Co-op Comments
Area students gather together for REC's Youth Leadership Summit
Leadership, motivation and learning brought 10 schools from Rural Electric Cooperative’s service area together for REC’s 20th annual Youth Leadership Summit.
“REC is passionate about our youth and helping to develop their skill set,” said Megan Lawrence, Manager of Member Services and Marketing. “REC's Board of Trustees understands the importance our youth play in our communities and fostering their leadership development will only assist them later in life.”
Rhett Laubach, owner of Your Next Speaker, in Edmond, Oklahoma spent the day working with 65 students about leadership and preparing for the future. The students interacted with each other throughout the day and gained useful tips on how they can obtain their dream job. Laubach has taught leadership skills for over 25 years to audiences across the United States, the Bahamas and Canada. 364700
This year, students from Alex, Bray-Doyle, Dibble, Lindsay,
Maysville, Ninnekah, Purcell, Wayne and Wynnewood participated in the Youth Leadership Summit. In addition to a full day of mental, emotional, social and physical activity, REC gave five scholarships. The winners of the scholarships were selected based on their participation throughout the day, their application they submitted and recommendations from their sponsors.
REC gave five, $500 scholarships to the students in attendance. This year’s Youth Leadership Summit scholarship winners were Ethan Fisher from Bray-Doyle, Ava Duarte from Dibble, Alexa Espinoza from Lindsay, Aron Barrera from Purcell and Ava Stottlemyre from Wayne.
“REC is honored to provide opportunities for our youth to expand their leadership skills," Lawrence adds. "We are thankful for schools in our service territory allowing their students to participate in this event and all of our youth programs."
Investing in electrical infrastructure will help reduce disruptions
Investments in infrastructure will reduce the likelihood of disruptions from extreme weather events that could lead to more frequent and severe power outages. These investments help harden the system by adding to the reliability.
Having adequate energy supply to meet existing and growing demand, while maintaining affordability, is necessary to move the power to its intended destination. Grid
investment expands the overall system capacity to meet the demand in the most efficient and affordable way possible.
At a recent, Western Farmers Electric Cooperative board meeting, CEO Gary Roulet explained, "WFEC is in the same condition as the rest of the country. Its transmission infrastructure needs additional investments to uphold and expand the system to maintain reliability."
WFEC, a not-for-profit, wholesale power supplier for 21 distribution cooperatives and Altus Air Force Base, located across Oklahoma and into parts of New Mexico. WFEC has been rebuilding and replacing transmission structures across the service territory through capital investment projects in each year’s budget. More resilient, new steel poles are being utilized in some areas, replacing the wooden structures, plus conductor capacity increases are helping support transfer capability between resource and load.
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP), a regional transmission organization of which WFEC is a member, is enabling rapid, reliable, and innovative solutions for the interconnection of high impact loads and is positioning its region as an attractive destination for major power users.
For additional information, please visit the WFEC website – www.wfec.com.
WFEC is working with REC to conduct a residential consumer survey
The purpose of this survey is to gather data related to energy usage patterns to help plan for future needs. Your participation in this survey is important, and the information provided will not be shared with any third-party vendors. Please scan the QR code visit our website, www.recok.coop, to complete the survey.
April 2026
Co-op Comments
Official publication of Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. CO-OP COMMENTS is owned, controlled and directed by Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. It is printed monthly and mailed to members in Garvin, McClain, Comanche, Stephens, Grady and Carter counties in Oklahoma.
Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. 13942 Highway 76 • P.O. Box 609
Lindsay, OK 73052 405-756-3104 • 800-259-3504
Outage Number: 855-399-2683 www.recok.coop
Board of Trustees
Gary Jones, President, District 1
Scott Christian, Vice President, District 1
Brent Bacon, Sec./Treasurer, District 1
Larry Anderson, District 2
Johnny Harrel, District 2
Terri Hays, District 2
Mark Finch, District 3
Randy Griswold, District 3
Sonny Harrison, District 3
Lisa Whitman, Attorney
Management and Staff
Dusty Ricks, Manager/CEO
Darren Townley, CFO
Elaine Gilreath, Manager of Customer Service and Data Processing
Jon Jones, Manager of Engineering
Mitch Gilreath, Manager of Information Technology Services
Eric Neill, Manager of Cyber Security and Special Projects
Megan Lawrence, Manager of Member Services and Marketing
Casey Henson, Manager of Safety and Loss Control/Facilities
Scott Henson, System Superintendent
Jason Mays, Operations Superintendent
REC's youth program winners
Rural Electric Cooperative recently awarded and recognized 26 area students with trips and scholarships. Twelve high school seniors shared $19,000 in scholarships assisting with their college expenses. Six high school juniors received all-expense paid trips this summer- three won trips to Washington D.C. for Youth Tour and three won trips to Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. While eight eighth graders won a trip to Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperative’s Energy Camp at Canyon Camp near Hinton, Oklahoma.
Both the Youth Tour and Energy Camp competitions were open to REC’s membership and all students attending a school within REC’s service area. Whereas, only high school seniors whose parents or legal guardians are members of REC were eligible to apply for the 12 scholarships available.
To compete in the scholarship contest, students were required to complete an application, then the Youth Committee selected 12 finalists to interview. All finalists were selected as winners. Two students received $2,000 scholarships and 10 received $1,500 each. Winners of the $2,000 scholarships were Jyntree Patterson of Elmore CityPernell and Breckynn Cline of Lindsay. Winners of $1,500 scholarships went to: Ray Pettit of Alex; Judson Dorman of Bray-
Doyle; Jory Bordwine of Dibble; Brooklyn Bunch, Dennis Degering, Kaven Hunter, Marion Lauricella and Cayson Mottinger of Lindsay, Casen Bratcher of Rush Springs and Emma Flick of Washington.
