They were tired of it

I HADN’T BEEN WITH THE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES long when I was invited to the home of Henry McNeil, the chair of the Horry Electric Cooperative board of trustees, known by most as Mr. Henry.

As I drove into Spring Branch on that cold night, the moon and its reflection off the swamp were just about the only light I had. Spring Branch is a crossroads near the North Carolina border and at the end of Horry Cooperative’s lines. As I pulled up, I saw the first signal of the political and cultural impact co-op leaders like Mr. Henry have in their communities. The yard was packed with cars surrounding “the little house” where Mr. Henry grew up. All of Horry County’s elected officials had come to Mr. Henry’s annual dinner. They enjoyed baked ham, turkey, sweet potatoes, liver hash and rice and a bunch of desserts all prepared by Mr. Henry’s wife, Mary Francis.

After this gut-stretching dinner, we circled up our ladderback chairs as Mr. Henry talked about the early 1940s and the people of Spring Branch waiting for power to come to them. Mr. Henry took us on a tour of the serving platters on the table. He shook his head somberly as he reflected on how long it would have taken his mother to make each without electricity. Mr. Henry sure loved his desserts, and most of them would not even have been possible.

Back in those days, Mr. Henry and his father grew tired of seeing Ma work so hard to feed the family and do the laundry. In fact, all of Spring Branch was tired of seeing how hard they had to work. They needed help, and they needed it now.

Because their town was so remote, Spring Branch families knew they would likely be some of the last connected to electricity. They proposed a faster plan: They would help build the lines if Horry Electric would bring the electricity. Folks used their mules to drag poles across swamps and dug holes for them with posthole diggers.

It was back-breaking work. But ending every Spring Branch mom’s arduous housework made it worthwhile. The people of Spring Branch got their power, and in 1949, Mr. Henry was elected to the Horry Electric board, where he served for more than 57 years.

Fast forward 70 years and to another part of the state. Barbara Weston was growing tired, too. It had become apparent that some trustees on Tri-County Electric Cooperative’s board were looking out for their own interests rather than the membership’s. Mrs. Barbara, an Eastover resident and longtime educator, took action.

She organized a petition drive for a special vote to toss out the old board and elect a new one. She collaborated with community leaders and kept her neighbors informed. And when the board attempted to subvert the drive for change at a secret meeting, she helped bring 200 fellow members to the co-op’s headquarters in St. Matthews and stopped them. The co-op’s members called out their trustees, and their chants were heard across the nation. A day later, Mrs. Barbara joined a specially called meeting with nearly 1,500 other Tri-County members to vote out the board.

They were tired of being misrepresented by the people they elected. They were tired of their board ignoring them.

Months later, Mrs. Barbara and eight others began a new era at Tri-County Electric when they were elected to the board of trustees. Mrs. Barbara was elected chair, a leadership position she holds to this day.

For decades, co-op members like Mr. Henry and Mrs. Barbara have proven that getting tired is what powers positive change.

Today, co-op members tire of seeing younger generations apathetic about their country, so they support the Washington Youth Tour. They tire of seeing their neighbors’ needs go unmet, so they create Operation Round Up programs. They tire of seeing their communities being left behind in the digital age, so they invest in broadband.

As long as there are electric cooperatives, there will be co-op members who get tired of the status quo, who get tired of being left behind, who get tired of being ignored, and who will work to make life better for their neighbors as a result.