Eyes on the Prize

Something told him he needed to attend the awards ceremony that night.

Bradley Morrow,  the Meridian line crew chief, said he’d had to bow out of the last two or three ceremonies because he’d been on call. Little did he know as he sat down Dec. 1  and began talking with his friends and colleagues that he’d hear his name called as United’s Lineman of the Year for 2023.

“Now, to get to a very special part of our meeting tonight, and I get the opportunity to announce to you the two winners of our awards this year,” United CEO Cameron Smallwood said. “This gentleman may be somewhere near the south side of our system, to give you a hint. He’s grown up here. And if you’ve had the opportunity to work with him, you know he’s definitely ‘United’ through and through. I want to introduce to you Lineman of the Year Brad Morrow.”

Morrow serves as line crew chief in United’s Meridian office. United’s Lineman of the Year Award  symbolizes a United lineman’s commitment to safety in hazardous work environments and the proud heritage of service and dependability the cooperative’s operations crews provide daily to United members.

“All I want to say is that it’s an honor and a blessing,” Morrow said during his acceptance speech. “It truly means a lot to me to be chosen for this award. I look up to all the guys who came before me, and  I look forward to many more years of serving our members.”

After the awards ceremony, Morrow said he was still honored and  in awe that he was chosen.

“You know, that’s a big award,” Morrow  said. “Everyone always anticipates it, and everyone guesses for, you know, a week or two before it happens. That’s kind of the highest honor that  we can receive here as far as in Operations at the co-op, so it was just really heartfelt. The biggest thing that stuck out as I went up there was that the hard work has paid off, and everything I’ve been striving for and pushing toward, it was all kind of starting to become reality. You feel like you’ve made a place at the co-op. You feel you’re part of it and one with it, for sure. It was a heartwarming feeling when I heard my name. You can be the best one in the bucket, but until you put the membership and other employees first and not just do your day-to-day job, that’s what this award signifies.”

Beginning his career as a groundman in  2015, Morrow joins Ed Nuñez, Mike Fergason, Mark Buckner, Robert Rejcek, Jeremiah Esquell, Gary Sims, Jerry Don Robinson, Jeff Pannell, Travis Ashworth, Joe Ponce, Jim Young, Arick Wienecke, Carlos Martinez, Josh Koopmann, Ben Perry, Trey Carper, Thomas Smith, Bud Boenisch, Rygh Fullagar and Mark Samuel as the 21st recipient of the award.

Smallwood also introduced the recipient of this year’s Volt Award, which  is an honor reserved for employees who have promoted and demonstrated the co-op’s continuing commitment to safety, leadership, productivity, innovation and teamwork, as well as portrayed a professional representation of the cooperative in his or her daily work.

“This gentleman and I, we talk quite a bit about retirement,” Smallwood said. “He keeps saying ‘I’m going to work another five years and then retire,’ and I keep trying to encourage him to work a little bit longer. So, from the Granbury office, I’d like to introduce Volt Award recipient Gary Sowders.”

As the room erupted into cheers,  Sowders, senior field engineer at the Granbury office, walked somewhat stunned onto the stage after hearing his name.

“I really don’t feel deserving, but I do appreciate it,” Sowders said.  “And Cameron, I said, ‘Five  years.’”

Though Sowders said he’d rather dig a ditch with a spoon than stand in front of a crowd, he also was honored and surprised to receive the Volt award.

“When I heard Cameron mention Granbury and talking about retirement, I thought, ‘Sure to goodness, it’s not me,’” Sowders said. “Not trying to act humble, but I don’t feel like it should have been me. I feel like there’s a lot of deserving people here at the co-op. But I’m just honored that somebody thought to speak of me. That’s about all I can say.”

Starting as a meter reader out of the Meridian office in 1994, Sowders joins previous winners Jason Dillard, Patty Mangum, Jerry Scott, Johnny Hazzard, Robert Bernhoft, Seth Rosser, Robert Sherman, Cory Menzel, Wes Burton, Denise Robertson, Michael Huston, Mark Dixon, Patti Wagner, Heather Wigington and Clay Turner as the 16th winner of the Volt Award.