NEWS FROM YOUR COOPERATI www.dmremc.com CONTACT US
Daviess-Martin County REMC TOLL FREE
800-762-7362
GENERAL MANAGER
Ken Frye
OFFICE HOURS
7:30 a.m.– 4 p.m., Monday-Friday STREET ADDRESS
12628 E 75 N, Loogootee, IN 47553 MAILING ADDRESS
P.O. Box 430, Loogootee, IN 47553 SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS
To report an outage or emergency, call 812-295-4200 or 800-7627362 day or night. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dean Harrawood, PRESIDENT John Edwards, VICE PRESIDENT August Bauer, SECRETARY Michael E. Arvin, TREASURER Terry Chapman Dale Marchino Steve Streepy BILL PAYMENT OPTIONS
Online bill payment Budget billing Auto bank draft Drive-through window Night depository Credit card payment (VISA, Discover and MasterCard accepted) Pay-by-phone MISSION STATEMENT
“Our mission is to provide dependable electricity and quality services for our members at reasonable cost.” Like us on Facebook www.Facebook.com/Daviess MartinCountyREMC
TIP OF THE MONTH
Minimize heat-generating tasks
When it’s hot outside, appliances and lighting can actually heat up our homes more than we think. To save energy, minimize the activities that generate additional heat, such as burning open flames, continuously running a computer, or using hot hair devices like curling irons. This will ultimately keep your house cooler. — U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
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Electricity remains a good value In today’s world, you won’t find many items that cost less than $5. You can purchase a gallon of milk, a gallon of gas or a Big Mac® meal from McDonald’s. But did you know that an average day’s worth of electricity KEN FRYE costs less than $5? Even in our country’s shifting energy climate, electricity remains a good value. In fact, electricity has the lowest cost per day of any of the items listed above. And not all of those items are necessary for daily life! As general manager of Daviess-Martin County REMC, I urge you to think about your daily necessities (electricity and gasoline, to name a couple), and then think about the cost of the special treats we allow ourselves to purchase on a weekly basis (maybe even on a daily basis for some items!). We don’t often question the cost of a Big Mac® meal — it costs over $1 more to buy a Big Mac® meal than it does to purchase a day’s worth of power. And yet, we frequently become upset if our electricity rates rise. It makes sense; we have become increasingly reliant upon electricity. Electricity has, for many of us, gone from a luxury commodity to a necessity and an expectation. We expect the lights to come on when we flip the switch, and we expect our power to stay on during the best and worst conditions. How else would we keep our food fresh, our homes cool in the summer or warm in the winter? It is easy to cut a Big Mac® out of your spending routine here and there to save a few dollars. But we cannot simply cut electricity out of our budgets if times get tough or we decide that we want to scale back our spending in order to save. Perhaps that is why it is so upsetting to us when our rates increase, even if only in small increments. It is
ELECTRIC CONSUMER • SEPTEMBER 2014 • ElectricConsumer.org
nearly impossible for us to think about what our lives would be like if we did not have electricity. If at times it doesn’t seem that electricity is affordable, remember – even as the demand for electricity grows – annual cost increases still remain low, especially when compared to other consumer goods such as medical care, education, gasoline and, yes, even Big Macs®. Electricity is still a great bargain. And also remember this: as the general manager of Daviess-Martin County REMC, your local electric cooperative, I am committed to making sure that you and your family always have safe, reliable and affordable electric service in your home. So the next time you crave a Big Mac®, remember your electric bill, and think about what a great deal you’re getting for your dollar! KEN FRYE is general manager of Daviess-Martin County REMC.
IVE Annual report photo contest Daviess-Martin County REMC is excited to announce its eighth annual report cover photo contest. The winning photo will be featured as the cover of the 2014 annual report. The following are the guidelines for the submission of photos for the contest. 1. Submissions must be recent color photographs that have been taken in our service territory. Springtime pictures are preferred due to the annual report being printed in April, however, all pictures will be considered. A brief description of where the photo was taken, your name, address, telephone and account numbers must be submitted with the photo. Photos that include people must have written consent for publication. 2. The photographer must reside in a Daviess-Martin County REMC household. 3. No more than three entries per photographer. 4. The winning photo, as voted on by REMC employees, will become the property of Daviess-Martin County REMC to use for publicity purposes such as, but not limited to, the annual report cover, website, Electric Consumer, etc. 5. Digital copies must be submitted with the photo. Photos and/or digital copies will not be returned to the photographer. 6. If the picture is a digital photo, we would prefer it to be a TIFF or JPEG file sized to 100 percent at a minimum 300 dpi. 7. The winning photograph will be used for the annual report front cover, and the winner will receive a check for $50. Second and third place winners will receive a $25 check each. First, second and third place photographs will be printed in Electric Consumer. 8. All entries must be submitted by Nov. 7 to our business office at 12628 E. 75 N., Loogootee, or mailed to P.O. Box 430, Loogootee, IN 47553 by this date. The winner will be announced in the January issue of Electric Consumer. 9. This is not an exhaustive list of rules. REMC reserves the right to reject all entries. Please contact our office at 800-762-7362 with any questions. 10. REMC employees, board members and their families are not eligible to participate. …
Save the date : Thursday, Oct. 9 ••••••••••••
MEMBER APPRECIATION DAY Enjoy sandwiches, chips and soft drinks from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Be entered for a chance to win one of four $25 bill credits and other giveaways!
