White Lake District Election Scheduled:Geddes/Platte Rural, Platte and Pukwana/AcademyExchange District Elections Cancelled

Two candidates from the White Lake District Exchange have successfully completed and submitted their nomination petitions for a possible seat on the Midstate Communications Board of Directors. With more than one successful candidate submitting nominations an election will be necessary to determine which candidate shall become director from the White Lake exchange district. Candidates for the position are Lyle McCord and Lori Peters. The election will be held at the following location:

July 20 – White Lake City Office/Library . . . . . . . 9:00-11:00 a.m.The District elections scheduled for the Geddes/Platte Rural, Platte and Pukwana/

Academy District Exchanges have been cancelled. Only one petition was filed for each exchange which means Bob Creasey, Sandy Ringling and Lonnie Sharping respectively will be re-appointed to a three-year term on the board of directors at the October Annual Meeting of Members.

To be able to vote in the White Lake district election you must be an active member of the Midstate Communications Cooperative and live within or have active service within the White Lake District Exchange boundaries. Each member number from these exchange districts will be eligible to vote one time. Members able to vote for the district election will also be able to vote by proxy ballot. In accordance with the By-Laws of the Company the Secretary of the company has previously mailed each member of the district entitled to vote a ballot for the district director election no later than twenty days before the election. Midstate has provided the ballot and return envelope that will need to be returned to the Midstate Communications office. The proxy ballot must be received by mail or by being hand delivered by a member on or before the date and time of the district director election meeting, to be counted as a vote of such member. A member may also be personally present at the election meeting and cast their ballot, unless such member has previously submitted a ballot by mail which has not been cancelled. If a husband and wife hold a joint membership, then they shall jointly be entitled to receive one vote by mail or in person. Only individuals listed on the member number will be eligible to vote. If you have any questions regarding the voting procedure please contact Midstate Communications at 778-6221.

Single Line Business Access Recovery Charge (ARC) Increase

The Access Recovery Charge, or ARC, allows incumbent local exchange carriers such as Midstate Communications to recover part of the revenues lost through FCC required reductions to access rates.

Q. What are access rates? A. When you make a long distance call, your long distance carrier must pay

Midstate for starting, or originating, the call. In addition, your long distance carrier must pay the telephone company that provides local service to the person you are calling to complete, or terminate the call. The charges that the long distance provider pays to Midstate to originate the call and the other local exchange company to terminate the call is referred to as access (as in the access the long distance provider must get to the local network).

Effective July 1, 2015 Single Line Business ARC Charge will increase from $1.50 per month to $2.00 per month. Residential and Multi-Business ARC Charges will remain the same.

Volume 22 • Issue 7July 2015

MESSENGER120 E. First, P.O. Box 48, Kimball, SD 57355 • (605) 778-6221 • Fax: (605) 778-8080

Important Dates to Remember…Please mark the following dates, regarding our billing schedule, on your calendar. Bills are mailed the last business day of each month, and payment is due on the 20th of the month. Paying on time saves frustrating calls and unwanted late fees.•Last Business Day of Each Month Bills mailed out from Midstate’s office•5th of Each Month Disconnect of all accounts with a 30 day balance.•20th of Each Month Bills are due in either Midstate office by 12:00 p.m.•20th of Each Month Overdue notices mailed out and late fees will be

applied to all delinquent accounts.*All Midstate bills are due upon receipt . Any bills that have not been received by the 5th of the following month will be disconnected . To be reconnected the bill must be paid in full and will be subject to a down payment and appropriate reconnect fees .

Trivia~Trivia~TriviaWho played the character “Sophia” on TV’s “The Golden Girls”?**Deadline to enter is the 15th of the Month. All correct entries will be entered into a drawing for $10.00. Submit your answers by: 1) Writing your answer on a piece of paper with your name, address and telephone number, and mailing to our Midstate office at PO Box 48, Kimball SD 57355 or 2) Go online to our website at www.midstatesd.net and click on the Trivia link in the bottom left corner and submit your answer online following the online instructions. Trivia submissions will not be taken by telephone.

And the Winner is…Nathan Wolbrink! He knew that the actor that played the “Incredible Hulk” was Lou Ferrigno!

Midstate’s offices will be closed on Friday, July 3rd

in recognition of theIndependence Day Holiday.

