Alliance Communications employee Kris Frerk received the Working Through the Decades award during the Women in Business banquet on Tuesday, April 30, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.

Alliance co-workers nominated Frerk for the award because of her dedication to helping others.

“She cares for everyone: strangers, community members, and those whom society often shuns,” the nomination essay said.

Here’s a small sampling of tasks Frerk has taken on:

• Started Garretson’s food pantry after noticing residents struggling to feed their families.
• With overwhelming support from local churches, began Garretson’s Backpack Program, which feeds school children over weekends.
• Coordinates mattress purchases for people without beds.
• Finds new footwear for children with dilapidated shoes.
• Spearheaded a fundraiser for a van to take local nursing home residents on recreational outings.
• Leads a monthly church service at the nursing home.
• With a friend, opened the Treasure Chest, a non-profit business on Main Street Garretson. The profits are used to help others.
• Participates in the Lutheran Social Services mentoring program and takes less fortunate kids to plays, concerts, movies, meals and church services.
• Served as a board member for the Garretson School District, the Garretson Commercial Club and Dragonland Community Daycare Center.
• Coordinates tourism opportunities and community events, which bring customers into local businesses and help keep Garretson’s main street alive.

Completing the nomination essay was difficult, said Amy Ahlers, marketing supervisor for Alliance Communications.

“The essay could only be 500 words,” Ahlers said. “The first draft was more than 800 words, and it could have been much longer. Because Kris does so much for everyone, it was difficult to summarize her qualities into a short essay.”

Today’s Internet users want the ability to stream, download, surf, game, chat, work, and play on all connected devices in their house–all at the same time. It’s possible with Alliance Communications’ fiber-optic network.

Give your Internet connection a boost today with Alliance’s new Internet speeds.

Residential bundle customers can increase their speed for as little as $10 more/month!

• 512 x 256 Kbps: $14.95
• 3 x 1.5 Mbps: $29.95
• 10 x 1.5 Mbps: $34.95
• 15 x 1.5 Mbps: $44.95
• 20 x 3 Mbps: $59.95
• 30 x 5 Mbps: $79.95
• 50 x 10 Mbps: $139.95
• 50 x 20 Mbps: $159.95
• 100 x 15 Mbps: $179.95
• 100 x 25 Mbps: $199.95

Get more rocket fuel for your gadgets. Just dial 611 from any phone with Alliance service, or call 605-594-3411.

We are excited to announce that Kris Frerk has won the prestigious Women in Business Working Through the Decades award.

Kris works in Alliance’s human resources and customer services departments.

She will receive her award Tuesday, April 30, at the Women in Business banquet in front of 1,000+ people.

Those who want to order banquet tickets should call the SME office at 336-5626. They cost $70 each.

Those unable to attend the banquet can congratulate Kris on Wednesday, May 1, at Annie's from 5pm to 8pm.

Sanford Heart will be at Alliance Communications in Garretson next week to conduct vascular screenings.

The screening includes stroke and carotid artery ultrasound, abdominal aortic aneurysm ultrasound, and ankle-brachial index.

Dates: April 24-April 26

Time: 7:30 a.m.–5 p.m.

Location: Alliance Communications, 612 Third St., Garretson

Cost: $25

Who is eligible? Ages 40-75 non-diabetic, ages 35-75 diabetic, under age 40 needs doctor’s order

How do I sign up? Contact Michele or Amy B. at Alliance at 594-3411

Due to the long electrical outage that this week’s storm has caused, some people are connecting their homes to generators.

Please keep these tips in mind when connecting Alliance services to generators:

• The Cyber Power box, which is your battery backup, needs to have a green light. This box is usually located in customers’ utility rooms.

• Your Dlink switch, which is typically located in customers’ utility rooms, needs to be powered on.

• If you use a wireless router for your laptop, your router needs to be powered on.

• Check the voltage output on your generator before hooking it into your Alliance equipment. The voltage on generators can vary. We recommend 118 to 125 volts. Anything higher could burn up the equipment and damage your house.

Battery backup reminder: During electrical outages, the only service that will work while on battery backup is phone service. Phones will work if they are corded and the battery backup hasn’t been drained of power. The battery backup has enough power to last for about 8-14 hours, depending on use and battery age.