Cover Feature


Secretary Jim Reese Photo by James Pratt


By Anna Politano J


im Reese is a lifelong member of Kay Electric Cooperative based in Blackwell, Okla. Reese recalls attending Kay Electric’s annual meetings growing up. He would watch movies with other rural kids during


annual meeting while keeping his fi ngers crossed to win a bicy- cle from the meeting’s prize drawings. Although he never won a bike, he became an advocate for and a friend of rural electric cooperatives. “There isn’t anything that happens in rural Oklahoma that rural electric cooperatives are not involved in; they are always there and always supporting a cause, regardless if they are going to service the project or not,” Reese said. “They play a crucial role supporting rural economic development and we’re blessed to have them.” In 1996, Reese recalls enduring 22 days on his farm without electricity. “I know what it is like to live without electricity, and I don’t like


it. Electricity has revolutionized life on the farm,” he said. Reese continues to be a proud Kay Electric Cooperative member on his farm enterprise west of Blackwell.


This photo of Reese’s extended family working on the farm was taken in about 1990. The three small children in front, Joanna, Drew and Lainey, belong to Secretary Reese. Courtesy photo


DID YOU KNOW?


Secretary Reese is a member-owner of Kay Electric Cooperative based in Blackwell, Okla.


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