAI TBO __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. EUSEHRORP __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. ALDYTHGI ISNGASV __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. REVSNTEA DYA __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. NAOSSE FO GNVIGI __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

November Word ScrambleUnscramble the words below found in this newsletter

1. Social Media Bot 2. Superhero 3. Daylight Savings 4. Veterans Day 5. Season of Giving

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