It will be a dark day in Verendrye Electric Cooperative territory Monday.

No, the lights are not going out. Verendrye Electric General Manager Bruce Carlson has been keeping that from happening the past 22 years.

Rather, Monday is Carlson’s last day on the job and he will surely be missed. He’s heading off to a well deserved retirement, leaving ‘his’ cooperative in capable hands, those of people he has groomed to take over such an important task.

Carlson has been a pillar in the communities of Velva and Minot, the entire region in fact. He has been especially active in leadership roles with the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce and Scandinavian heritage organizations.

Hard work has been a way of life for Carlson. He left the family farm to get an education that brought him back to farm country. Now, he’s returning to those roots; he’s eager to help out more on the farm in the coming years.

Wish Bruce well next time you see him. Say thanks, too, for all his years of service in and out of business attire.