Last Update August 23, 2005
On August 19, 2005 Menard Electric entertained over 200 members at our open house in our new offices at 14300 State Hwy 97, three miles south of Petersburg just south of New Salem. Tours of the new building were provided by Menard Electric employees and many board members were on hand to welcome guests and discuss the past history of the cooperative as well as our future plans for maintaining continued reliable service to our members.
On July 11, 2005 Menard Electric moved into our new offices at 14300 State Hwy 97, three miles south of Petersburg just south of New Salem. This new building has brought all of the functions of Menard Electric together once for the first time in many years. The move centralized utility operations that were housed at seven different locations in downtown Petersburg.
On May 1, 2001, Menard welcomed Donald Rector as Information Systems Specialist. Don will be responsible for key account activities and daily operations of the cooperative's data processing department. Don is a graduate of Sangamon State University with a double major in Legal/Political Studies and is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Chris Hinton was recently named Manager of Accounting and Information Systems for Menard Electric. Chris has been with Menard since May, 1982 and was previously the Cooperative's Accountant. In his new position, Chris will be responsible for the accounting and data processing functions at the cooperative.
On May 31,2001, Jerry Hedberg retired from Menard Electric Cooperative as Staff Assistant. Jerry joined Menard in January, 1987 after 16 years of service with Mille Lacs Electric Cooperative in Aitken, Minnesota. Jerry has no definite plans at this time other than relaxing and enjoying his retirement.
On Feb. 1, 1998, Orene Lynn will celebrate her 30th anniversary with Menard Electric Cooperative. Orene is the data processing operator for your cooperative.
On Feb . 17, 1998, Dorland W. Smith will have completed 40 years of service to the cooperative membership. Dorland is the general manager of the cooperative.
On Dec. 18, 1997, Morris L. Bell was awarded the Illinois Cooperative Coordinating Committee Director of the Year Award for 1997. The ICCC presents this award annually to a cooperative director who best represents the spirit of a cooperative through leadership, community involvement, and dedication to those he serves.
For the past 21 years, Mr. Bell has served on your board as a director for District 5 and throughout that time he has been an outstanding asset by providing direction, leadership and vision that will, no doubt, lead us into a very challenging and changing future.
We at Menard Electric would like to congratulate Morris on this very prestigious award.
Menard Electric Cooperative is continuing to offer members a rebate for electric water heaters. In order to qualify, a member must have an electric water heater (with a minimum of a 40 gallon storage capacity) installed and enrolled in our Load Management Program. If the new water heater is in a new structure or if it is replacing a gas water heater, the cooperative will rebate you $175. If the new electric water heater is replacing an old inefficient electric model, the rebate is $150. If you would like more information on how you can obtain an electric water heater rebate, please contact the cooperative office at (800) 872-1203.
Suppression Plus whole house surge suppression is now available.
Today our homes are filled with sophisticated electronic equipment and expensive appliances that are more sensitive than ever before. And as a result, voltage irregularities due to lightning can easily damage appliances, resulting in costly repairs. It is for this reason your cooperative has developed a program that goes a long way in reducing this type of inconvenience.
We call the program Suppression Plus and it is designed to be one of the most complete whole house surge suppression programs around. Instead of just installing a surge suppression device at the meter, your cooperative also installs protection on the transformer as well, providing you with the best possible protection on the electric distribution side for just $4.95 a month.
This is less than 17 cents per day and not only covers the cost of the devices and installation, but also covers all future maintenance.
But the program doesn't stop there. Remember that surges can enter your home through a number of avenues and the electric distribution line is only one such path. Phone lines and co-ax from cable, satellite dishes or antennas are also points of concern.
So for those members who wish to take the next step in protecting their home, your cooperative also has individual point of use protection devices for sale at reasonable prices. With these individual devices installed on your phone, computer, TV, etc., in addition to having protection on the meter and transformer, you will be able to rest easy the next time a storm is in the area.
If you would like more information or if you would like to enroll, please contact the cooperative office at (800) 872-1203.
Home cooked meals still Important to Americans
The traditional "Ozzie and Harriet-style" home cooked evening meal is still important to Americans, according to a survey by Good Housekeeping Magazine conducted with the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Call it dinner, call it supper, but the evening meal is cooked daily on the stove 42 percent of the time.
Some 92 percent of the 501 female magazine subscribers said they cook a traditional evening meal at least twice per week. Oven usage was reported at 'two to three times weekly by 82 percent answering the magazine survey, which was conducted in the first quarter 1997.
Who's doing all this cooking? Even though a large majority of married men and women both work outside the home, women are still doing the big portion of the cooking, according to the survey. Women prepare the main meal 92 percent of the time; men just 4 percent of the time.
As to who cleans up after dinner, the results were similar. Women load the dishwasher 86 percent of the time versus only 7 percent for men and 3 percent for children. The numbers change slightly in terms of who unloads the dishwasher: 68 percent women, 13 percent men and 5 percent children.
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