Cooperative Living July 2019 - 4

Viewpoint | by Richard G. Johnstone Jr., Executive Editor
Vol. 73, No. 7
ISSN 1529-4579
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Editor
BILL SHERROD
Editor
STEVEN JOHNSON
Acting Editor
LAURA EMERY
Field Editor
JANET BAILEY
Production Manager
TOMMY CAMPBELL
Design & E-Media Coordinator
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Advertising Sales
NINA JACOBS
Administrative Coordinator
To contact magazine:
9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F
Phone: (804) 346-3344
Or at any time:
Fax: (804) 346-3448
Email: sjohnson@vmdaec.com
Web: co-opliving.com
Published by the VA, MD & DE Association
of Electric Cooperatives
HERBERT R. PATRICK
Chairman
FLETCHER B. JONES
Vice Chairman
PATRICIA S. DOREY
Secretary/Treasurer
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
President & CEO
Board of Directors: R. Wayne Browning, Belvin Williamson, Jr.,
A&N; C. Michael Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser, BARC; George N.
Goin, Gary E. Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E. Arnold, Micheal
E. Malandro, Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett, Steven A. Harmon,
Community; James E. Huffman, Shawn C. Hildebrand, CraigBotetourt;
Patricia S. Dorey, J. William Andrew, Delaware;
Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee, Jr., Mecklenburg; Russell G.
Brown, Greg W. White, Northern Neck; Wade C. House, Stan C.
Feuerberg, Northern Virginia; Dale McNiel, Randell Myers,
Powell Valley; Herbert R. Patrick, Casey J. Logan, Prince George;
Linda R. Gray, Kent D. Farmer, Rappahannock; Larry C.
Howdyshell, Michael W. Hastings, Shenandoah Valley; Frank W.
Bacon, Jeffrey S. Edwards, Southside.
To advertise in Cooperative Living, contact:
Amanda Cunningham (804) 297-3429
National Advertising Representative: AMP,
611 South Congress Ave., Suite 504,
Austin, Texas 78704 * 800-626-1181
Member of AMP network of
publications, reaching more than
9 million homes and businesses.
PRESSRUN . . . . . . . . . 533,462
COOPERATIVE LIVING (USPS 473-300) is
published 10 times a year, monthly except for
combined March/April and November/ December
issues, by the Va., Md. & Del. Association of Electric
Cooperatives. POSTMASTER, address changes
should be sent to: Cooperative Living, 4201
Dominion Boulevard, Suite 101, Glen Allen, VA
23060, (804) 346-3344. Periodicals Postage paid at
Glen Allen, VA, and additional mailing offices.
Subscription: $4.99 per year for members of
subscribing co-ops; $10 per year for all others.
ADVERTISING published is accepted on the
premise that the merchandise and services offered
are accurately described and willingly sold to
customers at the advertised price. Neither this
magazine nor the electric cooperatives in Virginia,
Maryland, and Delaware endorses any products or
services advertised herein. If any readers encounter
non-compliance with these standards, they are
asked to inform the Editor.
Our Own Greatest Generation
Few dreams in the 1930s seemed more daunting than
delivering electricity to far-flung farmhouses. But thanks to
common folks with uncommon grit, light would soon spread
across the landscape of Virginia and the rest of our vast nation.
T
he present moment may be all that we
have. But the past is still always present.
It's present in the sacrifices and wisdom
of the Founders, who 243 years ago this month
signed a Declaration of Independence, and put
us on a path to constitutional government, with
three equal branches, and the rule of law.
The past is present in the sacrifices and
bravery over the centuries of countless men and
women from all backgrounds, who have helped
us continually work to fulfill the aspiration in
our Constitution's preamble, " to form a more
perfect union. "
And the past is present in the sacrifices and
courage of The Greatest Generation, many of
whose members 75 years ago last month turned
the tide against tyranny, on the coast of France,
and thereby gave us the freedom and prosperity
we've enjoyed ever since.
The Book of Proverbs famously says, " without a
vision, the people perish. " But just having a
vision, a goal, a dream, is not enough.
Turning dreams into reality requires
both the dreamer and the doer.
A perfect example is the electric
cooperative movement of the
1930s. In the rural America of the
Great Depression, only one home
in 10 had electric service. Big
power companies were simply
not able to make a profit serving
stretches with only one or two
farmhouses per mile. And
across this vast land, there
were thousands upon thousands
of such miles, where the darkness at night was
broken only by the yellow light of a kerosene
lamp ... if at all.
Rural men and women, though, were able to
do what the big power companies weren't.
In thousands of small communities across the
country, in the depths of the Great Depression,
rural neighbors formed cooperatives, to provide
themselves with electric service.
Necessity was the mother of this invention.
And audacity seemed to be its father. Beginning
in 1935, thousands of rural men and women saw
a need, and tackled it with audacious grit.
Many went door to door, asking their neighbors
to contribute seed money and signatures to form
a new kind of cooperative, one that would
deliver electricity to rural homes and businesses.
The many logistical challenges of serving rural
areas were daunting enough. In addition, though,
2
they had to deal with the financial challenges of
the Depression, and the scarcity during World
War II of resources like wooden poles and copper
wire. But these rural men and women persisted.
And by the mid-1950s, they had hooked up the
90 percent of rural Americans who 20 years
earlier had no power. Amazing.
The story of electric cooperatives is much
more than a history of poles, transformers and
wires. At its heart, it's a story of people joining
together in common cause, to improve their
community. Each of today's almost 900 electric
cooperatives bears witness to the power of
neighbor joining neighbor to attempt - and
achieve - great things.
The federal government played an important
role, too. Through the Rural Electrification
Administration, or REA, cooperatives were able
to access low-cost loans and technical assistance,
neither of which was easily available to them
otherwise. In fact, the electrification of rural
America would become, and remains, one of the
largest and most successful public/private
partnerships in our nation's history.
For centuries, the rhythms of
farm life followed the rising and
setting sun. But with electricity,
American farmers could live more
comfortably, farm more efficiently, and
ultimately feed the world.
With electricity, rural Virginians in
every dusty crossroads community from
the Cumberland Gap to the Eastern Shore
were able to enjoy the same comforts
formerly reserved for city dwellers in
Richmond, Norfolk and Roanoke.
At electric cooperative annual meetings each
summer, we still see and enjoy visiting with co-op
members who were there " when the lights came
on. " Bringing light to their home was a
transformational moment for many of them.
Oftentimes that moment happened when a
hesitant pull on a cord hanging from the kitchen
ceiling brought a happy gasp, as a lonely
incandescent bulb came alive.
The ranks of these co-op members, of course,
grow smaller each year. Their lives of hardship
and sacrifice make them the Greatest Generation
within the electric cooperative movement.
And their legacy will live on ... every time we
flip a light switch, push a dryer button, adjust a
thermostat, turn on an oven, log on to our
computer, or stream a TV show.
Their past made possible our present. 
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Cooperative Living July 2019

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