From Our
Readers…
Editor’s Note:
The article we did last issue on the founding of
Dear Bob:
It was with much sentiment and fond remembrance that I read the
important story on Mr. Wes Long and his granddaughter and my friend, Donna
Long.
Like Mr. Wes, my father, Bob
As a child I attended most Co-op meetings with my father, and I have
strong recollections of the very fine citizens who “turned the lights on” in
the rural areas of our parishes.
Mr. Wes
and Mr. Scott McVea were the pillars of citizenship from north East Baton
Rouge, as were the early board members from all the parishes served by
These early board members not only provided the executive leadership in
developing and running the Co-op, they also worked with the landowners in getting
the rights-of-way at no, or low, cost so that the power lines could be
installed.
Let me assure you that it was
not an easy job.
But look at the
difference it made in the lives of thousands of rural residents like Donna’s
family and the other fine folks of north
was enhanced by having new customers for electric appliances and the
like.
The economic multiplier of having
electricity in the rural areas of America is incalculable, but needless to say,
it made a difference to companies like General Electric, Amana, the milk
processors and stockyards, among many other enterprises.
Mr. Wes Long was a fine man, and his heritage lives on with every light
bulb that burns from around what is now
Sincerely,