If your mailbox is anything like mine, it seems to fill up nearly every other day with unwelcome deliveries. We’re bombarded with unsolicited advertisements and credit card offers, most of which go straight into the recycling bin. Then, invariably, come the bills—those sometimes unpleasant but unavoidable pieces of mail.
Sometimes, however, that mix of creased and crumpled papers includes an item we actually welcome. Perhaps this magazine you’re reading right now is one such item—I know it is for me and the employees of Trinity Valley Electric Cooperative. But we’re not the only ones. Since the first issue in 1944, generations of rural electric cooperative members have found value within the pages of Texas Co-op Power. And this month, as the magazine celebrates its 75th anniversary, I invite you to join me in recognizing the invaluable role it has played as a trusted voice for Texas electric cooperatives.
Every month, Texas Co-op Power is delivered to your mailbox to entertain, enlighten and, most importantly, educate you and your family. In fact, this magazine is one of the primary vehicles through which TVEC fulfills Cooperative Principle No. 5, Education, Training and Information. Through these pages—and online—we communicate directly with you, our members, about matters that are important for the cooperative. We also share tips on maximizing the energy efficiency of your home and offer safety information that may even save your life. And as technology continues to advance at a sometimes overwhelming pace, we use this magazine to help you understand how new technologies fit into your daily life.
But the magazine offers so much more than that. It’s also a key component in our efforts to enrich members’ lives and uplift our communities. Were it not for this magazine, you might not be aware of all the local charitable work the co-op supports or how you, too, can lend a helping hand in our area through programs such as Operation Round Up. And by reading stories about history, nature and the outdoors, travel destinations and more, our members become more informed about our extraordinary state.
Throughout the years, Texas Co-op Power has connected co-op members near and far. A contest-winning recipe by a member in one part of the state has the power to bring a family together at a dinner table hundreds of miles away. A letter to the editor from a reader in the Panhandle may spur a response from another on the Gulf Coast, and a conversation begins.
A feature about the work of a Southwest Texas woman to raise awareness about a serious health condition can—as we’ve seen—inspire others from across the state to pitch in, and a movement is formed.
Of course, through the internet, we have access to countless sources of information and ways to connect. But there’s nothing quite like holding this magazine in your hands and knowing that it’s made especially for you—our co-op members—and with your best interests in mind.
So, as Texas Co-op Power reflects on 75 years of empowering rural Texans, know that you, too, are a part of that history. And with each new issue you read, you carry the story of the magazine—and the cooperative message that it imparts—into the future.
