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Show E 1 . After REA was created and placed its agent in the field, it was soon discovered that an existing form of business enterprise in rural areas was going to dominate the way rural people would obtain the light and method and that idea an was power. It rural Americana understood well: cooperation and cooperatives. From barn raisings, threshing bees to cooperatively owned and operated creameries and grain elevators, rural folks had organized in the nonprofit, way to accomplish together a number of economic and social aims and to obtain goods and services Thousands of rural Americans still understand the truth of those words. The night the lights came on" fa recorded as a high moment in their lives, an important date, ranking with marriages, birth and the burning of the long-soug-ht co-o- p previously unavailable. Working through and with REA and their neighbors, dedicated men and women in a few short years made the REA Co-osign one of the best know, and best-love- d symbols in rural America. What that sign and the coming of electricity meant to rural families was captured in the recollections of a land buyer for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the early 1940s. Traveling a country road at dusk, the land buyer came upon a farmer sitting on a little knoll overlooking his newly electrified farm. As the farmer gazed down at his house, bam and smokehouse ablaze with light, the TVA man noted the special lode of wonder on the farmers face. About a week later, the TVA man attended the church to which this farmer belonged. During the service, the fanner got up to give witness: Brothers and sisters, I want to tell you this. The greatest thing on earth is to have the love of God in your heart, and the next greatest thing is to have electricity in your house." p farm mortgage. the As - lights came on all over rural first magic glow of the naked bulb was witnessed then, and fa recalled today, with a sense of awe. A Kentucky farmer, remembering that experience from his boyhood, nails: I'll never forget that day - it was late on a November afternoon, just before dark. All we had was wires hanging down from the ceiling in every room, bulbs on the end. Dad turned with on the one in the kitchen first, and he just stood there, holding on to the He uid to me, Carl, come hoe hang onto this so I can turn on the in the sitting room. I knew he didnt have to do that and I told him to stop holding it, that it would stay on. He go, and then looked kind of finally America, the bare pull-chai- n. and light foolish. let story is told of the bachelor farmer North Dskota who was' finally The in to sign up for electricity 14 of his REA. If he would road and down the neighbors up have been denied the electric. After the line was electrified, Petes neighbor, Ole, guilty seeing Petes house all convinced the , with dark hadnt, felt every night Pete was paying the the sake of his for nothing getting Visiting hie friend one day, Ole discovered that Pete was indeed getting a benefit from electricity, if only for a few moments each dark winter morning. Pete minimum charge for neighbors, but was it This lady uses the electricity supplied by Moon Lake Electric to lite her night light pnd to keep her warm during the long winter months. KEEPING WARM related that before electricity, I dam near froze before I found the lantern and matches and got my clothes on. But now, he boasted, things were different They walked into the bedroom and Pete pointed to a light bulb above the foot of the bed. There was long string hanging down with big harness ring tied to the end. See that ring? Now when the alarm goes off I just stick one foot out of the bed, hook that ring with my big toe and turn on the light. Now I have no trouble finding my lantern and matches At a general store in Georgia, the ' storekeeper bragged on his new electric month before discovering it was only the night light over his cash employe register. When an REA co-o-p showed him how to turn on the rest of the light, he .was - speechless' with amazement. No obstacle was too great in the quest to get REA. One farmer, told his farm was too far from the line, was undeterred. He returned to co-o-p office a few days later, waving- - his $6 coop .membership fee. light for I lOSBIMi ' I moved my house, he explained in triumph. REFINING COMPANY Congralulattions on the Golden Anniversary of Rural Electrimcallon The REA helped to establish preference policies, which to purchase hydroelectricity from dams of the Federql gave power system to nonprofit entities and public bodies. PREFERENCE W Hwy 40 Room vo It 722-249- 3 First rights |