High school juniors competing in the Youth Tour contest wrote an essay as the first step of the competition. Judges selected the top six essays as finalists. The finalists competed in a speech contest to determine the trip winners. Judges selected Gracey Bray and Cheyenne Lamb of Lindsay and Cache Mooney of Wynnewood as winners for Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. These students will travel to Washington, D.C. with approximately 70 other juniors from across Oklahoma to tour our nation’s capitol.
The three runners-ups won a trip near Steamboat Springs, Colorado for the Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp hosted by the Colorado Electric Cooperatives. Local winners will join students from Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming for the week-long camp. REC’s winners include Rocky Byrd of Alex; Jaydin Tate of Lindsay and Larissa Lopez of Wynnewood.
REC’s winners to Energy Camp were selected from a large group of essays submitted by eighth graders from several area schools. The group will attend the camp with 80 other eighth graders
across Oklahoma. Winners include Quinn Hamilton of Alex; Tyler Shrader and Isabelle Wells of Elmore City-Pernell; Elise Beach, Christofer Cayton, Christi Reed and Courtney Walker of Maysville and Autumn Brandt of Whitebead.
Student winners, parents, teachers and administrators were honored at a banquet hosted by REC recently at the Cooperative’s Multi Purpose Center in Lindsay.
REC has offered these programs to area students since 1989. Over the past 36 years REC has provided: 387 scholarships; sent 107 high school juniors to the Youth Tour in Washington, D.C.; sent 99 high school juniors to the Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp; and sent 252 eighth grade students to Energy Camp.
REC's 2026 scholarship winners. Front row (left to right): Judson Dorman of Bray-Doyle, Ray Pettit of Alex, Dennis Degering of Lindsay, Jory Bordwine of Dibble and Casen Bratcher of Rush Springs. Second row: Kaven Hunter and Marion Lauricella of Lindsay, Emma Flick of Washington, Jyntree Patterson of Elmore City-Pernell and Breckynn Cline of Lindsay. Top row: Cayson Mottinger and Brooklyn Bunch of Lindsay.
REC's 2026 Youth Tour finalists. Front row (left to right): Cache Mooney and Larissa Lopez of Wynnewood and Rocky Byrd of Alex. Back row: Jaydin Tate, Gracey Bray and Cheyenne Lamb of Lindsay.
REC's 2026 Energy Camp winners. Front row (left to right): Elise Beach, Christi Reed and Courtney Walker of Maysville. Back row: Christofer Cayton of Maysville, Tyler Shrader and Isabelle Wells of Elmore CityPernell. Not pictured: Quinn Hamilton of Alex and Autumn Brandt of Whitebead.
Classified Advertisement
AUTOMOTIVE
FOR SALE: 2013 Harley Davidson Heri-
Classified Ads
are FREE to REC members to post non-commercial items. Deadline for ads is the 8th of every month. Call the Member Services Dept. at 405-756-3104 ext. 238.
Account
Information
Is your REC up-to-date?
Have you changed your phone number or email address lately? Notify REC, so we can update our information. Call our office at 405-756-3104 and make sure we have your current phone numbers and email address. When we have the most up-to-date contact information it allows us to better inform you, our members, about what is happening at REC.
Energy Efficiency
Tip of the Month
As we prepare for the seasonal shift, remember to set your ceiling fan rotation accordingly. In winter months (or whenever your home heating system is running), fan blades should rotate clockwise, which produces an updraft pushing warm air down. In summer months (or whenever your home cooling system is running), blades should rotate counterclockwise, which produces a downdraft or windchill effect making you feel cooler. When used correctly, ceiling fans can boost comfort and allow you to adjust the thermostat a few degrees for energy savings.
Learn more at www.energy.gov
tage Softail Classic, 23,115 miles, call for photos, $10,500. PH: 405-331-9808.
MISCELLANEOUS
FOR SALE: Row-N-Ride exercise bike, new, never used, $250. PH:405-351-0878.
FOR FREE: 8-18 count egg cartons and 5-12 count egg cartons. PH:405-756-3003.
WANTED: Experienced farmhand. PH: 405-313-0508.
Local Co-op Connection Card Deals
A-U-Store It, Purcell -
$5 off first month rent
Backroads Boutique, Lindsay5% off everything excluding special order and sale items
Best Western, Chickasha15% Off Regular Room Rate
Blue Moose Portable and Septic Services, LLC, Elmore City5% Off Septic Tank Pumping, Tent Rental and Special Event Toilet Rentals
Chickasha Diesel Services, Chickasha$50 off any big diesel oil change
Edwards Canvas, Pauls Valley - 5% Off Jenny’s Pics Photography, Lindsay10% Off $50 or More Purchase of Pictures
Lindsay Tire and Lube, Lindsay$5 Off Any Full Service Oil Change
M & M Furniture, Chickasha10% Off Any Purchase
Mazzio’s Italian Eatery, Purcell10% Off Purchase
Photos by Ginger, Pauls Valley1 Free 8x10 Print With First Order of $25
Pharmacy Discounts -
Check out the discounts available using your Co-op Connections Card at participating pharmacies throughout our area. For a complete list of pharmacies, visit REC’s website to see if your pharmacy is offering discounts to Co-op Connections Card holders.