Varna Elevator Serves 



Community For 50 Years 



THIS year marks the 100th anniver- 

 sary of the cooperative movement. 

 It was just a century ago that 28 

 flannel weavers got together in Roch- 

 dale, England, and formed a coopera- 

 tive society to better their lot in life. 

 These were practical men who drafted 

 a practical program. 



This year of 1944 also marks the 

 50th anniversary of another coopera- 

 tive venture — the Farmers' Coop- 

 erative Association of Varna in Mar- 

 shall county. It has established a 

 record of the longest continuous serv- 

 ice of any cooperative grain elevator 

 in Illinois. 



Thus as the founders of the Roch- 

 dale society were pioneers in the de- 

 velopment of the cooperative move- 

 ment itself, the first Varna elevator 

 board members were pioneers in the 

 grain marketing movement in Illinois. 

 The 50-year history of the elevator 

 covers all of the ups and downs that 

 farmers experienced during the period 

 of trying to get a fair return for their 

 products. 



On the first board of directors in 

 1894 — the board then numbered nine 

 — were William Koch, Sr., president; 

 C F. Wright, secretary, father of A. 

 R. Wright, assistant treasurer of the 

 lAA; George Ball, J. W. Whetzal, L. 

 Beckwith, Fred Kaatz, John McCuskey, 

 Jacob Lenz, and John Shields. None 

 of the first directors is living, but 

 William Koch II, now serving on the 

 board, is a grandson of the late 

 William Koch, Sr., the first president. 



When the Varna elevator first 

 opened for business it had difficulty 

 in getting bids from commission firms. 

 It met and solved this problem and 

 went on to solve others that were even 



more difficult. These pioneers learned 

 the hard way. 



Probably one of the things that kept 

 Varna elevator going all these years is 

 that successive board members were 

 always ready to adapt the organization 

 to changing times. In the period of 

 50 years there have been three changes 

 made. In 1921, it was voted to change 

 the name from Farmers Grain & Coal 

 Company to the Farmers' Cooperative 

 Association. The charter was amended 

 and the capital stock increased to 

 $25,000. 



In 1931, action was taken to reor- 

 ganize under the Capper-Volstead Act. 

 In the fall of 1936, the by-laws were 

 amended and it was voted to pay back 

 to the patrons one-half cent per bushel 

 on all grain sold through the elevator. 

 Under the new setup, any patron who 

 did not hold common stock at the time 

 the patronage was declared received 

 credit toward earning one share of 

 common stock par value $10. After 

 one share of stock was paid for the 

 holder received his patronage refund 

 in cash. 



The determination to keep a coop- 

 erative elevator in the community to 

 serve the farmers was demonstrated in 

 1935. On June 15 of that year the 

 elevator at Varna burned to the 

 ground. The next day the directors 

 met and voted unanimously to carry 

 on the business of the association. The 

 board decided to continue to buy grain 

 and ship it through a neighbor eleva- 

 tor, and a new $11,400 elevator was 

 built in time to handle the new crop 

 of corn that fall. During the summer 

 of 1935, the board held 17 special 

 meetings and two regular sessions to 

 plan their operations. Board members 



Soma of these board membon aore aona 

 and relatives of former directors of tlie 

 Varna elevator. Left to right, first row, Fred 

 Amdt, W. A. Schwanke, president' Carol 

 O. Johnson, secretary, and Mauritz Strom- 

 gren, manager. Back row. Jay Meyers, R. 

 H. Petrich, vice-president, William Koch, 

 and Willis Shanklin. 



have always evidenced their interest in 

 managing the affairs of the cooperative 

 by the outstanding records of attend- 

 ance at regular sessions. In 1940 there 

 was only one director absent from one 

 meeting. 



One board director also pointed out 

 that the Varna cooperative has suc- 

 ceeded in its operations through ad- 

 hering to the policies outlined by the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association 

 through its grain marketing depart- 

 ment, and by observing what made 

 other elevators succeed or fail. As a 

 member of Illinois Grain Corporation, 

 the Varna elevator marketed 65,000 

 bushels through it for the 7 months 

 period ending in January 1944. The 

 cooperative spirit that has made the 

 elevator a success is also reflected in the 

 Varna community. Not far from the 

 elevator is one of the most modern 

 high school buildings that is to be 



Formers' Cooperative Association of Varna 



built this structure after fire destroyed its 



elevator in 193S. 



found in Illinois. Upon inquiry you 

 will find that the people built this 

 school with their own tax monies. 

 When the village decided to install a 

 water system, $4000 was raised at the 

 first meeting. In the same progressive 

 spirit all of the streets of the village 

 have been asphalted. In the recent 

 War Bond drive, the community went 



(Continued on page 2}) 



L A. A. RECORD 



