ST. PAUL, Minn. -- George Prosser may be 75, but he remembers like it was yesterday that cross-country trip he took in a 1940 Chevy when he was just out of high school.
Prosser relived his memory as part of a contest sponsored by St. Paul, Minn.-based CHS Inc., the parent company of the Cenex fuel brand. This year, CHS celebrates its 75th anniversary and just last week launched a contest that invites 75-year-olds to share their car-related memories. CHS will hold a drawing to pick 75 winners who will receive $50 gift certificates.
For Prosser, his memory was from 1950, when he and his classmates, after just graduating from high school, drove a 10-year-old Chevy from Ohio to the Rockies. The car managed to get them there, but broke down on the way back.
The four of us basically rebuilt the car engine under afarmer's tree in the plains of eastern Colorado, Prosser said in his entry. Four days after the initial breakdown, we were up and running, [and heading] back to Ohio. As it turns out, [the farmer's daughter became] my buddy Bill's girlfriend. [They] eventually married.
Officials at CHS are enthusiastic about the contest and believe it helps forward the reliability of the brand. This is a fun way to celebrate a milestone anniversary with friends who are also celebrating their 75th birthdays, said Doug Dorfman, manager of refined fuels marketing at CHS. The Cenex brand stands for dependable products and helpful people, so we're helping fill up some tanks withCenex fuel.
CHS traces its roots back to Jan. 15, 1931, when Farmers Union Central Exchange (later Cenex) was founded in St. Paul, Minn. Cenex united with Harvest States Cooperatives in 1998 to form what today is CHS Inc. Cenex remains the company's energy brand; CHS markets Cenex fuels through a large, regional c-store partner.
Paul Hayes, another entrant, shared additional memories. I was born Jan. 10, 1931 and my special memory was my first car I bought, Hayes said in his entry. It was a 1951 Chevrolet with fender skirts, sun-visor on outside, had a spotlight and a neat hood ornament that was a seal spinning a lighted ball. I wish I still had it.
Customers can enter the Share A Memory contest in one of three ways: online at www.chsinc.com/75years; by mail to CHS, Sta. 408, Share A Memory, P.O. Box 64089, St. Paul, MN 55164; or by calling (800) 535-4630. The company said customers must enter by July 31, 2006, with the drawing to take place on August 15.
CHS is a diversified energy, grains and foods company owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest and from the Canadian border to Texas. It also operates petroleum refineries and pipelines and, through a variety of working partnerships, markets and distributes Cenex-branded energy products, along with agronomic inputs and feed to rural America.
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