Slices of Life

The crowd in Meridian began gathering before the doors officially opened.

Trucks and cars filled with members rolled into the parking lot a good 20 minutes before the official 11 a.m. start time for United’s Member Appreciation Day on Sept. 29. Before the first hour of the celebration had ended, the room had nearly filled to capacity with co-op members enjoying barbecue, looking through their goody bags or learning when high-speed internet would be available for their area.

Instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic when venues weren’t booking events for large groups, Member Appreciation Day celebrates the members of the state’s sixth-largest co-op with an afternoon of food and fun. Members are invited to all eight United locations to enjoy barbecue and fellowship with United employees.

This year, 598 memberships registered at the event (most of whom brought at least one other family member in tow). That number bests last year’s total of 539 registered memberships.

This might be the last Member Appreciation Day for Jan and Rick Goon of Meridian. The couple said they’ve been coming to most United Annual Meetings and Member Appreciation events since 2005. They’d recently placed their farm up for sale, and that may mean they’d soon move off of United’s lines.

“You know, there are fun times when you buy your farm and when you sell it,” Rick joked, “And I’m waiting to sell it. You know anybody who wants 16 acres with a barn and everything on it? I got tired. I’m 81, so.”

The couple sat with Marilyn Buchholz of Kopperl, a long-time friend from church. As the trio talked and laughed, Jan said she appreciated the camaraderie of Member Appreciation Day.

“It’s a free meal that I don’t have to cook or wash,” Jan said. “We’re so thankful we’re with United Co-op. If the electricity goes off, it’s not off for very long. The last one we had was about an hour. That’s good.”

Daniel Contreras and Raul Rodriguez said they stumbled into Member Appreciation Day after their MSR told them about the celebration in the office’s Community Room. The pair work together laying concrete, and the meal served as a welcome break after working all morning.

“It was wonderful,” Daniel said. “Nice food and everything. I’ve been using y’all for over 20 years. I’m very happy with the service.”

While different from the Annual Meeting events held in Glen Rose in the past, the Member Appreciation Day events at each office have helped to continue the tradition of stopping from the rigors of daily business to meet with and say thank you to United members, said United CEO Cameron Smallwood.

“This year’s turnout was excellent, and we are so happy that this event continues to grow each year,” Smallwood said. “This cooperative belongs to its members, and we’ve all faced some unprecedented and challenging times in the past couple of years. I really enjoy the fact that we can take the time to stop, have a meal and enjoy each other’s company in person. This day, most of all, is all about honoring our members. If not for the members, we wouldn’t be here today. That’s why it’s important as an organization to take a moment to thank each member who came to ask questions, meet our employees and enjoy a meal on us. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. At United, we are always there for them through good times and bad.”

Patrick Fuller, outside plant coordinator for internet services, said his desk at the Stephenville event stayed busy as members asked about the time frame on internet installations, rough estimates on when areas will begin service and queries about how the installation process worked.

“We’re definitely seeing more questions now that we are building in this area,” Fuller said. “We also had a multitude of members who didn’t stop, but strolled by to tell us they already have the service and love the co-op’s internet. That really instills a sense of accomplishment and pride in our daily tasks and duties. It just affirms the positive impact we’re having on our members’ lives.”

In Cleburne, Energy Solutions Manager Seth Rosser said he received many questions from members ranging from problems with available energy during peak times in the ERCOT market to how they can save energy at their homes.

“I did have a question from a member who walked by, and we had done an energy audit for his old house,” Rosser recalled. “He asked if we recommended energy audits for new homes. I said, ‘Absolutely. You’d be surprised what we find even in new home construction’.”

Others wanted to know more about solar energy, as many had experienced recent encounters with solar panel sales representatives.

“I did hear a of couple people say a lot of salesmen have been stopping by, but they don’t trust the door-to-door sales,” he said. “I tell them they’re right, and they should call us first. We’re always glad to walk members through the process and make sure they’re getting what they’re paying for.”

Debbie and Ralph Westbrook attended the Granbury event. Members since the 1980s, the couple said they’re happy with the service they’ve received through the years.

“We love this co-op,” Debbie said. “We had a problem about six months ago. We heard this boom and our power went out. I called, and they came out right away. They had to come back because they had to replace the transformer. United’s employees were wonderful.”

“Within an hour and a half, we were back online,” Ralph added.