December 2022 | Volume 84 | Issue 12
PCEC Blood Drive Helps Save Lives
Platte-Clay held its annual community blood drive on October 25 in partnership with Community Blood Center.
Volunteers and Community Blood Center staff registered 89 donors, including 8 first-time donors, and collected 80 units of blood. One unit of blood is roughly equivalent to one pint. One pint of blood can save up to three lives. On average, every two seconds someone in the United States will need a blood donation.
“Concern for Community” is one of Platte-Clay’s guiding principles as a cooperative, and this event offers an opportunity to give back and make a difference.
All donors were given a PCEC paring knife and Pat Graves won the drawing for a $100 Platte-Clay Fuels gift card.
Holidays A Special Time To Reflect On The Year
Dave Deihl, General Manager
From the General Manager
Christmas is always a special time of year. There’s nothing quite like family traditions and good food to end the year. One of my favorite family holiday traditions is a big shrimp boil on Christmas Eve where my wife and I host both sides of our family.
It’s a great time to be able to slow down a little bit. It feels like we’re always on the go. I feel like it’s important to take some time to reflect on the year, spend time with family and make some memories.
In reflecting on our co-op’s year, there is so much to be proud of. For starters, I’m proud of our service reliability. When our members go to turn the lights on — they come on. And when issues do come up our talented team of linemen are well-equipped and trained to meet any challenge. Our average service restoration time for outages this year has been 47 minutes. So I’m very proud of our continued commitment to providing safe, reliable and affordable power to our members.
Another thing I’m proud of is our co-op employees. I feel so grateful for our team and how well everyone works together each day to provide our members the very best in service and support.
Looking back on my favorite memories this year, it has been so great being able to have in-person events again. We hope to continue to offer member appreciation events next year where we can all spend more time together.
Looking back on some of my favorite memories this year, it has been so nice being able to have in-person events again. We hope to continue to offer more member appreciation events next year where we can all enjoy more time together.
Other moments that come to mind this year are the special times when I receive handwritten letters at the co-op when a member is moving away or maybe moving to an assisted-living facility. They’ll say, ‘I’ve been with the co-op so many number of years and appreciate you and the co-op, and that they just wanted to say thank you for everything.’
And it doesn’t happen just once or twice — it happens often. I think it’s unique and pretty cool that someone would take the time to write me and share that. I always wonder how many utility companies can say that? But that’s why I see our whole co-op as one great big family. We may not always agree on everything, like maybe politics with your sibling or parent at the dinner table, but we all care and support one another no matter our differences.
As you can see on the following pages, there have been many highlights in 2022. We hope 2023 will be just as bright.
I hope you and your loved ones will be able to take some time to reflect on the year and your accomplishments. We really do care about you and our communities. From everyone here at Platte-Clay, we hope you have a wonderful, safe Christmas and New Year’s.
Click image for larger view.
PCEC Announces Safety Poster Contest Winners
Lathrop Elementary students Avian and Jackson show off their award winning entries with their teacher, Miranda Giger.
This year’s 3rd annual Electrical Safety Poster Contest had over 140 entries! The contest was open to third graders in local communities. The theme was “How do I stay safe around electricity.” PCEC continually strives to promote electrical safety awareness among students.
Olivia, from Kearney, won 1st place. Avian, from Lathrop, won 2nd place. And Jackson, from Lathrop, won 3rd place. Each student received a $100 gift card.
In addition, third grade teachers Sara Alshouse, Miranda Giger and Becky Pendleton each won gift cards for their classrooms.
Congratulations to this year’s winners!
2023 Youth Tour Contest Kicks Off
Nolan Pestano of Smithville High School and Jane Pemberton of Excelsior Springs High School participated on behalf of PCEC in 2022.
High school juniors have the opportunity to win a free trip to Washington, D.C. by participating in Platte-Clay Electric’s 2023 Youth Tour contest. Students must submit a video or short essay by March 3, 2023.
The question for the 2023 contest is: “What dreams do you have to empower and energize your community?”
Finalists will present to a panel of judges in the spring. Judges will choose 6 students to represent the co-op at leadership conferences in Washington, D.C. and Jefferson City this summer.
Youth Tour is an annual youth event sponsored by rural electrical cooperatives around the country. More than 100 students from the Show- Me state and over 2000 students nationwide will have the opportunity to tour museums, visit America’s historic monuments and even meet their elected officials.
Learn more about Youth Tour contest and apply online by visiting www.PCEC.coop/YT
Help Provide For Those In Need
Community Holiday Drive Continues through December
To assist those in need in our community, please bring a donation of gently-used or new coats and non-perishable foods. We will continue to collect these through the end of the month at both of our office locations.
PCEC Kearney Headquarters:
1000 W. 92 Highway, Kearney, MO 64060
PCEC Platte City District Office:
15055 Bethel Road, Platte City, MO 64079
The Northland Connection is published monthly by Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative, Inc., 1000 W. 92 Highway, Kearney, MO 64060. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Northland Connection, PO Box 100, Kearney, MO 64060 or mail@pcec.coop.
Platte-Clay is an equal opportunity employer.