TRACY AREA HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI, from left, Sandra (Maertens) O’Rourke, Kristin Harner, and Kelly Schmidt met up at the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) meeting held at Curious Plot in Minneapolis on June 16. The food and ag marketing agency is housed in the historic 1902 TractorWorks building—a former John Deere distribution center for buggies, plows, sleds and tractors. The location brought a piece of home to the meeting, as O’Rourke’s father, Dick Maertens, owned and managed the John Deere dealership in Tracy until 1983. Today, the alumni remain deeply rooted in agriculture. O’Rourke works with ARC and collaborates as an independent contractor with Harner through Corner Window Communications, while Harner also operates Campbell-Harner Horizons and serves as the associate director of the Agricultural Communicators Network. Schmidt, the CEO of the Minnesota Beef Council, was on a panel at the event “Connecting the Chain: Agriculture, Food and the Modern Consumer.” Submitted photo
