Another great year for a special co-op tradition

By Carli Eubank

The days are filled with cheers, sweat, smiles and excitement. Competitors line up on the track, ready for their race to start. Electric co-op volunteers wait anxiously at the finish line to congratulate the athletes and hand them their place cards. A wide range of emotions are experienced at these competitions each May when athletes, families and volunteers come together for Special Olympics Oklahoma.

One of the biggest traditions of Oklahoma’s electric cooperatives is volunteering at Special Olympics Oklahoma with the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives (OAEC). More than 150 co-op employees exemplified co-op principles of Cooperation Among Cooperatives and Concern for Community and volunteered for this year’s events. Among those volunteers were two from Cotton Electric Cooperative: Kyle Graham, member service representative, and TJ James, journeyman lineman.

Volunteering at Special Olympics was something that James always thought about doing and this year was his first year to help with the event. One of his biggest takeaways happened before the games even started.

“The Opening Ceremonies was an amazing experience because you get to see how excited the participants were to be competing in the games,” James said.

During the ceremony, athletes representing each region are introduced, awards are presented, and the torch gets lit. Then, with much excitement, the competitions begin.

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