We wish all of you asafe and happy

Fourth of July Holiday!

Customer AppreciationLunch Door Prize Winners!

We would like to thank all of our customer owners who joined us this year at one of our three customer appreciation lunches. Lunches were held this year in the New Holland, Stickney and Kimball exchanges. Good food, great conversation and great prizes were enjoyed by all that attended.

We would like to congratulate the door prize winners at the three customer appreciation lunches.Stickney:Janice Crago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50 Midstate creditRon Prien . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 Midstate creditRuth Wolbrink . . . . . . . . . . . . $20 Midstate credit

New Holland:Nicole Van Zuidam . . . . . . . . . $50 Midstate creditDelwin Feenstra . . . . . . . . . . . $30 Midstate creditAlvin Timmerman . . . . . . . . . . $20 Midstate credit

Kimball:Francis Everson . . . . . . . . . . . $50 Midstate creditSteve Robinson . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 Midstate creditGene Altman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20 Midstate credit

Once again, we would like to thank each of you who took the time to join us! We hope you enjoyed the free lunch and fun!

Dial Before You Dig…We wanted to remind our customers that

before you dig you must contact SD One Call to locate all underground lines.

South Dakotans are required by law to call 811 from their home phone, or from any phone dial: 1-800-781-7474 at least 48 hours before digging. Following a call, the call center notifies utility company representatives in the dig vicinity so companies can mark the approximate location of underground lines with spray paint or flags. Once a site has been marked, it is safe to dig away from the marked line areas.

The flags that you may see in ditches or yards are different colored to help you identify the underground lines in that area:

•Red–Electric•Yellow–Gas/PetroleumPipeLine•Orange–Communications,Telephone/CATV•Blue–PotableWater•Purple–Irrigation,ReclaimedWater,Slurry•Green–Sewer/Drainage•Pink–TemporarySurveyMarkings•White–ProposedExcavation

New Anti-Virus Protection Available through Midstate Communications…

When it comes to protecting your files and personal information on your computer it is critically important to have the best Anti-Virus software available. That is why Midstate is now offering MySecurity anti-virus protection from Zone Alarm. MySecurity is an industry leading software that will protect your computer and all your personal information from viruses and attacks. Best of all for only $3.00 per month you can apply the MySecurity software.

ZoneAlarm® Security Suite is an easy-to-use, comprehensive security solution that keeps out hackers, viruses, worms, fraudulent emails and other threats. It uses award-winning firewall technology from Zone Labs, and includes antivirus, phishing & spam protection, Web site filtering, privacy protection, instant messaging security, and more.

• Easytodownloadandinstall• Easiertouse• Automaticallydetectandpreventawidevarietyofthreatscommonon

the Internet• Only$3.00permonth(forupto5computers).Get full protection without slowing down your computer!

New User-Friendly InterfaceEasy for anyone to use and customize.

• One-clickFix-itInterfaceprovidesasimpleoverviewandone-buttonaccess to instant upgrades and updates.

• GameMode:one-clickcontroltemporarilysuppressesmostsecurityalerts–preventingthemfrominterruptingyourfunwhilekeepingyourPC protected.

• CustomizationandAdvancedControlsoffersaverageconsumersandadvanced users options to customize and adjust settings.

Do Not TrackBlocks data-collecting companies from tracking you online. Control who receives your private data.

•Blockscompaniesfromcollectingyourpersonalinformationonline.•ControlswhocanfollowyouasyousurftheInternet.•IncreasesyourInternetbrowsingspeed.

New Antivirus Engine!• Behavioralvirusdetection:Detectssuspiciousanddangerousprograms

that traditional antivirus programs would miss.• Advancedvirusremoval:Cleansdeep-rooted,hard-to-removevirusesout

of your system.• Virus pre-scan: Quickly detects viruses during installation to prevent

early infection.

Other Features•Superioranti-virus&anti-spyware•Powerfulfirewall•TotalIdentity&PrivacyProtection•Automaticallyprotectsagainsthackers•Stops virus attacks, spyware, and online criminals•Get full protection without slowing your computer’s performance•Easy to download, and start using immediately

Windows 10 will be released on July 29, 2015. Are you excited for this new operating system or do you grumble at the thought that something new is being released? Ready or not, it is coming and Microsoft is already advertising it to Windows 7 and 8.1 users with a pop-up down in the bottom right corner of your computer. Unlike previous versions, Microsoft is offering this as a free upgrade, and it will probably be a good one for Windows 7 and 8 users.

