WSP07523

• File Number: 8210.465
• Description: Colorado Rural Electric Association
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 8/1/1961
• Author: Various
• Title: Colorado Rural Electric News - August 1961 through December 1962 - Some Issues Missing
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: News Article/Press Release

001111

Mllrch..1962

Colorado Rural Ele(ll:rie News

Page 5

First Rural. EleetricIn Colorado
Was Grand Valley, Starting In 1936.

rlir&&-o* ihe original nine member board of directors -which first organized
.the: oldest _rural electric cooperative in the state - Grand Volley Rural Power
-lines' of Grand Junction- ore pictured above. They ore C. W. likes, G. B. Un.
'Ion ohi:!.:Rex Rolikin. Rankin, (I prominent Grand Junction bush'lessman, served
'from 1936 until he entered fhe military in 1942. Likes served from 1936 until
1949'ond Linlon completed a 19 year lerm-without missing a single board
'meellng -in 1955. All presently live in the Grand Junction area.
The steady throb of electrical power In 19:iS, the first full year of opera-
today is Ilowing fOJ: the first time in tion, the association had a total revenue
history across desert wastes to the of $2G,825, sold 366,3GG kilowatt hours
State Line Store, a famous Mesa County of power, had a total consumer list of
landmark located some thirty miles 583 on 146 miles' of line with an aver.
west of Grand ~unction just inside the age monthly customer consumption of
western boundary of Colorado. power of 52 kwh.
The eventful connection with an From jl:l> inUla! senke ana of
established Co.operative electrical dis. ihe Lower Grand Valley, ihe lll>l>O.
tributlon 'system marked not only a dalion expanded l:o &erve the entire
major happening in the long history {If rural porlion of l:he 30 mile long
the isolated store, but also represented vaUey, beglln lIervl.ce to l:he rapidly
another important accomplishment in growlng Wel>t Orehud Mesa area,
the 25 year histOl'Y 01 the Grand Valley opened linel> to Whilewal:er and
Rural Power Lines, Inc., of Grand Kanneh Creek on ihe 'soulh Side of
Junction. Ihe vasl: Grand ~el>a and moved
The effort was just another in a long lines inlo l:he Collbran.Mesa.De.
series of major moves taken by the Beque areas of the eastern and
electrical cooperative, which, founded nodhern paris of ihe counl:y.
in 1936, was the first rural electric as. As the association grew, its needs for
sodation to be established in Colorado administrative space grew with it, ne-
and one of the first to be formed In cessitaiing a move to a large, down.
the nation. town Grand Junction office building In
AHe r an investigative program, U47.
headed by Wayne J. Chiesman, then, as As the years passed, faces gradually
now, superintendent of the G ran d changed on the board of directors and
Valley Water Users AssociatIon, and in the administrative offices of the
after receiving encouragIng support association'. In 1942, after five years of
from the first REA Administrator, service, the first manager, Ivim Patter-
Morris L. Cooke, a group lif farmers son of Fruita, resigned and was suc.
met in Fruita, Colorado on June 2, ceeded. by J, R. Maile wh"o served until
19,36 to officially organize the Grand 1949. His successor "Was Dee Smith who
Valley Rural Power Lines, Inc. Chosen had first joined tlle association as a
as the first board of directors "Were lineman in 1942. Smith-served as man.
Orval Herron, C. W. Likes. Rex Rankin, ager until February of 1956 when he
J. A. Edling, C. E. Blumenshine, G. B. resigned to enter .business in Fruita.
Linton, C. S. Saxton, J. F. Shults and He was succeded at the. helm by Al
Stanley Cronk. Herron was named the' Letey who had been assistant manager
first president of the association and of the association since 1953 after an
the services of Attorney W. R.'Hinman earlier career in helping to fOill1d the
were secured to prepare the papers of Holy Cross Rural Electric Association
incorporation which were signed on of Glenwood Springs.
August 12, 1936. The original nine directors compiled
A campaign to sign up members was an outstanding record of administration
conducted in the Lower VaHey in late through the years.
1936, and by the time construction of Growth in recent years has contin-
lines started on Feb. I, 1937, some 638 ued. In 1955 the association began mak-
members, on 139 mlles of prospective ing plans for a new, larger office
line, were signed up. At 10:G5 a.m. on facility which was completed in May,
September 27, 1937, power was turned 1957. Today, the organization's offices,
on to begin serving the initial members shops and warehouse are located in this
of Colorado's first rural electric cooper. modern structure located just east of
ative. Grand Junction on Highway 6-24.

