The History of First Electric Annual Meeting
Posted on July 1st, 2021
Annual meetings are an important part of the cooperative business model. They are necessary to provide important co-op updates to our membership and confirm director elections.
By 1945, the annual meetings at First Electric had grown into an all-day event. Tents were constructed to hold anxious members who wanted to learn about the cooperative’s expansion. Food, door prizes and electric appliance demonstrations kept the crowd entertained.
Those were exciting times. Washing machines, stoves, irons and refrigerators were quickly making their way into the homes. The late Dolores Benton, a former First Electric member, reached out to us in 2012 to share her memories about early electrification. Dolores said, “Step-by-step life got better and better because of the power that turned the lights on. We got a radio, a large, beautiful piece of furniture; family and friends gathered around to listen to the news, the Grand Ole Opry and mysteries like “The Creaking Door.”
She went on to reminisce about the impact electricity had on her mother’s chores, “You can’t imagine what a luxury it was for my mom to get an electric iron. When she ironed, she used to place the heavy irons on the stove to keep them hot, switching from iron to iron.”
Annual meetings were a place to showcase the new appliances; however, by the early 70s homes were saturated with them, and First Electric had grown to cover a vast territory that wasn’t conducive for centralized gatherings. In 1972, the board of directors amended the cooperative’s bylaws to allow members to cast ballots via mail.
This year our annual meeting was held on June 24 at the cooperative’s headquarters in Jacksonville. Tracy Hudspeth, from our Heber Springs district, was re-elected to the board for a six-year term. As vice-chairman of the board, Hudspeth’s objective is to keep rates affordable and provide reliable electricity to all members.
It’s an honor to serve as your board chairman and I congratulate Mr. Hudspeth on his re-election. Hopefully, you will have a happy and safe summer!
Sincerely,
Rick Love, Chairman