Yes, It’s Free (For Most People)Windows 10 will be a free upgrade, assuming your computer

runs Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8.1. As long as you upgrade to Windows 10 within the first year, you won’t have to pay a cent. Despite some confusion online, you won’t have to pay anything. As long as you upgrade to Windows 10 within the first year, you can continue using Windows 10 and getting updates for the “supported lifetime of the device.” It’s a full copy that will continue to work. If you have an older computer running Windows Vista or a previous version of Windows, you won’t get a free upgrade. Youmaywanttobuyanewcomputerifyouhavesuchanoldcomputer, anyway.

How to UpgradeYou’ll be able to upgrade via Windows Update when

Windows 10 comes out. Microsoft rolled out a “Get Windows 10” application that prompts you to “reserve” your copy of Windows 10, and you’ll be seeing those notifications in your system trayonWindows7SP1andWindows8.1computers.Yes,that

Windows 10 pop-up in your system tray is real, legitimate, and from Microsoft. It was added to your existing WIndows systems via a Windows update.

If you plan on upgrading when Windows 10 is released, reserveitnow.Youdon’tactuallyhavetoreserve—you’llbeableto upgrade for free for the first year. Reserving your copy will just save download time later. Microsoft will likely have a website that walks you through upgrading when Windows 10 is released.

What’s New – and Should You Upgrade?Microsoft wants Windows 10 to be a worthy upgrade

to both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. It builds on Windows 8’s base, offering its desktop improvements and security features. But Microsoft has relented on the most hated aspects of Windows 8. The charms bar is gone. The pop-up Start menu is back — it has live tiles on it by default,but you can remove those if you like. That “modern” or “Metro” interface is

now confined only to a special tablet mode, and all applications run in windows on the desktop on normal PCs. If you’re using Windows 8 on a non-touch device, this is a huge improvement. The desktop interface makes sense again.

Windows 10 looks like a good upgrade. Yes, there are livetiles, universal apps, and Microsoft account integration features —butyoucanavoidtheseifyoudon’twantthem.Ifyouneedanew computer and all of this is just confusing, stop by either of our offices or give us a call at 605-778-6221. We would be happy to answer your new computer questions.

Pay Your Bill Using Automatic Bill Pay, and We Might Just Pay You Back!

Summer time is meant for relaxing, swimming and spending time with your loved ones, not worrying if you have or have not paid a bill yet.

With Midstate’s Automatic Bill Pay you can quickly and easily pay your bill online or schedule your payments so they will be paid automatically each month without having to worry. What’s more, every customer who signs up for Automatic Bill Pay through July will automatically be entered into a drawing to receive $100.

Even better, when you sign up for Automatic Bill Pay and choose to receive an electronic copy of your bill you will also receive a $1.50 credit on your Midstate bill each month.

SoWHATAREYOUWAITINGFOR?Startsaving time and money and enter for a chance to win $100. Visit www.midstatesd.net and click on “My Bill Pay” to get signed up and pay your bill now!

Windows 10 is Almost Here...Are you Ready?

Summer Strawberry Crunch ½ cup butter, melted 1 cup flour 1/3 cup brown sugar ½ cup pecans, chopped 2 egg whites 2/3 cup sugar 1 - 16 oz pkg frozen strawberries, thawed 1 - 8 oz carton Cool Whip Lite • In a medium bowl, add flour, brown sugar, and pecans to melted butter. Mix thoroughly with a fork. Crumble mixture and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to break into smaller pieces. Cool. Pour half of crumbs into 9x9 baking pan or disposable foil pan. For filling, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture forms soft peaks. Fold in strawberries and Cool Whip. Spoon filling into baking dish. Top dessert with remaining crumbs.

Cover with a layer of plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze. • When ready to serve, Remove from freezer from 10 minutes before serving. Garnish each piece with a sliced fresh strawberry and a fresh mint leaf.• Let cool for 24 hours. Lift and break apart by hand.• Serves 12