Rural Missouri - February 2021 - 5

Missouri
RURAL

RM | PERSPECTIVES

Trust and dog food

Volume 74 | FEBRUARY 2021 | Number 2
EDITORIAL STAFF:
Jim McCarty, editor
jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop
Paul Newton, managing editor
pnewton@ruralmissouri.coop
Heather Berry, associate editor
hberry@ruralmissouri.coop
Megan Backes, creative director
mbackes@ruralmissouri.coop
Zach Smith, field editor
zsmith@ruralmissouri.coop
Angie Jones-Wheeler, co-op page designer
ADVERTISING:
Mary Davis, production manager
mdavis@ruralmissouri.coop
Editorial:
Rural Missouri
2722 E. McCarty St., Jefferson City, MO 65101
573-659-3423 info@ruralmissouri.coop
Advertising:
mdavis@ruralmissouri.coop
573-659-3400
National Advertising Representative:
American MainStreet Publications;
611 S. Congress St., Suite 504; Austin, TX 78704
573-659-3400
Postmasters: Send address changes to Rural Missouri, 2722 E. McCarty St., Jefferson City, MO
65101. Subscribers: Report change of address to
your local cooperative. Do not send change of address to Rural Missouri.
Advertising standards: Advertising published in
Rural Missouri is accepted on the premise that
the merchandise and services offered are accurately described and sold to customers at the advertised price. Rural Missouri and Missouri's electric cooperatives do not endorse any products or
services advertised herein. Advertising that does
not conform to these standards or that is deceptive or misleading is never knowingly accepted by
this publication. The acceptance of all advertising
shall be in the sole discretion of the editor.
Rural Missouri (ISSN 0164-8578) (USPS 473000) is published monthly by the Association
of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, 2722 E.
McCarty Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101, Caleb
Jones, CEO/executive vice president. Individual
subscription rate: $10 per year or $22 for three
years, taxes and postage included. Group rate for
members of participating RECs $2.22, plus taxes
and postage, paid from equity accruing to the
member. Delivery as specified by subscriber. If not
specified, delivery will be by periodical class mail
at subscriber's expense. Periodical Class postage
paid at Jefferson City, MO, and additional mailing
offices. Copyright 2021, Association of Missouri
Electric Cooperatives. Call for reprint rights.

Circulation of this issue: 571,379

by Caleb Jones
cjones@amec.coop

J

ust after Christmas my dad,
son Max and I jumped in my
truck and took off down the
road to southwest Missouri. Max
thought I was off on a never-ending
search for parts to keep the tractor
running. He was pretty surprised
when we picked up a wet-nosed, furry
bundle of boundless energy.
It took a lot of trust between my
wife, Lindsey, and I before Ben, as we
call him, joined the family. I had to
convince her that since she did not
give birth to this particular family
member, the kids and I would be his
chief caretakers. For my part, I had to
trust the previous owner who promised me this bernedoodle - a cross
between a Bernese mountain dog and
a poodle - would not grow into something the size of a Shetland pony.
I'm not going to lie, the first few
days it was a little crazy around our
home. He stayed up all night howling
at the moon and barking at every little noise. It took him a little while to
realize we are going to feed him, provide a warm bed and that those little
humans will keep his belly rubbed.
Once he started trusting us, he
became a pretty good dog.
That got me thinking about how
much trust and faith we memberowners put in our electric co-op. For
most of us, the only interaction we
have with our local electric co-op is
turning on a switch or paying a bill.
But there's something else that all of
us have to do that's pretty important:
We put our trust in this business that
we own. And that's something the
co-op doesn't take lightly.
Our job as member-owners is to
use that energy wisely and to pay our
bills on time so that the co-op can
keep its doors open. Our co-op's job is
to make sure the lights turn on when
we need them.
To make this happen it takes trust.
Trust that those linemen - our
heroes in hardhats - are willing to
brave extreme weather making sure
those power lines are up and running.

My daughter, Charlie, is enjoying the new addition to our family, a bernedoodle we call Ben.
Trust that the right decisions are
made at the co-op so there's no blackouts across the state.
Trust that co-op transmission lines
and equipment are designed to carry
the largest load.
Trust in your friends and neighbors, who sit on those co-op boards
and are making decisions so that your
electric rates are set to cover expenses and nothing else. We also trust
the decisions our boards make are
in the best interest of the co-op owners. They, in turn, need to have your
support when it's time to take care of
business at the annual meeting.
Trust is something that has to be
earned, whether it's from man's best
friend or the men and women who
make up our local electric co-ops. For
more than 80 years electric co-ops
have earned that trust by being vital
members of their communities.
While I know our co-ops trust you
and you trust them ... the jury is still
out on my furry buddy, Ben, who
seems to eat an awful lot of dog food.
Caleb is the executive vice president
and CEO of the Association of Missouri
Electric Cooperatives and a member of
Boone Electric Cooperative.
FEBRUARY 2021 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP

5


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Rural Missouri - February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - February 2021

Contents
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - Cover1
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - Cover2
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - Contents
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - 4
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - 5
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - 6
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - 7
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - 8
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - 9
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - 10
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - 11
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Rural Missouri - February 2021 - Cover3
Rural Missouri - February 2021 - Cover4
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