Video Archives
Cooperative Storytellers
AIEC Coordinator of Video Productions Paul Dow has been doing some archival work while sheltering in place. Each week Paul will release a short video of someone talking about their electric cooperative.
Volume 1:
Former M. J. M. Electric Cooperative member Dr. Loren Klaus talks about first receiving power at the family farm, shortly after WWII. Dr. Klaus, a retired educator, was the first president of Shawnee Community College, serving from 1968 until 1987.
Volume 2:
Opal Parish holds the distinction of being Clay Electric Cooperative account #0001. In this video, Mrs. Parish talks about some of the big changes that came along with the electrification of the family farm.
Volume 3:
Evertt Atkinson is a 98 year old member of Tri-County Electric Cooperative. Evertt joined the U.S. Air Force at the age of 19, just days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After quickly rising through the ranks he became a fighter pilot, then a flight instructor. After the war, Evertt returned home along with his wife Doris to run the family farm, near Mt. Vernon, Illinois.
Volume 4:
Illinois Congresswoman Cheri Bustos tells the story of when her father’s family first received electricity.
Volume 5:
Retired Lineman Kenny Essman talks about his career at Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative, in Paxton, Illinois.
Volume 6:
In the fall of 2019, four linemen from Illinois electric cooperatives joined with volunteers from Iowa and Wisconsin to bring power to a remote village in Guatemala.
Volume 7:
This week’s Cooperative Storytellers episode pays tribute to Cal Williams. Cal was a great friend to many in the electric cooperative world. This video contains a few excerpts from a documentary that Cal and Paul Dow produced in 2006. Cal tells a few fishing stories and also sings a song he wrote called “The Catfish Men.”
Volume 8
Bonus Episode
Updates from Home
Scenes of AIEC staff and families sheltering in place during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. (April 16, 2020)
Lineworker Appreciation Day
2019 In Memoriam
AIEC Caravan vignette (2016)
Former cooperative employees talk about the old days of the Illinois Annual Meeting Caravan.
Queens vignette (2016)
A look at the Annual Meeting Queen contests from years ago.