Cooperative Living February 2019 - 3

InsideStory
February 2019
All cooperative
businesses, including
your electric cooperative,
operate according to the
seven cooperative
principles. This sets
co-ops apart from other
types of businesses,
because the point of the
co-op is service.
The seventh cooperative principle, in
fact, expressly stipulates community service.
That principle, " concern for community, "
defines what lots of folks consider the
greatest thing about electric cooperatives.
Electric co-ops were started because other
power providers wouldn't extend lines
into rural Virginia. There wasn't enough
population density in farm communities
to generate a profit.
So, leaders in those areas got together,
formed electric co-ops, and took advantage
of low-cost Rural Electrification
Administration loans to buy poles and wires
and build electric-distribution systems to
improve life in their communities. The rest,
as they say, is history.
A lot of what was rural Virginia when
electric cooperatives were formed is much
more densely populated now. But there are
still vast expanses of beautiful farmland in
Virginia and regardless of what their service
territory looks like, all electric cooperatives
still have that seventh-principle commitment
to community.
Virginia's electric cooperatives periodically
honor an individual whose life reflects this
characteristic with their Good Samaritan
Award. This year's recipient, Franklin Dover
of Clarksville, lives a life that defines
commitment to community.
Franklin was surprised when he received
the award in December at the Clarksville
Lake Country Chamber of Commerce's
Christmas Social in Clarksville. His
nomination was sponsored by his home
cooperative, Mecklenburg Electric, and
supported by an array of Clarksville
community leaders. As Franklin's friends
went to the microphone and talked
about his work to make life better in
Clarksville, the image of a good Samaritan
coalesced and came into sharp focus.
Communities are better places because
of things like electric cooperatives, and
because of people like Franklin Dover. 
- Bill Sherrod, Editor
co-opliving.com
Reader Photo: Margaret Johnson
OUR MISSION
To inform you about your cooperative and its efforts to serve your energy needs;
how to use electricity safely and efficiently; and the people who define and enhance
the quality of life in communities served by electric co-ops.
CONTENTS
12 Cover Story
Virginia's electric cooperatives selected Clarksville's Franklin Dover to receive the
2019 Good Samaritan Award. Dover, a native North Carolinian and retired educator,
has made helping others his way of life and defines the spirit of the electric
cooperatives' Good Samaritan Award. On the cover: 2019 Good Samaritan
Franklin Dover gets a congratulatory kiss from his bride, Carol. (Bill Sherrod photo)
28 Dining with Dan
When Amanda Souza of Montpelier lost her combat-veteran husband, Chris, to posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), she sought ways to honor Chris and other military
veterans. Her restaurant, Lunchbox 22, and a foundation to help vets deal with PTSD,
were the results.
32 Crossroads
If you've ever driven across the Shenandoah
Valley, you've experienced the beauty of the
region. Below those majestic vistas lies beauty
of another sort, and the community of Grottoes,
Virginia, is a place whose origins trace back to
those expansive subterranean spaces.
DEPARTMENTS
10
2 Viewpoint
4 Member FYI
4 WhatzIt?
5 History Mystery
5 PunToons!
8 Say Cheese
9 Mailbag
Visit us online at:
co-opliving.com
Happenings
16 Commonwealth Kitchen
18 Your Co-op News
26
Energy Sense
30 Feathered Friends
38 Classifieds
40 Rural Living
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AAM audited
February 2019 | Cooperative Living | 1
AUDREY T. HINGLEY PHOTO
Details on
the 2019
Youth Art
Contest on
page 9.
http://www.co-opliving.com http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living February 2019