EMERSON ELECTRIC
BASEBOARD HEAT-:-Emerson Electric blll!eboa,rd heat giv~
maximum. efficiency at the loweat possi~le cost. Puts gentle, ~ven
heat right where the heal loss is grea'teet. "under windows aild
along cald walls. These units will not streak or scorch the wall'
and inStallation is simple. Safety .is, aSllured becawle -tbe heating
elements Can't be touched, and Emerson Electric's unique thermal
overload. protection reduces the heat jf the front of the tmit is
blocked by lurniture or drapes.

lH.2
EMERSON El,ECTRIC-the most complete line of residential electric heat.
ing equipment. ,
.' Baseboard heaters . Radiant in-the-wall heaters
. Portable heaters . Fan forced iu.the.wall heaters
. Infra.red ceiling heaters . Radiant cable -heating
. Fan forced ceiling heaters . Heat pumps
. Automatic set.back control
WR1U FOR un CATALOG

GAER SALES

Dsnvs;. :4, Colo.

1625 West 12th Avenue

ALpine '5-7310

Today, as the management makes'
plans for celebration this year of Grand
Valley's 25th anniversary of service;
the organization shows one of the most
. outstanding records' of growth in the
nation.
Headed currently by President R. A.
Edling-a son of one of the original
directors-and board members Neal
Johnson, Clyde Rooks, William Byers,
Kenneth 'Matchett, Elwood Parkes, R.
F. Saunders, Henry Tupper and Jack
Wadlow along with. Manager Al Letey
and his staff, the association can note
over 71lG miles of line, serving 3,561
consumers_ who last yesr paid over
$516,GGG for 16,939,505 kilowatt hours
of power, an average monthly con.
sumption of 400 kwh per customer.

While River-
(Continued from page 2)
provided the driving for c e behind
initial organization to purge them~
selves of the inconveniences of rural
IIfl,\ in the era of hand water pumps,
kerosene lamps, gasoline engine wash.
ing machines and lack of bathrooms.
At the conclusion of the first month
of operation on August 1, 1946, White
River Electric Associatlon Inc. had
sold a total- of 36,579 killowatt hours of
power.to 457 consumers served by 35
miles at line.
In December of 1946,after six months-

WAns WITH DOT .

Hello, againl
Excuse me while I sit here and
shiver _ Brrr! A little knot.headed,
white face steer and I have just con-
cluded a rather lengthy battle of wits
and I guess you know who wonl Yes-
terday morning when I caked the
calves I noticed, that one of them had
somehow managed to get over into a
very small adjoining pasture which
contains a few acres of ground but al.
most nothing in the way of grass. He
was more than a little concerned when
he couldn't join the rest for his morn. ,
ing's cake, but I just thought to my.
self, "Little smarty! when you get hun-
g-ry enough you can just, get back out
the way you got in," and went on about
my business.
I held out until an hour or so sgo
then decided he must need help as he
was surely pretty hungry and thirsty
by this time. I went outside (it was
the kind of a day when the sun coaxe-s
you out in a jacket and the wind makes
you wish you'd worn a parka) to ar.
range the gates in such a way that I
could drive him into the corrals then
out the other side to join his buddies.
It was a rather involved process and I
was thoroughly chilled by the time I
was through. My young son joined me
and we walked out to drive the "crit.
tur" in. Know what?? No calf! He
spent two days in there and waited
until I had my gates and panels all ar.
ranged then decided to go back the
way he came in and did just that! And
the thing that irritates me most is that
I still don't know how or where he
made his entrance and exit.
Well, anyway the gates are closed,
the panels are back in the shed, and
the calf is where he belongs, but
frankly, I'm still COLD!
Speaking of cold, hasn't this winter
been a real stinker? Hay stacks melt
as fast as home-made ice cream on a
summer aflernoon and the calves have
had s hump in their back so long I
doubt if they will ever straighten out.
Fifteen degrees below zero jUllt
seemed too darned cold to do chores
one morning so I waited until it warm.
ed up about noon. Did I say warm? it
was still 100 below.
One thing about unusual weather,
It certainly provides a topic for lots of
conversation.
We certainly weren't alone with
our cold weather' problem~even my
Texas Gal wrote that theii water pipes
were all frozen. She commented. that
trying to keep their house warm was
as futile as building a fire in a' barn
with both doors open. Things down
there just aren't built for freezing
temperatures.
Spring can't be to -far away though-
I'found myself clipping a coupon for
some extra" special strawberry plants
the other day. IF I do send that order

