Friday, April 18, 1997

Directors elected at 58th Taylor Electric meeting

Zone directors were chosen for the Taylor Electric Cooperative at the co-op's 58th annual meeting Thursday in Abilene.

Some 1,200 people had barbecue on the floor of the Taylor County Coliseum.

Three directors were re-elected. They were J.D. Sandusky of Merkel for Zone I, representing Taylor County; Larry Sloan for Zone II, which serves parts of Callahan, Eastland, Jones, and Shackelford counties; and Parks Thomas of Maryneal, for Zone III, which serves Coke, Fisher, and Nolan counties.

Sandusky and his wife, Margarett, farm south of Merkel.

Sloan works for the prison system at Snyder, and he and his wife, June, make their home in the Hodges community.

Thomas was selected Outstanding Conservation Rancher in 1997 and he and his wife, Rudy, are active in community affairs. He was first appointed to the board in December 1996 to finish the term of the late Carl Wesley Moore of Nolan. The cooperative honored Mr. Moore with a moment of silence.

In memory, the electric co-op also noted in its annual publication: "Taylor Electric Cooperative, Inc., board of directors and employees lost a valued friend and dedicated director when Carl Wesley Moore died on Friday, Nov. 15, 1996. He had served on the board for over 20 years."

Roxy Whiteside of Abilene attended the annual meeting on behalf of Moore, her father.

The annual event was dedicated to Don Hart, general manger of Taylor Electric Cooperative for 25 years who retired on June 30 last year. Don and his wife, Mitzi, reside at Merkel where he was "Citizen of the Year."

Service awards went to: Jerry Russell, employee, 40 years; R.C. Watts Jr., director, 35 years; Lee Reddin, employee, 15 years; Sybil Norris, director, 10 years; John T. Honey, employee, 5 years; and Randy Davis, employee, 5 years.

General Manager Tommie Cutler said the co-op had a good year in 1996, with kilowatt-hour sales increasing by 6.25 percent. On the down side, the co-op paid its power suppliers $595,034 more in wholesale fuel cost in 1996 than 1995.