Miami Resident Claims Grand Prize Truck Registration at 75th REC Day third largest in co-op’s history
T
he town of Grove was bustling with activity on Saturday, September 21, as thousands of REC members fl ocked to Grand Lake for Northeast
Oklahoma Electric Cooperative’s 75th anniversary cele- bration. T e Grove Civic Center was the hub of activity
and members could not have asked for nicer weather on this last day of summer to celebrate the landmark occasion. T e cooperative registered 2,282 members, the third-largest total in the organization’s history. T ou- sands more, counting family and friends, passed through the doors during what was the most important day of the year for the cooperative. NEOEC has achieved quorum for 15 years consecu-
tively, dating back to 1999. Quorum was offi cially fulfi lled at 10:30 a.m. with the
registration of Zena residents Arnold and Mary Martin. T e Martins were the 1,429th members to register on the day, marking the fi ve percent member participation required to make the meeting offi cial. T ey received a special prize for helping the co-op achieve quorum. Cooperative attorney Michael Torrone reported from the podium during the business meeting that 7.95 percent of the total membership had registered at the meeting. Grove resident Don Lindsay arrived at 7:10 a.m. and
was fi rst in line to register. He said he wanted to beat the rush to the health fair. About ten minutes behind him were Howard and Irene McKibben of Wyandotte. T ey drove down to attend the event from Kansas, where they had been camping and fi shing. Judy Scott of Miami was the day’s big winner. She
won the biggest prize ever awarded at an REC Day—a 2009 Ford truck. She has been an REC member since 1995 and attends annual meeting most years. She said it was the fi rst time she had ever won a prize. Another big winner during the 75th annual meet-
ing was Tom Workman of Vinita. Workman’s name was announced as the winner of a one-carat diamond. He was given the option of taking the cash equivalent of the stone—valued at $2,285—which he did. T ere were a number of reasons for members to
attend the yearly gathering. Along with an opportunity to participate in the cooperative’s unique democratic process by voting in the trustee elections, there were numerous other prize giveaways, complimentary food and beverages, low-cost health screenings furnished by
8 - Northeast Connection
friendly Craig General Hospital staff , co-op member/ vendor displays, arts and craſt s booths, and some out- standing musical entertainment from Grammy-Award winning artist Tommy Allsup and his band, T e Coin Tossers.
Allsup’s much-anticipated performance kicked off at
9 a.m. with a rousing performance of swing classic Right or Wrong, much to the delight of a still-growing Civic Center crowd. T e day was viewed as an overwhelming success by
cooperative offi cials. “T e day truly was a complete success,” commented
REC Communications Specialist Clint Branham. “We couldn’t have asked for better weather and member participation was tremendous. We were able to take care of the business of the cooperative and have fun doing it. Everyone walked away with something. Several mem- bers won some rather memorable prizes, obviously, but we hope every member who came to Grove feels like they were rewarded for their time. It was a great day to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative.” During the election portion of the meeting, mem-
bers in attendance were asked to assist the cooperative by deciding the outcome of two runoff s for seats on the co- operative board, along with confi rming the nomination of one trustee running unopposed. Aſt er the credentials committee tallied the votes, Torrone shared the results of the general election with members in attendance at the business meeting. Torrone reported that incumbent Benny Seabourn
was re-elected over challenger Ronnie Lane 1,212 votes to 746 votes to win the District 2 seat. Meanwhile, Dis- trict 7 incumbent James Wade retained his seat 1,142 votes to 789 votes over challenger Larry Holloway. In District 9, unchallenged incumbent Jack Caudill had his nomination confi rmed with 1,872 votes. Torrone ex- plained that a total of 2,016 ballots had been cast during election proceedings. Along with the truck and diamond, numerous other
prizes, including appliances, TVs and electric credits were presented to cooperative members at the conclu- sion of the meeting. Of the more than one hundred prizes awarded, $75
electric credits went to 90 members (ten in each coop- erative district). District 1 winners were: Coy Bowers of
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