Under the big tent

THE MITCHELLS DIDN’T GET TO GO ON MANY vacations. They were too busy milking cows on their family-owned dairy farm in Saluda County. So, for the youngest in their clan, Molly, the highlight of the year was the Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative Annual Meeting of Members. That’s where she got to see the beautiful and talented Florine Olar, a traveling organist whose sparkling presence had young Molly fantasizing about a future in music.

“The vision I remember was peeping through that tent and seeing a beautiful redhead in a sequin gown playing theatre organ music that I had never heard live before,” says Molly Mitchell Spearman, who would go on to earn a music degree from Lander University and serve in the S.C. House of Representatives, and who recently retired from public service as our state superintendent of education. “That’s who I wanted to be, Ms. Florine. She was a celebrity to me.”

Florine wasn’t the only entertainment the Mitchells and their fellow Mid-Carolina Electric members got to see at annual meetings in the 1960s. Similarly, Mid-Carolina Electric wasn’t the only cooperative annual meeting where Ms. Florine performed. Olar often headlined a slate of performers that might have included magicians, ventriloquists, singers, and even dancing monkeys (music provided by Ms. Florine, of course) under big tents throughout South Carolina. At some, there were even beauty pageants where a young lady was crowned Miss Broad River Electric or Miss Horry Electric. One of those beauty queens would eventually turn her crown into a gavel. Theresa Sullivan Hicks, Miss Lynches River Electric 1961, now serves as chair of the Lynches River Electric Board of Trustees.

The folksy festivities somewhat belied the fundamental purpose of those meetings. As member-owned organizations, a portion of those members must gather each year to conduct the business of the cooperative and elect their governing board of trustees. However, in the early years, it proved somewhat difficult to motivate those in the outer reaches of the cooperative’s rural territories to travel into town to participate. That’s when a fair-type atmosphere became standard fare for annual meetings. With enticements like food, entertainment, pageants and gifts, it was certainly worth the time, effort and excitement to load up the family on a spring Saturday for a fun day at the co-op. If minutes got approved and board seats were filled in the process, then all the better.

It was also worth it for the cooperatives. Not only did it fulfill bylaw obligations, but these kinds of meetings also reinforced their hometown nature. The people bringing power to local homes and businesses weren’t faceless employees of a utility, but neighbors and friends. The relationship between the cooperative and its members went beyond delivering electricity and bills. Annual meetings were days to celebrate the uniqueness of the cooperative business model.

That’s pretty much the way it worked for the next several decades. As cooperatives improved their facilities and communities grew, the festivities were moved from tents to truck sheds or into auditoriums and local gymnasiums. But beach music bands, hot dog plates, grand prize trucks and other giveaways still assured that cooperative members showed up and made their voices heard, despite their increasingly busy lifestyles.

Then, a global pandemic and a new state law changed how cooperatives conducted their annual meetings. Just as they always do, cooperatives innovated. Obstacles became opportunities as drive-thru registration and live-streamed business meetings became the norm across the state.

Even as it has become safe for us to gather together like we used to, many South Carolina cooperatives are making use of new annual meeting options. And why not? Most have set registration records. Members are still winning prizes, taking home gifts and connecting (at least briefly) with the employees who serve them.

For sure, life is much different now than when the Mitchells were taking a break from their farm for some wholesome family fun and co-op business. Perhaps the excitement that young Molly felt in those days is a peak that won’t be duplicated. But I hope cooperatives never stop pursuing that kind of connection to members. It’s what makes us different.

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