Manager’s Comments
Contact Information: Business: 1-800-239-3092 (Monday-Friday 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
Toll Free Outage “Hotline” 1-800-533-0323 (24 hours a day)
Board of Trustees Tommy Thompson • President John Henry •Vice President Melvia Carter • Secretary Carey Thompson • Glenn Branum Tom Duncan • Dave Lyon Melvin Dale • Linda Arnold
Web site:
www.pioneerelectric.com
Payment Options: By Mail: Pioneer Electric Cooperative PO. Box 370 Greenville, AL 36037 Bank Draft: Contact a customer service representative for details Credit Card: By phone or in person Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express Night Depository: Available at each office location Online: www.pioneerelectric.com In Person: 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Greenville: 300 Herbert Street Selma: 4075 Ala. Highway 41 Authorized Payment Center: First Citizens Bank 40 Lafayette St. Hayneville
4 OCTOBER 2013
Building Legacies
Terry Moseley, Executive Vice President & General Manager
Pioneer Electric Cooperative is an electric distribution company serving nearly 13,000 members. The vast majority of us, approximately 85%, are residential members with service to the homes where we live. The rest of our members are farming or commercial entities. Many of you may fit into multiple categories, where you live on Pioneer's lines as well as farm and/or have a commercial business. One such individual I had the honor of knowing and assisting with his electric service needs for the last 30 plus years was Bill Bates. Mr. Bates not only grew up on PEC's line in Logan, he also had a turkey farm and started a turkey processing plant to supply turkey for a unique restaurant on I-65 in Bill Bates of Bates House of Turkey. Greenville. When the interstate opened, (Photo courtesy of Bates House of Turkey.) Mr. Bill began serving turkey at "Bates Turkey House" and has done so for the last 43 years. Bates Turkey House is a well known stop for many interstate travelers each day. Mr. Bill was an accomplished businessman, World War Two veteran, Rotarian, family man and a cornerstone of the Republican Party. His annual Thanksgiving turkey donation to the sitting Governor of Alabama helped to make him a household name, as well as put Greenville on the map. His most important title for me was that Mr. Bill was my friend. In August of this year, Mr. Bill passed away and many of us in Butler and Lowndes Counties will sorely miss him in our daily lives. As I think back over the last 36 years of involvement with PEC, I am reminded of several special connections with our members including: Alabama Williams who ran a store in Mosses whose motto was “I don’t sell anything that will hurt you” so she didn’t sell cigarettes or beer; Lowndes County Sheriff John Hulett Sr. who later became Probate Judge is another outstanding individual who always was willing to lend a hand; or the Board Trustee Joe Traylor from Dallas County who ministered to the Sheriff ’s Boys Ranch and helped raise some of the boys as his own; or Butler County’s William Crenshaw, who served as PEC’s Board Chairman for nearly fifty years, and whose family still farms here and works to make the cooperative better. As we celebrate Co-op Month in October, I want to thank you for being a special part of this cooperative. Please plan to join us on October 12th for our annual meeting at the Butler County Fairgrounds in Greenville. You can find more information regarding the day’s events on the following pages of this month’s Alabama Living Magazine. Hope to see you there. A