• WHERE: • • •Daviess-Martin • • • •County • •REMC• • 12628 E. 75 N., Loogootee
‘Win! Win! Win!’ Each month, Daviess-Martin County REMC asks our readers three questions to which the answers can be found in the articles of Electric Consumer. Follow these simple rules: 1.) Clip the coupon along the dotted line. 2.) Fill it out. 3.) Return it to our office with your monthly payment before the 20th of the month. (Delinquent payments are not eligible.) Each month a winner will be drawn from the entries submitted. Make sure you bring or mail in your most recent coupon, as the coupons are dated monthly. Members with automatic payment accounts will be entered in the contest as well. Copies will not be accepted, and coupons are not available at the office! Winners will be notified and their names published in the following monthly issue of Electric Consumer. JULY WINNER: Richard Kluesner, Loogootee
$50 MONTHLY DRAWING (FOR BILLS DATED SEPT. 5; PAID BY SEPT. 20)
1. When will Daviess-Martin County REMC celebrate Member Appreciation Day? ___________________ 2. How many miles of electric lines does Daviess- Martin County REMC maintain today? __________ 3. An average day’s worth of electrcity costs less than $________. NAME: ___________________________________________________________ ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNT NO.: __________________________________________________ PHONE NO.: ____________________________________________________
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Daviess-Martin County REMC News
Artisan
MARKET Wilsons bring unique concept to Southern Indiana
W
ith an artistic eye, creative spirit and nimble fingers, Daviess-Martin County REMC member Lisa Wilson has the knack for taking something old and repurposing it into something new. Her “Altered Elements” jewelry line — crafted from recycled items like buttons, keys, wine bottle corks, silverware and vintage brooches — allows her to exercise her creativity and share her skills with fashion-conscious women drawn to unique “statement” pieces. Now the Montgomery artisan is taking her love of antiquing, and picking and refurbishing collected items and furniture, to a whole new level. On Sept. 5-6, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., she and her husband, Dennis, are hosting the First Annual Chandelier Barn Market at the Wilson Family Farms. The farms are located at 5060 E. 350 N. The event will take place in three barns and several tents on the Daviess County property. Wilson describes it as a vendor marketplace featuring handmade collectibles and jewelry (including “Altered Elements” pieces), antiques, artwork, hand-painted furniture and vintage wearables. “This is not a flea market or craft show,” she said. “I have hand-picked 30 ‘makers’ from throughout Indiana to display and sell unique one-of-a-kind items.” Husband Dennis, a lineman at the REMC since 1990, crafts up-cycled lighting that will be on sale at the market. The event will also include a demonstration on the benefits and use of chalk paint, live musical entertainment, food, and photo op props such as a 1941
Wilson Family Farms, where the Chandelier Barn Market will take place, is located at 5060 E. 350 N. in Montgomery.
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ELECTRIC CONSUMER • SEPTEMER 2014 • ElectricConsumer.org
The First Annual Chandelier Barn Market will take place in three barns and several tents on the Wilson Family Farms, Montgomery, Sept. 5-6, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. After attending Country Living Fairs last year, Lisa Wilson was inspired to bring the idea to Southern Indiana.
International truck, an antique tractor and wagons. Admission is $5 and covers both days. Kids 12 and under are free. Wilson was inspired to organize the market after attending Country Living Fairs in Ohio and Georgia last year. “We are getting close to seeing the vision come together,” she said proudly. “It has been a lot of work but it makes my heart feel good to be bringing something like this to the community.” She hopes to capitalize on the popularity of other area events taking place the first weekend of September. “We purposely scheduled it for the same weekend as the Montgomery Turkey Trot Festival and the White River Valley Antique Show so that we could promote it as another stop for the people coming to the area to attend those events,” Wilson said. The Wilsons are planning to make the Chandelier Barn Market an annual event and may also have a monthly “popup” sale featuring different artisans. For more information about the First Annual Chandelier Barn Market and to see featured vendors, visit Facebook. com/ChandelierBarnMarket. …
Celebrating 75 years
Then and now: The work of a lineman
T
he first electric line construction got underway in November 1939. It was not an easy task to stake 354 miles of line in the bitter cold of 1939 and 1940. Temperatures were considerably below zero and several inches of snow was on the ground all winter long. Many of the men (mostly local) working on the line, froze ears, fingers and feet in order to keep up construction.
When line construction began back in 1939, linemen raised and set poles by hand.
Today Daviess-Martin County REMC maintains 1,355 miles of line. We employ seven certified linemen and have more reliable and safe equipment. The task may be a little easier today than it was back then but the linemen still work many hours in all kinds of weather to keep the lights on. …
Today, bucket trucks are equiped with mechanisms that can lift and set utility poles very easily.
Working high in the sky on lines and poles used to require climbing up a pole.
Today, bucket trucks lift linemen to the top of poles.
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