(

of business, this> output had incressed
to 59,838 kilowatts .-to. 48G consumers
served. by 45 miles-ot distribution line.
All power waa generated with Q"small
steam plant and a tiny hydro~plant,
using an army surplus mobile genera.
tor t<:! boost capacity.
By comparison, White River Electric
in December 1961 sold 1,458,237 roWH
to 1148 consumers over 529 miles. of
line. Total system KWH sold in 1961
was 16,399,531 to 552 town consumers,
372 ranches and fanns, 19 irrigation
pumps, 181 commercial, 12 large power
consumers, one public stre\!t lighting
system, and 11 public buildings.
.Power for operation of White River
Electric Association Inc. is -now fur-
nished from the U. S. Bureau of Re-
clamation by ('ontracts with Trl-State
G & T Association. A 1000 KW
emergency standby deisel plant is also
owned by White River electric.
In April of 1961 White River per_
sonnel moved into new' heMquartera
building in Meeker. It is located at
the corner'of Sixth and Market streets.

.,

~...
ti,

MINER and MINER

(!

Consulting Engineers
Incorpol'Gted
COLORADO

GREELEY

Phone WEst 6-4575
MERRICK & COMPANY
_CONSULTING ENGINEERS
2700 West Evan. Ava.
Denver 19, CoJoi1ldo

''\'

t\',

.

by Dot Dill

\\;

.

and IF- I do raise some strawberries I
know the fellow who is going to get
the very first opes I pick. We've had a
little joke between us 'about straw.
berry shortcake for a ('ouple of years
now. W~lUldrt't he be surprilled'l
There is a brand new, pink M_se Ihat
I'd like to have too. Tbete ought to be
a law against full page color 'pictures
of lovely roses. ,I just can't resist them.
It's a good 'thing my financial status
limits my pur('hasing power_or I'd have
an '_acre of roses I guess.
It's lots' of fun to spend some late
winter evenings with the seed catalogs
tho. And a well-planned garden Is
bound to be a better garden. Don't
forget to include the yOill1gsters in YOW"
planning sessions. They aren't likely
to be interested when its weed-pulling
. time if that's the first time they've
been consulted.
Before I go----have you heard the
modern version of "Wine, Women and
Song"? How about "Metrecal, the old
Gal and Sing Along With Mitch"? Bye
now!
Yours for better living elecu'ically,
Dot Dill

c"
k'

i"

,,,.

I

,.
''f

Ten Rural Women
Win Recipe Prizes
In Huge Response
The editors of Colorado Rural Elec~
tric News have been overwhelmed by
the response of its women readers to
our request for favorite recipes and by
orders for patterns.
We did not antiCipate the demand
for patterns with the unhappy result
that our supply was exhausted before
half of the requests were filled: We
re.ordered but the supplier was slow
in providing a second shipment, thus.
holding up scores of you NElWS sub.
scriber patterns which we regret. We
beg your patience and pledge we will
have sufficient pstterns on hand here.
after.
Pri2es were offered for the first ten
)etters listing favorite receipes. Fortu.
nateiy exactly ten arrived the first two
days after the NEWS reached Colorado
rural homes. Thus no problem was
posed to check postmarks to be sure of
correct prize-winners, alttlOugh many
more anived during the following
weeks.
First ten were: Mrs. George B.-Curtis,
Hooper; Mrs. L. H. Freese, Route 3,
Clllhan; Mrs. Clay Davison, ChampIon,
Neb.; Mrs. Paul Etl, Route I, Fleming;
Mrs. George Berges, Venango, Neb.;
Mrs. George Sober, Box 553, Hugo;
Mrs. Darrel Stroup, Eckley; Edna EIli.
ott, 'WraYi Mrs. R. E. Bullock, Route 2,
Sterling; and Mrs. Joe Holce, Route 4,
Grand Junction,

J:,
;\

"I, ',.;;