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Berwick Co-op to celebrate 75th
(As published in the Sabetha Herald, March 12, 2003)

            A group of area farmers wanting to purchase fuel at a discounted rate formed the beginning of one of the Sabetha area's longest-running organizations.
            This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Berwick Cooperative Oil Company, headquarter in Sabetha. The company was incorporated on March 10, 1928.
            The cooperative's annual meeting for its stockholders will be at noon Tuesday, March 18, at the First United Methodist Church in Sabetha.
            The group is one of only two fuel-only cooperatives in Kansas, according to Jim Kaeb, manager. The other one is located in the western part of the state.
            The current membership is continually increasing, Kaeb said; the cooperative had a record month in propane sales in January 2003.
            The group’s success can be attributed to its function as a community endeavor through the years.
            The cooperative’s first group of farmers lived in the Berwick community northwest of Sabetha. They had the fuel brought in by rail cars to the storage facility, which was originally on the west side of the Berwick elevator. From there farmers would load their five-gallon cans to take to their farms.
            According to a history of the organization written by Paul McNary, the first directors were F.J. Herrmann, Ben Schrock, Lewis Hilt, George Koehler and Adolph Lortscher. Herrmann was the first president.

Former directors met for a breakfast recently. Fron: Dan Gruber, Mel Hoffman, Fremond Meyer, Harold Hartter and Leonard Edelman. Back: Leo Bindel, Elwin Strahm, Rod Grimm, J.R. Isch and James Moser. Not pictured: David Rumbaugh, Weldon Aue and Les Marti.

            According to Lester Marti, who served on the cooperative’s board of directors for many years, Glenn Turner was the first driver for the organization, beginning in 1930. He would haul the five-gallon cans to farmers on a delivery truck. Later Pat Baumgartner, Charles Kuenzi, John Vohs, Tony Heptig and Gus Shump would deliver the fuel.
            Membership in the cooperative cost $25, which entitled the holder to one share of the business.
            During the 1940’s the delivery trucks had chain mechanisms that calibrated every five gallons of fuel taken from the tanks, Marti said. After World War II, a Studebaker truck was employed to make the deliveries, he said.
            The organization ordered fuel and lubrication from The White Eagle Oil Company, the forerunner of the Mobil Oil Corporation, according to McNary’s history. The Mobil name is still the brand of lubricants the organization sells.
            The cooperative made the move from its west Berwick storage tank to the present storage facility, located on the east side of the county road which travels by the former town.
            Diesel fuel storage was added in 1958-59. Gas, butane and fuel oil were the only fuels sold until then.
            In the 1960’s, propane tanks were added and the cooperative began to sell that product. For three years, the group gave no dividends, in order to pay off the storage tanks.
            About the same time, the local cooperative entertained a proposal from Consumer Cooperatives of America to become a part of that organization. In the end, the Berwick group voted against the idea.
            The cooperative has always had five directors on the board. The monthly board meetings were at one time in the Berwick City Hall building. For a while, they met in what is now the First Congregational Church’s “The Building” in downtown Sabetha.
            Other employees and managers who helped the cooperative grow were Noah Edelman, Jim Warrick, Roy Lehman, Al Remmers, Bob Marthaler, Carroll Witmer, and Loretta Hartter, to list a few.
            Today the cooperative owns a tract of buildings on South Washington Stree, just off Sabetha’s Main Street.
            The cooperative today maintains two transport trailers, two delivery trucks with a backup vehicle, and one propane truck with backup.
            Current employees besides Kaeb are Alan Harter, Bob Evans, Bob Buser, J.R. Hanni and Nancy Brockhoff.
            Kaeb and the current directors – President Steve Ukel, Dennis Wegner, Dayton Menold, Dwaine Baumgartner and Doug Edelman – are working to stay ahead of the volatile fuel industry.
            The group is looking at ways to change the routing delivery structure and continually studying charts and trends for purchasing fuel, which becomes harder when propane prices changed 38 cents in nine days, as happened recently, Kaeb said.
            In fact, the speaker for the March 18 meeting, Dave Achtens of Carter Petroleum, will be talking on “Price Trends.”
            But no changes have taken place in handling accounts receivables, Kaeb said. And the cooperative still gives a discount for cash purchases.

Editor’s Note: if anyone has a list of the original charter members of the cooperative, contact Kaeb.

The cooperative's fleet in the 1950s, with drivers Alvin Herrmann, Oliver Robinson, Gus Shump and Carl Shump.