Local woman retires after 50 years with co-op

• New Vision

Brian Korthals/Daily Globe Elaine Hay stands beneath the welcoming New Vision sign behind her desk at the cooperative’s new office south of Brewster. Hay will spend her last day on the job on Friday. A retirement reception in her honor is planned from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday at the office.

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BREWSTER — Elaine Hay had been out of high school for a little more than a month when she was offered a bookkeeping job at the Farmers Co-op Elevator, then located on Worthington’s First Avenue where the new fire hall is being constructed.

The Wilmont area farm girl hadn’t particularly sought out a career tied to agriculture, but when the opportunity arose in the summer of 1961, she accepted the offer and never looked back.

Those early days were spent working with paper and pencil. Everything had to be done by hand — balancing out the daily cash, charges and payments received on account. Even the patronage dividend information was stored in log books.

It was quite different then than it is today, said Hay. Now, you can’t do much without a computer.

Over the course of five decades, Hay went from using a 10-key adding machine to a calculator and computer. The first computer purchased by Consolidated Co-op took up an entire room, situated along two 20-foot walls.

In the nearly 50 years she worked with the grain and feed business, Hay watched the company grow and change from Farmers Co-op Elevator to Consolidated Co-op in 1968, and then to New Vision Co-op in 1998.

She started with the business on First Avenue in Worthington, and then worked at the facility on 10th Avenue (that location was just torn down this summer). In 1975, she moved with Consolidated Co-op to its new home on Nobles County 5, and in September, she followed along for the move to rural Brewster.

Working through four moves and three name changes, Hay said she stayed with the company because she doesn’t really like change — at least not the change that comes with having a new employer. As for those other changes — especially those that related to technology — she said she had to adapt.

“I decided I was going to change — to keep up with the times,” said Hay. “They were a good company to work for.”

She’s worked for six different bosses during her tenure, and said it is the people that she works with that she will miss the most when she walks out the door on Friday. She’s actually kind of worried about the transition to retirement.

“I’m a high-energy person,” Hay said. “I’m not one to lounge around.”

Initially, Hay and her husband, Jerry, had both talked of retiring at the end of the year. Jerry is co-owner in Rushmore Plumbing and, while he’s going to continue on in the business, he will be slowing down quite a bit. In fact, the couple is already planning a Florida getaway later this winter.

Aside from the planned travel, Hay said she plans to stay active. She loves walking and golf and plans to get a membership to the YMCA. She also wants do some volunteering and spend more time with their three grandchildren. The Hays have two children, son Michael and daughter Suzanne, who reside in the Twin Cities.

A retirement reception for Hay will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday at the New Vision office south of Brewster. The event is open to the public.

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